1st peek: Winterthur's 'Costuming The Crown' is coming together for Delaware debut
Betsy PriceIf you're among the fans whose tiaras are jiggling in anticipation over Winterthur Museum's exhibit "Costuming The Crown," which opens in March, take a look at these.
The show will feature 40 of the outfits worn in the first two seasons of the popular Netflix television series "The Crown," which chronicles Queen Elizabeth II's life from marriage on. The first two seasons dealt with the early years of her marriage and reign.
The clothes, which have been arriving for weeks at the Greenville museum, will include Queen Elizabeth's gold coronation robe and Princess Margaret's wedding dress.
Winterthur, which is H.F. du Pont's country estate turned into a museum of American decor, is hoping lightning strikes again with this foray into popular culture. The estate had a huge success with its 2014 "Costumes of Downtown Abbey" exhibit, which sold more than 200,000 tickets, more than double its usual annual ticket sales.
"Costuming The Crown" is the first global comprehensive exhibition of costumes from show, the museum said.
The exhibit will start with spectacle and pageantry, including royal crowns and tiaras, but also include the everyday clothes worn by the royal family.
Unlike the clothing for "Downton Abbey," which was largely pulled from existing pieces in costume shops, the costumes for "The Crown" were designed by Emmy- and BAFTA-winning designers Michele Clapton and Jane Petrie. They tried to be as authentic as possible in the detailing of everything from King George’s medals and military ribbons to Queen Elizabeth’s iconic dresses for royal tours.
Here come the costumes
When the costumes arrive, their stop at Winterthur is the freezer, where the garments are kept in the cold to prevent any biological hitchhikers like mold, mildew or bugs from surviving and infecting the rest of Winterthur's collection.
Beyond being a museum devoted to design, Winterthur also has a huge collection of furniture, textiles, ceramics, silver and art.
Once the costumes leave the freezer and go to the preparatory staff, the clothes and accessories are positioned on mannequins and accessorized.
"Preparing mannequins for 'Costuming The Crown' requires a lot of fun research," says Laura Mina, associate conservator. "We have to consider historical silhouettes, the costume designers’ intentions, and the actors’ body postures."
One of the biggest challenges: "We need the costumes on mannequins to look good for a full yeayr, while the actors just wore the costumes for a few hours," Mina says.
'Downton Abbey' vs. 'The Crown'
While Winterthur's "Downtown Abbey" exhibit tied the doings of the fictional Crawley family into the lifestyles of the du Ponts and others with huge country estates, "Costuming The Crown" will look at the significance and importance of costume design to the story.
The show will be told in four sections: Establishing Roles, Dressing the Part, Creating Character and Capturing the Image.
What you'll see
While Winterthur doesn't want to give away all the costumes that visitors will see, it says that the show will include, complete with jewelry, medals, crowns or tiaras and other accessories:
- Queen Elizabeth’s coronation ensemble, with St. Edward’s Crown.
- Prince Philip’s peer robe worn for the coronation.
- Princess Margaret’s and Elizabeth’s wedding gowns.
- Navy Uniform of King Gorge VI.
- Charles’ Eton suit and accessories.
- Windowpane suit jacket worn by Duke of Windsor.
- Winston Churchill’s dinner attire.
- Dresses worn by Elizabeth and Jacqueline Kennedy when they meet.
- Tony Armstrong’s motorcycle costume.
- Margret’s motorcycle costume.
If you go
WHAT: Winterthur Museum's "Costuming The Crown"
WHERE: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, 5105 Kennett Pike, Delaware
WHEN: March 30-Jan 5, 2020; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
TICKETS: $20 adults; $18 for students and seniors; $6 for ages 2–11. Prices rise slightly week of Thanksgiving until Jan. 5 as Yuletide runs.
FOR MORE INFO: Call 302-888-4600 or go to winterthur.org.
If you watch
WHAT: Facebook Live from Winterthur about "Costuming The Crown"
WHEN: About 12:15 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4
WHERE: www.delawareonline.com.
Contact Betsy Price at 302-324-2884 or beprice@delawareonline.com.
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