Exhibition review The Dressmaker costumes

The costumes from the movie The Dressmaker are on display at the National Trust’s Ayres House in Adelaide, and I visited it last week.

If you’ve seen the movie no doubt you loved the fabulous costumes, and there are more than 50 on show, all thoughtfully displayed.  The exhibition includes a short documentary on making the costumes and some interviews.  It was fascinating to hear about choosing the movie’s colour palette, and collaborating to make sure the costumes, furniture, sets and scenery all agreed colour-wise.

Not just the glamorous costumes are on display;  some “ordinary” ones are too, like the frayed old clothes worn by Judy Davies.

One of the displays showing sewing paraphernalia.   I learned to sew on a Singer machine like this, except it was a turn-the-handle model.  Boy, are they heavy!

None of the costumes are behind glass, so you can look closely at the beautiful details.

There’s a stunning array of hats, far more than I remember in the movie.

There’s a little spot in the exhibition with some hats, gloves, sunglasses and furs to dress up in and take your own picture. We look pretty ordinary, don’t we? The lady who was next happened to be wearing a tight red dress and red lipstick, and looked WOW. So be forewarned: dress suitably for your dress-ups selfie.

Mum and I agreed it was a very enjoyable exhibition, and it made us want to go and watch the movie again.  My five year old girl liked the Ayres house staircase the best!

The exhibition runs until December 11th -do get along and see it if you can.