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We’re in the large object store of the National Maritime Museum, and at the moment we’re
preparing some objects from the Titanic movie.
These costumes are here as part of the Australian National Maritime Museum’s, Remembering
Titanic 100 Years Exhibition, and as a vintage fashion enthusiast, I have to say it’s extremely
exciting for me. The authenticity and level of detail is quite extraordinary. The designer,
Deborah Scott, actually won an Oscar for them. She used both original patterns from the era,
she used original gowns which are seen in some of the scenes in the movie, and you can
even see on some of the dresses here, for example, this one with Margaret Brown, she’s
used beadwork from the period as an applique, actually worked into her design.
The costumes have arrived in quite good condition, but what we required to do, is to build up
the size of the mannequins to fit the costumes. In the case of Molly, we’ve had to build enlarge
the mannequin and create the silhouette of the era.
Well Titanic era fashion has come to really represent the years between 1908 and the beginning
of the First World War; in other words, the latter part of the Edwardian era. Specifically,
obviously, it refers to the fashions of 1912 when the Titanic sank, and I have to say that
as a Titanic historian, as a fashion enthusiast, and as someone who appreciates this long lost
world of the Belle Époque, I have to say this exhibition is an absolute must see.