Michaela de Bruce

COSTUME ENTHUSIAST When I was very young, my dad brought home preview tapes of the musical

He was one of the first people in the country to have them. I heard it and went, “Wow, this is amazing.” So I researched the costumes, and got into Victorian dressmaking.

I have a Bachelor of Science and a Diploma in Performing Arts, but while I was doing both of them, I spent most of my time in the library, looking up costume history. I especially loved the German princesses from the 16th century, who just look like they’ve stepped straight out of a fairy tale.

I’ve been researching the area of Cleves and Cologne, it’s sort of halfway between the Netherlands and what we think of as Germany. It has this crazy dress style, and I’ve found what I think is a new portrait of Princess Anne of Cleves, so I’ve been recreating her dress.

It’s strange wearing these clothes that are nothing like what we wear normally. We’re so used to wearing clothing that we can pull off or on, and throw straight in the washing. With these gowns, you have to wear your linen layer underneath because really rich silks couldn’t be washed, and there’s no way you can wash silk that’s embroidered with metal.

The weight of them is interesting too. The skirt weight is all around the waist, and you stand differently because it doesn’t feel like anything you normally wear. Even most ball gowns don’t feel the same, because there’s not the same weight, so there’s not the same restriction.

The joy is in making the dresses, but I do use any excuse to wear them. The rest of the time I’m a jeggings and loose top sort of top girl, but I have purple hair. I have a disability that affects my joints, so I tend to wear fairly relaxed clothes, but I have bright pink or purple hair to make myself feel better.