Wearing of the screen...
A new exhibition will reveal the wealth of our film and television history through the costumes of our biggest stars
IT’S mad to think for years iconic costumes from Irish box office smash films — like those worn by Daniel Day-Lewis as Gerry Conlon in In The Name of the Father and Christy Brown in My Left Foot —were left languishing, gathering dust, shoved in an attic or at the back of a wardrobe somewhere in Dublin. But that’s exactly what was happening to these iconic threads before a dramatic rescue effort by two of Ireland’s film costume designers, Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh and Veerle Dehaene.
‘We felt they weren’t even being lost but being thrown away — nothing was being done about these costumes that were crafted so beautifully,’ says Eimer, speaking from Mauritius, where she’s working on Horizon Line, a film with up-and-coming actress Alison Williams from Girls and Get Out. ‘This is a hugely important social story of how Ireland has developed in film over the last 30 or 40 years.’
Eimer and Veerle were very much at the forefront of this film evolution — Eimer has worked on films such as Brideshead Revisited, Breakfast On Pluto and The Wind That Shakes The Barley. Veerle, meanwhile, oversaw costuming on My Left Foot, The Boxer and In The Name of the Father.
They joined forces to curate an exhibition, Ireland At The Movies, at the Little Museum Of Dublin in 2015. After it proved a huge hit, they formally set out on a labour of love, doing what they’d been doing all along — preserving this hugely rich part of Ireland’s social and cinematic history.
When they learned The Costume Mill on Capel Street — a vast costume wardrobe run by Joan Bergin for more than 20 years — was shutting shop last December, Eimer and Veerle dropped around.
For the Little Museum exhibition, they had just 18 costumes on show — some from their own archives, including the leopard print underpants worn by Day-Lewis as Gerry Conlon and the sequinned dress worn by Cillian Murphy in Breakfast On Pluto.
But since then, their collection has morphed into the stunning Irish Costume Archive Project as Joan’s Costume Mill proved a treasure trove.
JOAN had a huge archive there and I stored my stuff there — we knew everything was going to be sold but we wanted to keep the key important pieces,’ says Eimer. ‘We didn’t want it to be sold as a job lot to a costume house abroad but wanted to archive it and grow the archive and have it as representative of the fabulous work of costume designers working here in Ireland, both from here and from abroad.’
The costumiers rifled and rummaged and, out of 20,000 items, rescued 150 costumes to show off the best of Irish cinema and television for their archive.
Eimer continues: ‘There is a social story there how Ireland has developed over the last 30 or 40 years. We have costumes going back to My Left Foot with Daniel Day-Lewis’ costumes. We have a strict collections policy. We don’t just accept costumes willy-nilly. They have to have been worn by a main character in the film with only a limited number from each production. We’ve costumes worn by Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep.’
Considering the craft and work that goes into film costumes, it’s mindboggling they were being cast aside. ‘One costume worn by Angela Lansbury in Little Women on the BBC — one dress alone — took at least a week to make, with two people working on it and then you have the corsets and petticoats,’ Eimer says.’
‘Up until eight years ago people didn’t think about it. Around five years ago there was an exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum called Hollywood Costume and it was the most popular exhibition they’ve ever had — totally booked out!
‘For Veerle and I, it’s about preserving the history of film in Ireland as our social history and heritage. We’re interested in the archiving aspect but it’s also to showcase the creative talent that exists here.
‘People are aware of Saoirse and Colin but there’s a huge talent behind the camera. It’s huge, the effect film has on people. Ireland’s talent is amazing — Robbie Ryan is up for an Oscar for his cinematography in The Favourite this year.’
And of course, costume designer Consolata Boyle has also been nominated for an Oscar on numerous occasions, showing our mettle as a small country when it comes to creating costumes.
And with vast numbers of tourists coming to Ireland after seeing a film, there’s a huge appetite for all sorts of
exhibitions and memorabilia.
‘People love that connection with the story and the actors — it brings them alive. When you have important pieces like that, people want to see them.’
‘It’s about showing people what’s happening behind the camera and the skill there. It’s also a way of encouraging young people to get involved in film. It’s such a creative industry.’
Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures, producer on The Favourite, has long been behind Eimer and Veerle’s passion. He donated stunning costumes worn by Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Holt and Joe Alwyn plus other characters in the multi Oscar-nominated film for their In The Name Of The Costume exhibition as part of the Dublin Film Festival. He also gave them costumes from Room. And television hasn’t been left out either. The sumptuous wedding outfit worn by Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII and Annabelle Wallis as Jane Seymour in The Tudors is one of the costumes fans can see for themselves during the exhibition. Right now, the archive is housed out at Ardmore Studios but Eimer says the plan is to find their own permanent home soon for the collection, with a team of staff. They also hope to do touring exhibitions.
As for what her own favourite costume might be, regardless of her long list of film contributions Eimer doesn’t need much time to think.
‘One that always comes to mind is the amazing costume Daniel wore on In The Name Of The Father — the Afghan, crazy, kind of glam rock coat.
‘We’re so happy we have that — Sean Donnelly who owns Donnelly Leathers owns it, and he came down to see the coat one last time. “Don’t worry we’re looking after it” we told him.’
‘It’s such an iconic piece, that costume. Everyone goes “oh yeah — THAT coat”.’
In The Name Of The Costume will be at the Powerscourt Centre and the Lighthouse Cinema from Wednesday as part of the Virgin Media Ireland Dublin International Film Festival which kicks off on the same day. For more information see diff.ie. See festival highlights on Page Four of It’s Friday.