Movie Monday: The Young Victoria (The Oscar Winning Costumes)

Since Sandy Powell won Best Achievement in Costume Design last night for her work on The Young Victoria (2009), I thought it only fair to feature this movie on Movie Monday a second time (see Movie Monday: The Young Victoria, posted on August 17, 2009), this time showing many more costumes (though not all of them). So here we go!

King's Birthday Gown

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"This dress is worn during the birthday celebration of her uncle, the King, As she was not yet Queen at this point, she was still under the control of her mother and consequently dressed in a more youthful, if not childish way.

All of her dresses during this time were designed to make her look young to emphasize the fact that her mother, the Duchess of Kent was intent on controlling her. The inspiration for this dress started with a piece of embroidery of white roses, which appears on the hem, This was a vintage piece, and there was not enough to cover the whole dress, so I had to have it copied and reproduced to provide enough yardage to work with."

(From http://www.theyoungvictoriamovie.com/)

Embroidered Silk Gown

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"This dress is made from a silk embroidered with blue, pink and purple flowers. The fabric is original Victorian and came in very narrow lengths so we had to match the background color with another fabric to make up the dress.

It is less elaborate than most of her dresses as it's a day dress and worn whilst out walking. The bonnet is made from straw with original silk ribbons and flowers."

(From The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes - Embroidered Silk Gown 2)

Purple Gown

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"This is one of my favorite Victoria costumes, I like its simplicity and the unusual cornflower blue color which works well with the irises in the headdress and is also very flattering. It's made from silk with original antique blond lace around the neck and shoulders."

(From The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes - Purple Gown)

Purple Gown - Exhibit photo by Jainamsolo

It is one of my favourite gowns of this movie, so I just had to find a full length view to share.

Victoria's Mourning Dress

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"This dress is a replica of the original dress worn by Victoria and scaled up to fit Emily Blunt. The original dress had faded to a brown colour when I saw it but it was originally black with a self stripe running through it. Victoria wears this immediately after the death of the King to address the Privy Council for the first time as Queen at the age of 17."

(From http://www.theyoungvictoriamovie.com/)

Queen Victoria's Private Garde Dress

"An emerald green silk bodice and skirt with embroidered blue circled ans silk lace trim neckline. Worn by Queen Victoria (Emily Blunt) in a scene filmed at Buckingham Palace."

From a card accompanying this dress at a QVB exhibit.

Coronation Gown

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"The Coronation Robes were based as closely as possible on the original garments which I had the privilege of seeing at Kensington Palace where they are stored. Of course the original fabric was especially woven but we had to replicate this by dying and printing onto fabric that would photograph to look as elaborate as the original."

(From The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes - Coronation Gown)

Victoria's Post Coronation Gown

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"As there was no actual reference to a ball after the coronation, or indeed any descriptions as to what she wore, I had to invent the dress for this scene. In a way it's her first 'Grown Up' evening dress and as she dances with Albert for the first time it had to be vibrant and romantic. I used gold as a reference to the grandeur of the coronation but lightened, and brightened the look with the contrasting dark pink of the floral decoration."

(From http://www.theyoungvictoriamovie.com/)

Victoria's Wedding Dress

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"This dress is closely based on the original wedding dress which I was able to see at Kensington Palace. The fabrics we used weren't as fine as the original dress and it took a long time to find a contemporary lace that was a good enough match to the original. Unfortunately, this dress is seen only fleetingly in the film."

(From http://www.theyoungvictoriamovie.com/)

Queen Victoria's Garden Day Dress

"A bodice and skirt ensemble in yellow and blue short silk taffeta with cream roses and berry trim worn with long ivory leather gloves and a pair of triple pearl drop earrings. This outfit was designed to allow Emily Blunt who played Queen Victoria, easier movement for a garden scene shot for the film."

From a card accompanying this dress at a QVB exhibit.

Victoria's Day Dress

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"This dress shows the new simplified, more sophisticated silhouette of the new Queen. The fabric is crisp silk Taffeta."

(From http://www.theyoungvictoriamovie.com/)

Victoria's Tartan Dress

What Sandy Powell had to say about this costume:

"Victoria wears this dress in the latter half of the film, after she becomes Queen. At this point, her style has changed to a more grown up, sophisticated look, with richer, darker tones, This dress was inspired from an original dress worn by the actual Victoria. I was fortunate enough to be shown samples of her clothing at Kensington Palace. One dress was made from very fine silk - much nicer fabric than is possible to obtain nowadays - with a dark tartan (plaid) pattern woven into it."

(From http://www.theyoungvictoriamovie.com/)

Queen Victoria's Evening Gown

By far my favourite gown of the movie - and I don't usually like lace!

"An electric blue satin dress with pale blue diamante detail worn with long gloves, the Coronation necklace and crystal drop earrings. This costume was worn by Queen Victoria (Emily Blunt) on set in London."

From a card accompanying this dress at a QVB exhibit.

So if you still haven't seen the movie, what are you waiting for? Go on, go drool on these Oscar® worthy creations!