While the 18th Century is often more associated with pale colours, pastels and plain fabrics, in reality, fashion was far more expressive and outrageous, especially towards the latter end of the era. Expensive, richly coloured silks or elaborately brocaded woollens grew in popularity, along with additional decorative items, such as ribbons, bows, lace trim and rosettes.
Alex says: “In terms of fabric, we’ve used the historically accurate natural fabrics, such as silk, linen, cotton, wool and skins in combination with contemporary recycled technical fabrics, alongside digitally printed fabrics, laser cut leathers and some very saturated colours only achievable with modern dye techniques."
To capture the essence of the time but with a more modern twist, the Costume Supervisor and the Costume Painting & Dyeing team experimented with different fabrics, patterns and decorative techniques.
Helen Hughes, Head of Costume Painting and Dyeing says: “Traditionally, the fabrics would have been painstakingly hand embroidered to achieve luxurious textures and patterns.
"However, we are using a digital process called foiling to give a more modern, incredibly shiny effect that will pop under stage lighting. We use a Cricut machine to cut out the incredibly intricate designs and then use a heat press to transfer the designs onto the fabric."