The Four Chimes by Wilhelm for the V&A

For my final project of University, I chose to undertake the external project - making for the V&A museum’s sound on stage performance festival. My chosen design was from the Theatre Royal Drury lane’s 1890 production of Dick Whittington, designed by Wilhelm. For this project we worked in collaboration with the acting course and with an external movement director Mateus. I chose to feature fabrics as close to historically accurate where possible, while highlighting the original design elements to replicate it as similarly as possible. I chose to work in beading to the costume to create a similar outcome to archived Wilhelm costume pieces, I had the opportunity to visit first hand. Movement was a key factor in many of my decisions while making as emphasising the way this costume moved, would likely be the strongest outcome for the performance. The silhouette of this costume is based upon a 1890s flossed corset I found that best fit the design image, which was then adapted to grow the scalloped shapes out from the waist, tiering down the skirts.

Thanks to the incredible Simone Wang, for the amazing performance and characterisation, the most amazing model. For further information on her acting work see her instagram @mis_1sim.

Credits to photographers @ Hydar Dewachi and @ Angela Tozzi for the show photos