The Little Costume Shop

A recent commission: Lise's costume from the ballet La Fille mal gardee designed by Sir Osbert Lancaster for the Royal Ballet And Opera 1960. Realised in quarter scale, paying homage to the original. Working in small scale can be quite a challenge! So I thought I'd include 'the making of' to show how it was put together. Sometimes the first attempt doesn't work and you have to try another tack, as was the case with the tiny 'corselette' which took a few attempts - but got there in the end!
The team included Ray Scott, Karen Purvis, Debbie Phipps and me.

Currently on exhibit at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool as part the the fabulous Flower Fairies Exhibition...only on for around another month!

To celebrate the beautiful series of children’s illustrated books ‘The Flower Fairies’ by Cicely Mary Barker; the publishers, Frederick Warne, Penguin Random House, commissioned 5 of the fairy costumes to be recreated in quarter scale. So to continue where I left off, here is my own favourite - the Silver Birch Fairy.
I’m surrounded by silver birch trees where I live on the Ashdown Forest; they grow like weeds here, and butterflies constantly flutter about in the garden, so who knows, there may be silver birch fairies at the bottom of my own garden!
The catkin inspired top is made from fine glove leather, stamped into individual scales; her skirt is made from the lightest weight Habotai and silk chiffon ombree dyed in a milk pan on the kitchen hob and her wings were beautifully hand painted by Martha Fein before being digitally printed by Hatley Print. Following are some finished, as well as some work in progress images.
The fairy costume collection was first exhibited at Mottisfont National Trust in 2018/9, with future exhibits in the pipeline…
Special thanks to Thomas Merrington who comissioned the collection, with Sarah Hulands. And also to my wonderful team of artists who contributed to the collection: Ray Scott, Karen Purvis, Martha Fein, Albert Seleznyov, Hatley Print, Debbie Phipps and Claire Pain. Fabrics from Pongees Silks, Whaleys (Bradford) and vintage finds.

The continued celebration of the wonderful series of children’s illustrated books that I grew up with, ‘The Flower Fairies’ by Cicely Mary Barker; the publishers, Penguin Random House, commissioned 5 of the fairies costumes (and wings), in quarter scale, so here is the second - the Willow Fairy!

These are currently on exhibition at Mottisfont National Trust until January 5th 2020. If you can get there to see them in person, enjoy!

Special thanks to Thomas Merrington, Sarah Hulands, Ray Scott, Karen Purvis, Martha Fein, Debbie Phipps, Albert Seleznyov, Hatley Print, Hastings Flower Museum and Bishop & Smith.

The Willow Fairy - The making of!
Starring Ray Scott, Karen Purvis, Martha Fein, Albert Seleznyov, Hatley Print, Debbie Phipps, Flower Making Museum, Bishop & Smith, Photoetch. Special thanks to Thomas Merrington and Sarah Hulands at Penguin Random House for commissioning these fairies

An exciting new project is about to be revealed from The Little Costume Shop!

To celebrate the beautiful series of children’s illustrated books ‘The Flower Fairies’ by Cicely Mary Barker; the publishers, Frederick Warne, Penguin Random House, commissioned 5 of the fairy costumes, in quarter scale. Here is the first - the Lavender Fairy!

She has a shot silk chiffon (two tone) top, which has a crushed pleated finish. She has a little tutu underneath her petal skirt which is made from fine glove leather, with tiny little laser cut florets around the waist. Here are some work in progress images.

The fairy costumes are on exhibition at Mottisfont National Trust over the coming festive season. If you can get there to see them in person, enjoy!

Special thanks to Thomas Merrington, Sarah Hulands, Ray Scott, Karen Purvis, Martha Fein, Albert Seleznyov, Hatley Print, Debbie Phipps and Claire Pain

I went last week to the Dior exhibition at the V&A and I ❤️ it! I'd always been inspired by Le Petit Theatre de la Mode which Dior started in the war years when fabric was scarce, so they made their toiles in quarter scale. This was one of the reasons I started The Little Costume Shop and quarter scale ballet costumes. Here are some of Dior's beautiful quarter scale designs which I hope will inspire you too.

I thought you'd like to see a quarter scale costume in the making; what lies underneath the finished result. A lot of work goes into them - and a lot of patience working in small scale! This costume is Mercedes from the ballet Don Quixote. This was exhibited at Mottisfont House Christmas & New Year 2016-2017
Feel free to ask any questions!

The making of a costume in quarter scale ..

Huge congratulations to the newly appointed Dame Darcey Bussell, announced in the New Year’s Honours List today! Dame Darcey was one of the first to own a quarter scale costume from The Little Costume Shop. Here she is with her ‘Lilac Fairy’, (which, incidentally was the first solo role she danced at Covent Garden), along with some shots of the costume, including some in the making. Photos by Richard Wilding.

The making of the Bluebird costume from The Sleeping Beauty ballet, showing some of the processes that go into making these quarter scale costumes which are made by hand; it's a very exacting and fiddly process. It's lovely in the age of mass production to work on unique one-off pieces that take as long as they take, they can't be hurried!

The darker side of The Little Costume Shop .. something a little more edgy than usual! After all ballet is not all princesses and fairies, there are scary roles too, (sometimes winged!) .. Rothbart, Carabosse, Odile, the Queen of the Willis, King Rat, Prince Rudolph, even Frankenstein's Monster .. these characters make ballet dramatic and keep us on the edge of our seats.. Photos George Chinn & Vin Burnham