Costuming THE CROWN

From the dazzling gold of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation robe to the simple sophistication of Princess Margaret’s wedding dress, Costuming THE CROWN at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library will feature 40 iconic costumes from the beloved Emmy® and Golden Globe award-winning drama The Crown. The Netflix Original series, produced by Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television, is a dramatized history of Queen Elizabeth II’s early reign, as the fragile social order established after the Second World War breaks apart. The exhibition will be on view in the Winterthur Galleries March 30, 2019–January 5, 2020.
Beginning with spectacle and pageantry, Costuming THE CROWN, reveals everything from the majesty of royal crowns and tiaras to the private looks worn by the royal family in the quiet moments behind the palace doors. This intriguing exhibition provides a behind-the-scenes look at how costume design is used to complement riveting drama, re-create history, and define characters from the footmen to the queen. Costuming THE CROWN at Winterthur will be the first global comprehensive exhibition of costumes from the first and second seasons of the series. Visitors can see how Emmy®- and BAFTA-winning designers Michele Clapton and Jane Petrie worked painstakingly to be authentic in the detailing of everything from King George’s medals and military ribbons to Queen Elizabeth’s iconic dresses for royal tours.
Costuming THE CROWN explains the significance and importance of costume design to the story. Visitors will move through four sections in the exhibition, beginning with “Establishing Roles,” which explores the transformative nature of costume, looking at the ensembles worn for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. With these impressive garments, steeped in history, the young Princess Elizabeth takes on her new role and becomes the queen in much the same way the actors are transformed into their roles through costume.
“Dressing the Part” explores the replica costumes, based on extensive photographic and video archive research, and considers how clothing signifies status. By looking at a variety of costumes―from a schoolboy uniform and official military uniforms to the exquisite outfits worn to attend a royal wedding―we see the role of clothing in indicating one’s place in society.
“Creating Character” investigates scenes in which the costume designers were allowed to interpret the characters’ looks with their own designs and explores private moments in their daily lives.
Though many of us are fascinated by royalty, we see the royal family only through a narrowly focused lens. “Capturing the Image,” the final section of the exhibition, looks at clothing worn by the queen and others in actual photographs and on television, highlighting the imagery the royal family chose to assert its status and to cultivate its public persona. The exhibition considers our fascination with the British royal family— one that H. F. and Ruth du Pont also shared through their interest in, and encounters with, Queen Elizabeth II.
Critics have lauded The Crown, which has received 26 nominations for Primetime Emmy® Awards and multiple Golden Globes Awards in its first two seasons, including Best Drama. Based on the award-winning play, The Audience, the series reunites creator/writer Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) with director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) and producer Andy Harries (The Queen). The Crown, a series that is unprecedented in its scale, ambition, and creative vision, chronicles the major political and global events from the late 1940s until mid-1960s in seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 is in production and will air on Netflix in 2019. Both costume designers featured in the exhibition won the Emmy® for Outstanding Period Costumes and the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Period Television for their work on the show— Michele Clapton in 2017 for season 1 and Jane Petrie in 2018 for season 2. The exhibition invites visitors to see the role the designers’ decisions played in creating costumes for seasons 1 and 2 of this award-winning production.
Winterthur—known worldwide for its preeminent collection of American decorative arts, naturalistic gardens, and research library for the study of American art and material culture—offers a variety of tours, exhibitions, programs, and activities throughout the year. General admission includes a tour of some of the most notable spaces in the 175-room house as well as access to the Winterthur Garden and Galleries, special exhibitions, a narrated tram tour (weather permitting), the Campbell Collection of Soup Tureens, and the Enchanted Woods children’s garden. $20 adults; $18 for students and seniors; $6 for ages 2–11. Museum hours are 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Tuesday–Sunday. For those visiting Winterthur from November 17, 2018—January 6, 2019, please note that the Yuletide Tour is the general admission tour. $22 adults; $20 for students and seniors; $6 for ages 2–11.
Winterthur, located on Route 52, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware, and five miles south of U.S. Route 1, is closed on Mondays (except during Yuletide), Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. Winterthur is committed to accessible programming for all. For information, including special services, call 800.448.3883, 302.888.4600, or TTY 302.888.4907, or visit winterthur.org.
Left Bank Pictures is a multi-award-winning film and television production company launched in 2007. Named Best Independent Production Company in both 2011 and 2018 at the Broadcast Awards, Left Bank Pictures has been recognized at a number of other award ceremonies including the Golden Globes, Emmy® Awards, BAFTAs, Rose D’Or and Royal Television Society Awards. In 2012 Sony Pictures Television took a majority stake in the company signaling a significant move into scripted production for Sony in the UK. Since its inception, Left Bank Pictures has produced major drama series for a huge range of international broadcasters including Netflix, BBC, ITV, SkyTV, WGBH, HBO/Cinemax and Amazon. They have produced the UK’s first original commissions for YouTube—with the forthcoming series Origin—and Netflix’s Golden Globe and Emmy®-winning series The Crown, chronicling the reign of Elizabeth II. The BAFTA-nominated series The Replacement and Pls Like round up their impressive slate, with more series for Netflix on the way. Other television credits include Wallander, Mad Dogs, Outlander, Strike Back, Zen, DCI Banks and The Halcyon.
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is one of the television industry’s leading content providers, producing and distributing programming worldwide in every genre and for every platform. In addition to managing one of the industry’s largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, SPT is home to a thriving global production business operating 21 wholly-owned or joint venture production companies in 12 countries around the world. Sony Pictures Television is a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company.
$20 adults