Royal Blood and Bone is a mock exhibition catalogue for a collection of designers works, with a fairytale theme of royalty. It was created for the purposes of designer research and creative writing.
Royal Blood and Bone
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful Queen. She was so beautiful, in fact she was the most bewitching woman in all the land; delicate like a blossom in the soft breeze of spring; graceful like a swan gliding through the still lake waters; but yet so powerful, malevolent and merciless…
She earned her position by stealing the grieving king’s heart with her dark magic, and locked it away, controlling and manipulating him like a puppet. She cursed the Princess, her stepdaughter and the rightful future heir to the throne, ostracising her from the kingdom so that she would not stand in her way. She ruled selfishly, unjustly and ruthlessly…
The Queens’ wedding dress, designed by Colleen Atwood, is on display alongside two other gowns, “Shakespeare in Love” gown by Sandy Powell, and “The Brothers Grimm” gown by Gabriella Pescucci. Together, these costumes complement each other with their ivory and gold, and portray the Queens’ desire for material possession, each gown is delicate and unique, a collection of the Queens’ previous wedding gowns, each more elaborate than the last as she grows ever more demanding and ambitious.
Along with the king’s heart, the Evil Queen also stole his throne, his power and his kingdom. There was nothing left within his hollow shell, no light left in his eyes, no spark left in his soul. She thrived on the pain and suffering of other. She flourished in times of darkness and despair. She prospered from cruelty and corruption. She is the absolute depiction of the darkest side of humanity, how one single individual’s actions can affect an entire society, causing grief and sorrow; she is desire, anger and ignorance.
Her name was Ravenna, known throughout the Kingdom as “The Mirror Queen”, for she had a magical mirror which flattered her and her vanity. Her youth and beauty was bound to this mirror. The price of her selfish obsession to keep herself the “fairest of them all” was the blood of maidens. She is represented by Colleen Atwood’s Ravenna from the film, “Snow White and the Huntsman”, were her grand costumes are displayed throughout the story of the exhibition.
As time passes by, and the Queen absorbs the Kingdom’s vitality, fuelling her magic for her vanity and greed, the Kingdom decays, her shadow spreads throughout the land, draining the life out of the nearby enchanted forests. The princess, cursed to live as a feral creature within these forests, begins to notice the leaves turning before their time, the birdsong dying away, and the unnatural chill in the air. The royal blooded beast had never left the safety of her tree since she was banished to the forest, for the Mirror Queen struck fear into her heart.
The concept of the Princess came from Alexander McQueen’s vision for his Autumn/Winter 2008-2009 collection, “The girl who lived in a tree”; a fairytale based on a wild tree-dwelling creature, whose curse was lifted as she finally set food on the ground. Two items from this collection are displayed in the Lillesden School for Girls, an old and long since abandoned building, showing the work in an eerie, dark fantasy setting, representing the derelict Kingdom, left to the hands of the Evil Queen.
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Alexander McQueen
“Life to me is a bit of a [Brothers] Grimm fairytale.”
- Alexander McQueen, Reuters, February 2001
Lee Alexander McQueen was born March 17th 1969 in London. He left school aged 16, working for the tailors Anderson & Shephard, and later Gieves & Hawkes in London's Mayfair district. Here, McQueen gained his interest in fashion, gaining skills in tailoring.
“I spent a long time learning how to construct clothes,
which is important to do before you can
deconstruct them."
- Alexander Mcqueen,
Self Service, Spring/Summer 20002.
He then moved into theatrical costumes, working for Angels & Bermans; this is the source of McQueen's unique theatrical style. After working in Milan for a brief period, under the Italian fashion designer, Romeo Gigli, McQueen attended London Saint Martins College of Art, receiving his MA in 1992.
“The Girl Who Lived in a Tree”
“When I design, I try to sell an image of a woman that I have in [my] mind,
a concept that changes dramatically each season.”
- Alexander McQueen, Corriere della Sera, July 14, 2003
Even in McQueen's early work, he would have a narrative behind his designs. This way of working was adapted from his experience gained under Angels & Bermans making theatrical costumes. Costumes made for production were based on characters in context, with a historical and cultural basis. McQueen's teacher at Central Saint Martins confirms his narrative approach to design:
"Well, he always had a story to tell. For instance, they had to do something
called a marketing report, which was basically setting their collection in context...
it was telling the story of his collection even at that stage. "
- Louise Wilson,
Central Saint Martins College of Art
McQueen continued to design in this distinct way, recognisable by his runway producer, Sam Gainsbury, who describes how Lee, as he was known by his friends, would set his character in context, essentially setting the scene before designing her "costume".
"Mostly Lee would have a very clear idea of who the girl was,
and then from that point he would decide where she was,
and then he’d decide what she was wearing."
- Sam Gainsbury
McQueen's Autumn/Winter 2008-2009 collection, “The girl who lived in a tree”, was a fairytale based on a wild tree-dwelling creature, whose curse was lifted as she finally set food on the ground. This image was drawn from an elm tree in Mcqueen's country home garden in East Sussex. The runway show for the collection, produced by Sam Gainsbury, featured a tree wrapped in grey silk. His interest in the History of England is reviled most prominently in this collection. With rich crimson and ivory whites used throughout the collection, the inspiration drawn from the queens of England is highly evident.
"This crimson coat and delicate empire-waist dress
culminated a collection... inspired by the queens of England"
- Andrew Bolton
In this collection, McQueen has been inspired by his interest for British history, drawing inspiration from the Queens of England.
With a coat of royal red duchess satin made from silk and the dress of ivory silk chiffon with crystal beads, McQueen has effortlessly created a light weight looking, voluminous cloak from heavy duchess satin, capturing the motion of the fabric as if it was bellowing in the wind. In contrast, the delicate empire line ivory chiffon dress drapes elegantly, appearing still, reflecting regality and temperance. Reminiscent of "Little Red Riding Hood", the coat has an eerie fairytale feel to it.
Presented in the Lillesden School for Girls, an old and long since abandoned building, McQueen’s work is shown in an eerie, dark fantasy setting; the lost Princess, the rightful heir to the now decaying kingdom, ruined by the Evil Queen. She is a glimmer of hope in darkness and despair.
“She was a feral creature living in the tree. When she
decided to descend to earth, she transformed into a princess.”
- Alexander McQueen, Interview, September 2008
“She cursed the Princess, her stepdaughter and the rightful future heir to the throne,
ostracising her from the kingdom so that she would not stand in her way.”
-Introduction
Having seen enough destruction to her kingdom, the princess makes her way through the urban decay, away from her familiar serenity and comfort of her tree to face the Evil Queen.
"He had an amazing tree in his garden in Fairleigh
in his country house, and this tree had always fascinated him.
So for me it was about the beauty and the power of this tree."
- Sam Gainsbury
Alexander McQueen - “The girl who lived in a tree
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Colleen Atwood
“I design for the movie and the character as well as the person wearing the costume.”
- Colleen Atwood
Colleen Atwood (25.09.49) is an American costume designer with 10 nominations and three Academy Awards. Atwood was born in Yakima, Washington and in the early 70’s, studied painting at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Her early career started in retail as a fashion advisor, working in shops such as the Yves St. Laurent boutique at Frederick & Nelson department store.
After moving to New York in 1980, to study Art at New York University, Atwood began working as an assistant on films, before receiving her first film credit from director Bruce Paltow, for the film “A Little Sex.”.
Atwood continued her career working in costume design for film and theatre, eventually meeting Tim Burton, for whom she has collaborated with, along with many other directors since, establishing herself as a successful costume designer.
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
The film, “Snow White and the Huntsman” (directed by Rupert Sanders), is based on the fairy tale, “Snow White”, by the Brothers Grimm. Over 2,000 costumes were made by Colleen Atwood and her design team. For the most elaborate costumes, materials were sourced from all over the world, including rich, decorative, handmade fabrics from Turkey.
“We had decay as a central theme in the castle, life being taken out of things.
So I used what remains, or elements of that, in the costumes.”
– Colleen Atwood
The theme of death and decay is portrayed in a somehow beautifully decorative manner within the Evil Queen, Ravenna’s costumes. Elements of once living things have been used throughout Ravenna’s wardrobe, such as feathers, bones, bird skulls, porcupine quills and even hundreds of beetle shells from Thailand.
This essence of death and decay used within the decoration for Ravenna’s costumes portrays her cruel and selfish personality, draining life out of the Kingdom, absorbing its power for herself, with the literal remains worn proudly as a trophy, decorating her attire.
“As time passes by, and the Queen absorbs the Kingdom’s vitality,
fuelling her magic for her vanity and greed, the Kingdom decays,
her shadow spreads throughout the land, draining the life
out of the nearby enchanted forests”
– Introduction
In contrast, however, the Queen’s outfits are delicate in their decoration, personifying the Evil Queen with a touch of vulnerability. Their astonishing beauty also represents Ravenna’s vanity. As her character develops, so do her outfits.
Ravenna’s costumes are sublimely sleek and seductive. With lavishly intricate detailing and highly skilled and complex construction, Atwood’s visual representation of Ravenna’s personality is accurately portrayed throughout Ravenna’s wardrobe. The complexity of the designs reflects Ravenna’s complicated personality. There are many elements to each of her outfits, tying in elements of historical inspiration with a macabre fantasy overtone, which place the character in Context. Most fitting to the image of Ravenna is the Raven feather cloak; where there are many variations of costumes featuring feathers, this most accurately portrays the essence of her power through the silhouette.
"In Ravenna's clothes, what we wanted was a sense of death and decay.
So we utilize things that telegraph that in a way, the intimation of bones on the wedding thing,
the feathers, the beetle wings from Thailand. There were some things reptilian in quality
in chain mail that we came up with when we were making her army and then
I used it on her at the end to kind of tie them together."
– Colleen Atwood
Here, we have Ravenna’s namesake, statement raven feather cloak with detachable neckpiece; each feather hand cot to shape, the collar is detachable for storage purposes, to prevent the delicate feathers from getting damaged.
Detailed gold-beige embroidery gown with glass bead decoration at the neck gives a medieval feel to the costume, using elements from the time period, such as the neckline, exaggerating the shapes as the era is re-imagined in context of the setting for the film.
“Designing for a character like Ravenna is the
film equivalent of couture costume.”
– Colleen Atwood
Atwood had a very clear idea of how Ravenna’s wedding dress would look, from the corsetry on the sleeves to the architectural collar piece:
“I knew that I wanted to do a caged collar,
I knew that I wanted to have an open sleeve with lacing up it,
and I knew the basic shape.”
This piece contrasts with the raven feather cloak, with a much more intricate pattern with construction and detailed embellishment. The gown is elegant, fragile and delicate, representing a much more sensitive, vulnerable side to the Queen.
Every element of the Gown is highly detailed, right down to the beading on the laced up sleeves to the embossed floral damask pattern on the cream panels. The combination of white, cream and gold works elegantly, yet, with the directionality of the panelling of the constructed pleats for the skirt show either white or cream depending on the perspective it is viewed, this makes the gown appear to change colour as Ravenna moves. It represents the “yin and yang” of humanity, balancing the lighter with the darker, giving a purer light to the Evil Queen, or keeping that darker edge to her newly exposed vulnerability.
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Gabriella Pescucci
Gabriella Pescucci is an Italian costume designer, born 1941, in Rosignano Solvay, Tuscany. She studied at Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, and art academy in Flonance, Italy. Moving to Rome in 1966, she became the assistant of Piero Tosi, beginning her career in costume for film. Her early work included the assisting Tosi on films such as Visconti’s “Death in Venice”.
She began to flourish in her field of work in the 70’s, forming a colaberation with Italian playwright and director, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi. She won her first BAFTA Award in 1984 for Best Costume Design on “Once Upon a Time in America”. Pescucci was also part of the Tirelli Costume Company of Rome, working on over 30 films between the 1970’s and 2000’s.
“Brothers Grimm”
The “Brothers Grimm” film took many aspects of princesses from a range of fairytales, merging them together to form the Mirror Queen. The Mirror Queen captures the essence of Snow White in her pale skin, dark hair and red lips, fitting her physical appearance well; she also resembles Rapunzel with her long hair, and her bed implies elements of “The Princess and the Pea”, with her many mattresses.
Although not mentioned in the film, these characteristics and mise-en-scenes along with the evil nature of the Mirror Queen suggest that she has “disposed” of these characters, using them to keep her young and beautiful, perhaps even inheriting their features or mannerisms as a result.
“Her youth and beauty was bound to this mirror.
The price of her selfish obsession to keep herself the
“fairest of them all” was the blood of maidens…”
- Introduction
As With McQueen’s “The Girl who Lived in a Tree” Collection, rich, royal reds are used in combination with white and hints of gold. Pearl beads are hand-sewn on to trim and decorate the bodice and sleeves. Crushed velvet had selected for this costume for the visual effect of the pile of the fabric catching the light at different angles, showing both lighter and darker shades of red within the single velvet gown.
Velvet would have also been used for gowns for the era the film was based in, however, as with “Snow White and the huntsman”, historical accuracy is less important- inspiration is drawn from the era and used as a starting point to design around, imagining an alternate history for the fantasy setting. The gown is elegant and regal, reflecting the characters persona, yet lavish with ruby red and pearl beads and embellishments, reflecting the vanity and greed for material possession of the Mirror Queen.
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