Behind the Seams - Costume Exhibition

Preston Park Museum, Stockon on Tees, is currently hosting an exhibition, "Behind the Seams," which is showcasing a selection of costumes from some of the biggest films and TV shows around.

The exhibition is a glimpse into the world of Angels Costumes, the world's longest established, and largest, professional costume house. It features pieces from Downton Abbey, Peaky Blinders, Game of Thrones (one for you, Jon Snow fans!) Only Fools and Horses, Titanic, Bohemian Rhapsody, amongst many more.

Tickets to attend are only £5 which is fantastically cheap, and after going here myself over the Christmas period, they definitely could have added a few quid onto the entry price - you will definitely get your money's worth!

My mam actually found the exhibition somewhere online and suggested it to me, it was a delight to go and see something like this on Teesside as it's not often our area is lucky enough to have exhibitions, never mind a costume one, which happens to be one of my particular interests. My favourite costume from the collection was a dress worn by Claire Foy in The Crown, it was embellished with thousands of crystals, and took a crazy number of hours for them all to be hand glued on. Even more mind boggling is the fact that this one is a near-exact replica of one which the Queen herself wore, and the embellishments on the real dress took far longer to HAND STITCH on! Fascinating really, but I do feel sorry for some poor person who most likely had sore hands for a while after. There were a couple of other regal costumes, such as one worn by Dame Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love, and one from the ITV series, Victoria. I think extravagant ball gowns are my thing, maybe it's the sparkle that grabs my attention, I'm like a magpie!

Another highlight of the collection was the famous Batman and Robin costumes from that classic episode of Only Fools and Horses - everyone has seen that episode! It was also great to see some of Rami Malek's outfits from the recent Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. It was very fitting for the moment as the film is getting so much press coverage lately (deservedly!).

I've put a few of the best photos I took below, hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did at the exhibition.

For more info or to book tickets visit:
http://www.prestonparkmuseum.co.uk/behindtheseams/