Royal Shakespeare Company

Designers are often inspired by fashions of the past and present.

Clothing styles can be used to transport audiences to a particular moment in history and trends from different eras can be borrowed and blended together in the same production, to create something new.

From Ancient Rome and the Medieval Period through to the 1980s Punk movement and trends from today’s high street, this exhibition will showcase how fashion has influenced some of the most amazing costumes on our stages.

For Coriolanus 1959, Director Peter Hall wanted to create an ‘overall period flavour’, rather than one that was ‘archeologically correct’.

This bold and elaborate costume presented Coriolanus as a powerful and important leader. The colour red has connotations of war, danger and pride and the gold medallions suggest a decorated war hero of high status.

Actor Vivien Leigh played the character Lavinia in a ground-breaking 1955 production of Titus Andronicus, one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedies, set during the Roman Empire . The production was directed and designed by Peter Brook.

This dress was worn by Actor Margaret Leighton as Lady Macbeth in Director John Gielgud’s production of Macbeth in 1952. The costume was designed by Kenneth Rowell. The construction of this costume is typical of materials used in the 1950s – with a focus on natural materials. In the case of this dress the material is cotton.

Designer Kenneth Rowell gave this costume many features of the clothing typically worn by women in Medieval times.

His design suggests long flared sleeves with a wide opening, a slung hip belt with decorative pendants, a long train and an underdress or chemise.

This dress was worn by Actor Dianna Rigg as Helena in Director Peter Hall’s 1962 production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Designed by Lila de Nobili, this costume is typically Elizabethan in style, with a large, heavy bodice and quilted skirt complete with ruff.

Elizabethan gowns were often geometrically shaped rather than tailored to follow the natural shape of the body. Padding, quilting and whalebone were often used to create this structure.

Designer Lila de Nobili was an acclaimed Italian stage designer and fashion illustrator, who worked across ballet, opera and theatre. Her fashion illustrations frequently appeared in the pages of Vogue magazine.

Lila de Nobili also worked with Peter Hall on a 1958 production of Twelfth Night, for which she created this costume design for the characters Olivia and Viola.

This impressionistic style of illustration was typical of Lila de Nobili’s work, both across her theatre design and her fashion illustrations.

This dress was worn by Actor Harriet Walter in a 1981 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Ron Daniels and designed by Maria Björnson.

The production was set in late Victorian times, with dresses very typical of the period with crinoline and hoops used to create a large, voluminous skirt.

Sometimes called hoop-skirts, Crinolines were very constraining to wear. Combined with a tight corset, they created the illusion of an hourglass silhouette by narrowing the waist and accentuating the hips.

Victorian clothing is often associated with modesty, with buttons done up, long skirts and high necklines covering up the person wearing them. So there was a contrast between the restraint of Victorian fashion and the amorous plot of the 1981 production.

In the words of Actor Harriet Walter: 'We were presented as these Victorian doll-like, beautifully dressed creatures. You know, I had a wig of lovely blonde curls and we looked very sort of demure and sweet... I think what the joke was that actually it’s a very raunchy play and, you know, underneath all that people are just wanting to rip one another’s clothes off.'

This costume was worn by Actor Tamsin Grieg playing Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing in 2006, directed by Marianne Elliot and designed by Lez Brotherson.

Set in early 1950s Cuba, her fitted olive green satin dress and tailored matching jacket, gave her character a smart, glamourous appearance.


Being set in Cuba in the early 1950s just before the revolution brought Fidel Castro to power, reflected the play’s 'hot blood and macho honour code.'

Brotherson’s stage design used multi-coloured lights strung across the auditorium and the audience entered a Cuban nightclub alive with salsa music and cigar smoke.

Speaking about the costume design, Designer Lez Brotherson said 'When I first showed Tamsin the costume design she said it was lovely but that she didn't think that she had the body that I thought she had. She thought that she had a boyish train and I had designed something for someone much curvier with a much more period shape.... I had to explain that even in the 50s nobody really had that shape. The silhouette was achieved with constructed underwear. Hip padding and bust padding and corsetry was much more prevalent then that it is perhaps now.'

This dress was worn by Actor Judi Dench as the character Adriana in a 1976 production of The Comedy of Errors, directed by Trevor Nunn and designed by John Napier.

Its long, flowing shape, bright colours and butterfly motif is classic 'hippie chic', a style characterised in women by floaty fabric, tie dye, kaftans, bare feet and long flowing hair.

This production was set on a modern-day Mediterranean tourist trap island, with the stage festooned with fairy-lights and flanked by cafes and overflowing tourist stalls.

Judi Dench’s costume evoked a sense of ‘seaside holiday’, with its sunny orange and yellow fabric and a Greek hair style similar to classical sculptures of Aphrodite.

This tutu was worn with Dr. Martens boots by a fairy in the 1989 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by John Caird and designed by Sue Blane.


Influenced by alternative Punk fashion, the production design mocked any idea of sentimental prettiness by dressing its fairies in tattered tutus, patched-up wings and Dr. Martens boots. The set took the form of a junkyard filled with bicycle frames, an old piano and an iron bedstead.

Having already found fame designing the ‘glam rock’ musical production of the Rocky Horror Show in London, Blane brought her famous eclectic and diverse style to the main RSC stage. But as the rehearsal notes for the production reveal, there were also the more practical considerations of creating costumes for the production:

'It is hoped that Titania’s and Oberon’s quick changes will be completed in thirty seconds'

'Hermia’s costume gets quite a beating when she is dragged around the forest'

'Lysander’s trousers could well get pulled down during Act 3 Scene 1, suitable underwear please'

Contemporary costumes designed by Paul Wills reflect the modern day setting.

This white suit was worn by Actor Paapa Essiedu playing Hamlet in 2016. It was sourced from a high street store and painted in a graffiti style with motifs including crowns and skulls.

Lead Actor Paapa Essiedu reflects on the importance of producing contemporary versions of Shakespeare’s plays. 'I think it’s important to give people a world that they can connect to and a world that they can recognise …when you see a character walking on and they’re wearing normal clothes you’re like, "Brilliant. I understand what that character is like."'

This breastplate was made by the RSC Armoury and was worn by Actor David Tennant playing the title character in Director Gregory Doran’s production of Richard II in 2013.

The breastplate is made from an original 19th century breastplate sewn onto suede - an example of how historical and contemporary techniques can be combined to create a costume for the stage.

As these highlights have shown, the styles, colours and shapes of fashion throughout history have influenced the look and feel of productions at the RSC.

The costumes a character appears in tells the audience a lot about their personality and status, and is a key part of conveying a story on stage.

The RSC has a long history of telling stories both on and off stage and continues to do so today, through a programme of theatre performances, events, education programmes and exhibitions.