Crowning Glory

Image: Princess Diana's wedding dress, Season 4, The Crown.

The fourth series of The Crown is available on Netflix from 15 November. In anticipation, the Brooklyn Museum is offering a preview from the costume department - The Queen and The Crown: A Virtual Costume Exhibition. As well as iconic designs from the upcoming season of the Golden Globe and 10-time Emmy-winning series, it also includes costumes from Netflix’s new Limited Series, The Queen's Gambit about the chess player Elizabeth Harmon. Visitors to the virtual exhibition will have a self-guided experience of seeing both the detailed costume designs and related museum collection objects in a virtual, 3-D environment set within a reconstruction of the Museum’s third floor Beaux-Arts Court. Created by Netflix, the exhibition is curated by Mathew Yokobosky, Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture, Brooklyn Museum.

Image: Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher.

Visit to explore in detail outfits created by Emmy-winning Costume Designer Amy Roberts. Amy constructed costumes closely resembling looks worn by Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and Margaret Thatcher. The exhibition includes a Thatcher power suit worn by Gillian Anderson in episode 10. Tailor Sue Cradshaw created the suit, which signifies Thatcher’s style hardening as the shapes of the eighties change to sharp wide shoulders. The exhibition notes say, “Thatcher’s style evolves with the fashion changes from the early to late 1980s but also as her political stature changes.” It also includes a recreation of Diana’s wedding dress: “the famous wedding dress, though not an exact replica, captured the same spirit and style of the iconic design by David Emanuel, the original designer.”

Image: Anya Taylor-Joy as Elizabeth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit.

For The Queen's Gambit Costume Designer Gabriele Binder created the wardrobe story arc for Elizabeth Harmon. Elizabeth is introduced to chess at a young age and infiltrates the arena of the internationally competitive game. In pursuit of becoming world champion in a male-dominated sport, Beth matures both in fashion and skill. The exhibit is accompanied by a virtual panel discussion moderated by Academy Award-winning Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter who examines behind the scenes insight into the wardrobe creations by Costume Designers Gabriele Binder and Amy Roberts alongside Brooklyn Museum Curator, Matthew Yokobosky.

Visit the exhibition at www.thequeenandthecrown.com