We had all grown up with fairy tales, the tragedy of the heroine and her unwavering goodness, the twist of fate that bring her to her prince and the happily ever after. Whether we admit it or not, most of us are a sucker for a little magic and nothing represent this more than the classic tale of Cinderella.
Brought to the big screen this year, there’s no doubt that the movie had spared no effort into bringing the splendor to life. If you have watched this movie, you would agree with me that the costumes and settings are absolutely out of this world. Imagine my excitement when I found out that an exhibit is being held in Leicester Square showcasing re-creations of the rooms and displaying the costumes, only to find out that all the tickets has sold out.
However, by some twist of fate there are walk in tickets available if you arrive early in the morning. Armed with determination, I headed out just as they open and scored two tickets for the afternoon slot on the day before the exhibition closed. A lot of you might not even know that it was on! So I decided to do this little post to show you around the wonders of the exhibit, along with some dazzling magic.
Crowds had already started to gather in the morningThe first room show some original artwork during the early stages of Cinderella animation that are never displayed to the public before. Below are some of my favourites:
The second room show the foyer of Ella’s home with Lady Tremain and her two daughters’ costumes, as well as some trinkets. Despite not being a fan of the print, the cutting of the dresses and the details of the accessories are simply stunning!
Lady Tremaine’s dress is a stunning piece, one that manage to combine elegance and evil. The black jacquard is my favourite print out of all the dresses in the movie.
Some of Ella’s childhood toys are also on display, in particular is that paper butterfly from her father below:
The next room is very dimly lit, showing Ella’s day dress and the kitchen she worked in:
Next comes the fairy god mother’s dress. Despite only making an appearance for a short while, the level of details that goes into it it’s simply mind blowing:
My personal opinion is that this dress show more similarity to Cinderella’s animated dress than the one in the movie – mostly the colour.
If you can’t guess already – next comes the pumpkin carriage, which they kept half-pumpkin and half-carriage.It’s simply breathtaking!
Next we entered the palace ball room – albeit much smaller than the movie, but as soon as I saw the cstumes I felt like I had died and gone to heaven! At the center of it all are the prince’s and Cinderella’s A 24 layer dress – imagine wearing that!
Although they didn’t really get that much screen time – the foreign dignitaties’ dresses are out of this world. I envy the actresses that got to parade around in them! Princess of Africa and Japan
More shots:
What a gorgeous pieces of garment! Lady Tremaine’s dress consist of another green pieces, much more classy than her daughters’. It looks a bit like a Picasso’s painting… The infamous glass slipper is also on display – it is apparently made to Lily Allen’s measurements, consisting of three parts and mantled together. The actress only wore it during the carriage scene as it is impossible to walk in!
Hope you had enjoyed the virtual tour!