From ‘Game of Thrones’ to ‘Downton Abbey’—Iconic Costumes Go on View in Scotland

Scores of costumes from cultural touchstones like Pirates of the Caribbean, Game of Thrones, and Downton Abbey will debut to the Scottish public this summer, when the exhibition “Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop” opens amid the textile facilities at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh.

“Costume Couture” initially premiered last September at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum, which organized the show. It remained on view there until weeks ago, celebrating six decades since Oscar and BAFTA-winning costume designer John Bright founded Cosprop at age 25.

The Hampshire-born Bright grew up in gritty East London, where he often accompanied his mother on outings to buy dress-up clothes. Bright began scouting and collecting hidden sartorial gems himself at age 18, after briefly studying acting at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and fashion at South West Essex Technical College.

Bright’s hoarding habit empowered Cosprop to rise above its competition. Today, his collection of historic clothing has surpassed 8,000 dresses, shoes, and accessories. Cosprop’s costumiers, like the award-winning Jenny Beavan, can study the architecture and ornamentation of such artifacts up close. “We want these clothes to look like they’ve been slept in and worn forever,” designer Penny Rose remarked in press materials. Cosprop has established a reputation for perfection that’s increasingly served the company, as directors continue abandoning 35mm film for digital cameras, which immortalize each scene’s every inch.

“Costume Couture” encompasses this shift, presenting more than 80 era-spanning costumes, such as the 1880s evening gown Nicole Kidman donned in The Portrait of a Lady (1996), and the outfits that Leslie Manville wore in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022).

Some costumes feature design drawings, swatches, and more, in order to illustrate the team’s creative process. Others offer wall text quoting the stars that wore them, like Jenna Coleman and Johnny Depp. “John and Jenny created wardrobes for people,” Helena Bonham Carter recalls near an ensemble she wore in A Room with a View (1985). “They didn’t create costumes as we might think of them. There was history in every item of clothing, and this design process helped us as actors.” Nearby, Bonham Carter’s co-star, the late great Dame Maggie Smith, weighs in too.

Edinburgh’s edition of “Costume Couture” largely mirrors the show’s London engagement. “We’re busy working behind the scenes to see if we can make some small additions to give our audience something different,” Dovecot’s exhibitions manager and curator Heather Carroll told me over email. The studio, which has executed tapestries and rugs for art stars like Chris Ofili and Nicholas Party, will also organize opportunities to get the city’s next generation of costume design, theater, and performing art students involved with the show before it leaves the U.K. to tour America.