Harry Potter studio costumes

Over Easter I went to the Harry Potter Studio tour, outside London. Even if I'm not a HP fan, I enjoy the books and films but not as much as to call myself a fan, I had a great time. There were so many costumes around that you could get really close to, and I love being able to stare down details on how professional costumes are made.

I would have loved to see and hear more about the creation of the costumes, as it was the only costume creation process they talked about was Voldemort. One of my favorite things was seeing a finished Beaux Batons school uniform, next to both the hat block and a dressform with the draped pattern.

The rest was mostly just going around and ooohing and aaahing about the costumes. I must say though that most of the most beautiful costumes were clearly the ones worn by Death Eaters, but maybe that's not so strong when you consider that our heroes run around in quite normal clothes most of the tim.

I think this gown, worn by Narcissa Malfoy, is probably a new favorite. If I was ever to recreate a HP costume this one would be very likely. I also took a lot of detailed photos of the lace applique. I really like the horizontal seams on the petticoat, that would be interesting to try and recreate.

My absolute favorite costume was this one, worn by Bellatrix Lestrange. Unfortunately I don't think I will ever be that good at working with leather that I will be able to recreate it.

Just look at the details of the holster, the sleeve and the corset. It was totally gorgeous, I was just standing there drooling for a while.

Then of course it's fun to see details of some costumes like this of Voldemort's robes.

I guess it's a sign of a costumer when you take pictures of the hems, but not of the whole costume. I thought that it was fascinating that the front is clearly hemmed, but the back has started to unravel a bit.

I also always feel a great relief when even professionally made costumes have problems with puckered seams, especially when working with slippery fabrics. This is Hermione's ballgown from Goblet of Fire.

Umbridge's costumes were interesting because it was clear that they were all made from the same pattern, just in different fabrics and with some differing details. It was pointed out, and I have never thought about it, that her costumes gets aggresively  more pink the more power she gains.

I got very surprised about the colour of the lining of Harry's invisibilty cloak, until I realized that it's not lining, but rather it's doubling as a green screen for the special effects to work when he's wearing the cloak.

I'm also a bit tempted to try and recreate this gown, if I ever decide to do some 16th century costuming. It's my favorite style of renaissance, and the colours are really nice as well.

All in all I had a great time, I think I took around 150 photos of so in total, and me and my nephew spent almost five hours at the tour. I definitely recommend it if you have the chance to visit.