A striking Hero for our Panto required an equal dynamic combination of prints.

We created for his everyday armour a fabric which featured ‘melted down family silver’ to realise the ‘metal’ effect needed. Using a 1930’s vintage silver glazed Royal Winton ware tea service we were able to capture the ‘shine’ required to evoke a 3D quality to the print.

To add colour to the character we combined images from a vintage floral painting with grotesque images from Hieronymus Bosch to portray the slaughter of the Crusades. By changing the colour to the Panto pallet we softened the imagery by breaking it down and revealing under layering of chain mail and stripe.

High shine chrome faux leather ‘Biker’ style jacket gives the silhouette a sharp edgy cut and a high camp swagger!

An eccentric play on a ‘dotty old man’ routed in a Victoriana ‘smoking’ jacket styled with 1950’s Hollywood camp Medieval complete with a hump!.

The print features comic drawings of ‘surprised’ animal trophies and their mounts.Teamed with a broken down wall paper inspired stripe with embroidered embellishment and the manuscript of the song of The Lampton Worm. This theme was carried into the set of the Lampton Hall interior.

Whiskered prosthetics accentuate a bouffant styled wig to create the perfect aristocrat of a ‘bygone’ era.

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Once again our Dame is cast as a Cook. This vibrant worker costume is one of eight outfits worn in this year’s show. Using vintage Barge Art imagery and techniques in paint stroke and mark making, swags of a classic floral design swirl around the hem to reveal a ‘Top Tent’ stripe in black and white.

To add a unique quality to the costume original hand written pages from Mr Shriek’s Mam’s recipe books were blown onto the design to create a patchwork of family ‘food’ for Dame Bella to serve to the audience.

A riot of circus inspired prints are the result of looking at 1940’s clown drawings by Hollywood actor Red Buttons combined with a traditional Harlequin costume worn by the Medieval players in historic references combined with more than a nod to  the release of Stephen Kings IT. Hanging ribbon laces inspired by the tarpaulin ropes of the Big Top  create a sense of ‘Maypole’ madness to style our on stage Clown.

A feisty, scarlet coiffured character with a love for ‘glamour and bling’.

We researched and found an original ‘Bullet bra’ from the 1950’s and used this as inspiration to achieve the iconic ‘sweater girl’ silhouette. A playful use of ‘tattoo’ as imagery portraying ladies, sailors, birds and slogans evocative of love and seduction wrap our temptress in a figure hugging body conscious layers cinched in with a ‘signature’ bullet corset.

 To create a taste of the exotic, images of worn silk rugs and chinoiserie wall coverings framed iconic portraits by Tretchikoff of his Chinese Girls were broken down to achieve ‘divinely decadent’ satin fabrics. A featured trompe l’oeil necklace on the tattoo shirt is embellished with hand dyed to colour match ‘rocks’ in crystal to create the illusion of endless Royal wealth.

Sky high heels and an array of feathers ‘crown’ our Princess.

A larger than life ‘muscle’ bound physique was the starting point for this character. By adding extra defined muscle shaping and a wasp corset waistline we created a true He Man torso. Using a print based on the Princess Tattoo images we developed a Sultan tattoo stripe on a naughty nautical theme.

We used the illusion of draped and swaged fabrics to create 3D fullness accented with luxurious silk fringing detail. A Trompe L’oeil jewel embellishment curves around a chest hugging bolero waistcoat.

An abstracted yellow leopard print was developed from an Art Deco plaster cast vintage ornament. Extra long Lady Amherst plumage added height and grandeur to an oversized Turban.

As the characters for the Witch and the Soothsayer evolved it was decided that they were in fact sisters so with this as a lead we created a generic Flower print which would be featured in the fabric design for both characters.

For the Soothsayer we decided on a positive white based image with a geometric vintage picture frame mount to symbolise a lost love. The Oriental styling created an opportunity to re work a traditional Kimono jacket shape and combine it with a homage to a Golden Age Hollywood Studios vision of a bygone Medieval costume. The Jacket features appliqued embroidered motifs with authentic frog fastenings features an overload of sequin, rhinestone and bugle beads cover  up the surface to create a magical, mystical ‘Sparkle’.

The signature Mr Shriek black and white stripe fabrics add control to an otherwise crazy ‘messy’ dizzy character.

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The Ying to her Sisters Yang, Poison Pen is deeply rooted in the ‘mystic and magic’ of superstition. Taking the mid Victorian poster  imagery for Music Hall spectacle, thrill seeking illusion and magic acts we mixed up the goblins and devils with the negative version of the sister’s Flower print to create a dramatic chintz inspired  Hollywood ‘Vamp’ silhouette with strong ‘camp’ Medieval styling and details. An evil spell in her hand writing scrawls over the satin lining of neon python skin to add menace to a vivid stripe in lime and orange and Poison Pen ‘ink’ pink .

 A cone of dressed green hair in all its ‘show off’ glory is home to a mountain of feather detail which hangs in the air with an abandoned glamour. Liquid black sequin pours over the entire costume to define her elegant stature. Penelope has got attitude!!! Haha.