There is no indication whether this turban belongs to a production designed by Oliver Messel or whether it was made for a fancy dress ball. Such balls were popular in the first half of the 20th century, and Messel was often invited, devising his own costumes, or was commissioned to make costumes or accessories for his friends.

In making there would often be little difference between a theatrical headdress and one for a fancy dress ball, Messel would make use of bold materials and calculated simplification to increase the impact of the finished costume. This turban mixes bold net and chenille knots with finer pendant hangings and the use of permanently pleated fabric, none of which would have been used together in historical costume making.

Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was Britain’s leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, working in every aspect of entertainment - ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue - as well as in interior decoration and textile design. His lavish, painterly and romantic designs informed by period styles, were perfectly in tune with his times and earned him an international reputation. By 1960, however, Messel’s style had become unfashionable, having no sympathy with the new 'kitchen sink' school of theatre. He increasingly concentrated on his non-theatrical painting and designing and eventually retired to the Caribbean, where he began a new career designing and building highly idiosyncratic luxury villas.