Costume design by Ronald Cobb
Costume Design
1946 (designed)
1946 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This design is for a show-girl's costume in Glamour of the Veils, a revue produced by ENSA, or the Entertainments National Service Association, in 1946. Glamorous numbers with exotic dancers were a popular aspect of the light-hearted wartime revues frequently produced at the time at London's Windmill Theatre, in West End theatres, and around the country. Ronald Cobb was something of a specialist in witty designs for show-girls' costumes, and in the early 1950s produced even more elaborate designs for costumes at the London nightclubs Eve's and Murray's Cabaret Club.
Glamour of the Veils starred Marqueez, the stage name of Marqueez Alkin, an exotic dancer who had previously appeared in several large West End revues including Strike a New Note1943, Strike It Again!,1944, The Night and the Music1945, and Fine Feathers, 1945. The show was produced by John C. Mather, who devised his first show to entertain the Kinross Home Guards in his home town of Kinross, near Perth, Scotland, in 1941.
Glamour of the Veils starred Marqueez, the stage name of Marqueez Alkin, an exotic dancer who had previously appeared in several large West End revues including Strike a New Note1943, Strike It Again!,1944, The Night and the Music1945, and Fine Feathers, 1945. The show was produced by John C. Mather, who devised his first show to entertain the Kinross Home Guards in his home town of Kinross, near Perth, Scotland, in 1941.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Costume design by Ronald Cobb (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and bodycolour on cartridge paper |
| Brief description | Costume design by Ronald Cobb for Hilda Dixon in Glamour of the Veils, 'The Wonder Show' produced by John C. Mather for ENSA, 1946. Signed and dated Ronald Cobb 46. Watercolour and pencil on card. Given by Rose-Mary McClory. |
| Physical description | Costume design for Hilda Dixon as a soubrette in the finale of Glamour of the Veils, showing a dark-haired girl standing, full-length, wearing a silver-grey mandarin-style high-necked jacket cut off under the bust, with bell-shaped sleeves decorated with black stars, a bare midriff and a floor-length silver skirt slashed to the knee, decorated at the waist with a length of grey beads. Designed for ‘The Wonder Show’, ‘the Finest Dressed Show on Tour’, produced by John C. Mather for ENSA, 1946. Inscribed in paint: ‘FINALE SOUBRETTE’, ‘ORIGINAL DESIGN for HILDA DIXON in GLAMOUR OF THE VEILS’, and in ink: ‘A JOHN L. MATHER PRODUCTION’. Signed and dated in paint ‘Ronald Cobb 46’. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given by Rose-Mary McClory |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This design is for a show-girl's costume in Glamour of the Veils, a revue produced by ENSA, or the Entertainments National Service Association, in 1946. Glamorous numbers with exotic dancers were a popular aspect of the light-hearted wartime revues frequently produced at the time at London's Windmill Theatre, in West End theatres, and around the country. Ronald Cobb was something of a specialist in witty designs for show-girls' costumes, and in the early 1950s produced even more elaborate designs for costumes at the London nightclubs Eve's and Murray's Cabaret Club. Glamour of the Veils starred Marqueez, the stage name of Marqueez Alkin, an exotic dancer who had previously appeared in several large West End revues including Strike a New Note1943, Strike It Again!,1944, The Night and the Music1945, and Fine Feathers, 1945. The show was produced by John C. Mather, who devised his first show to entertain the Kinross Home Guards in his home town of Kinross, near Perth, Scotland, in 1941. |
| Associated objects |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.172-2007 |
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| Record created | November 7, 2007 |
| Record URL |
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