Costume Design
1970s (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Eve was a small Central London night club which opened in 1953 and was well-known for its imaginative floor-shows. Its founder, Helen O'Brien, devised witty entertainments which contained all the elements traditionally associated with glamorous night clubs - music, dance and parades of attractive showgirls - but presented them in a highly original way. Her designer, Ronald Cobb, created the costumes for sequences with such unexpected themes as Shakespeare's plays, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and The Mind of Goya. The club appealed to a sophisticated audience that enjoyed spotting the references.
Eve's showgirls wore costumes that were minimal but elaborate, no more than a headdress, sleeves and a G-string, but all incorporated amusing references and symbols appropriate to the theme. This design was part of a sequence with the title 'Bibliotheque' in which the girls personified different literary genres, including Science Fiction, the Crime Novel and Drama. Shakespeare represented the theatre and Ronald Cobb designed costumes to illustrate Hamlet,Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream. For Hamlet Cobb devised a headdress decorated with a crown, from which rises the turret of Elsinore castle pierced by a dagger to symbolise revenge. It is flanked by the skull of Yorick the King's jester, wearing his jester's hat, and the sinister ghost of Hamlet's Father. The sleeves are in medieval style, the one worn on the right arm is a feminine version of the style traditionally associated with Hamlet, the other is spotted with large red stylised drops of blood. The chains round the showgirl's neck suggest that 'Denmark's a prison'. Thus far the costume can be called dramatic; it becomes comic with a G-string decorated with the white face and golden hair of the drowned Ophelia.
Eve's showgirls wore costumes that were minimal but elaborate, no more than a headdress, sleeves and a G-string, but all incorporated amusing references and symbols appropriate to the theme. This design was part of a sequence with the title 'Bibliotheque' in which the girls personified different literary genres, including Science Fiction, the Crime Novel and Drama. Shakespeare represented the theatre and Ronald Cobb designed costumes to illustrate Hamlet,Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream. For Hamlet Cobb devised a headdress decorated with a crown, from which rises the turret of Elsinore castle pierced by a dagger to symbolise revenge. It is flanked by the skull of Yorick the King's jester, wearing his jester's hat, and the sinister ghost of Hamlet's Father. The sleeves are in medieval style, the one worn on the right arm is a feminine version of the style traditionally associated with Hamlet, the other is spotted with large red stylised drops of blood. The chains round the showgirl's neck suggest that 'Denmark's a prison'. Thus far the costume can be called dramatic; it becomes comic with a G-string decorated with the white face and golden hair of the drowned Ophelia.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil, watercolour, gouache, gold paint and glitter on card |
| Brief description | Costume design by Ronald Cobb for a cabaret costume representing Hamlet, Eve night club, 1970s. Pencil, watercolour, gouache, gold paint and glitter |
| Physical description | Full-length female figure with arms outstretched, wearing a medieval headdress with a gold crown, from which rises, at centre, a red high-sided crown surrounding the base of a black crenellated tower pieced with a gold dagger, to right (the wearer's right) a skull in a white jester's cap and to left the white head of a bearded king with a long white drape to back. On her right arm a black sleeve, exaggeratedly puffed and slashed at the upper arm, tight and ruched at the lower and ending in a point over the hand, on her left a wide black scalloped sleeve decorated with red teardrops. Four gold neck chains and a G-string decorated with a white face surrounded by gold stylised hair and jewels. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label | 13, 14
Costume design and headdress representing Shakespeare’s Hamlet
About 1970
Eve was a famous London nightclub whose clientele
included Frank Sinatra. This costume would have been
worn by a semi-nude showgirl as part of a series
themed around Shakespeare’s plays. The Hamlet motifs
had to be instantly recognisable for the audience to
get the joke, so the ghost of Hamlet’s father, a castle
turret and Yorick’s skull are all playfully incorporated
into the costume.
Costume design
Paper, pencil and watercolour
Designed by Ronald Cobb
Given by Jimmy and Helen O’Brien
Museum no. S.713-1996
Headdress
Plastic, velvet, sequins, cotton, artificial jewels, wood, cloth
and plaster
Designed by Ronald Cobb
Given by Jimmy and Helen O’Brien
Museum no. S.698:1–1996(March 2009-September 2013) |
| Credit line | Given by Jimmy and Helen O'Brien |
| Object history | This costume was created for one of the sequences in a revue at Eve, a London night club. Eve was founded by Helen and Jimmy O'Brien in 1953. The O'Brien's has been members of another London club, Murray's Cabaret Club and their designer, Ronald Cobb, had also worked for Murray's. Cobb designed and supervised the making of the showgirls' costumes from its earliest days until its closure in 1992. |
| Summary | Eve was a small Central London night club which opened in 1953 and was well-known for its imaginative floor-shows. Its founder, Helen O'Brien, devised witty entertainments which contained all the elements traditionally associated with glamorous night clubs - music, dance and parades of attractive showgirls - but presented them in a highly original way. Her designer, Ronald Cobb, created the costumes for sequences with such unexpected themes as Shakespeare's plays, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and The Mind of Goya. The club appealed to a sophisticated audience that enjoyed spotting the references. Eve's showgirls wore costumes that were minimal but elaborate, no more than a headdress, sleeves and a G-string, but all incorporated amusing references and symbols appropriate to the theme. This design was part of a sequence with the title 'Bibliotheque' in which the girls personified different literary genres, including Science Fiction, the Crime Novel and Drama. Shakespeare represented the theatre and Ronald Cobb designed costumes to illustrate Hamlet,Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream. For Hamlet Cobb devised a headdress decorated with a crown, from which rises the turret of Elsinore castle pierced by a dagger to symbolise revenge. It is flanked by the skull of Yorick the King's jester, wearing his jester's hat, and the sinister ghost of Hamlet's Father. The sleeves are in medieval style, the one worn on the right arm is a feminine version of the style traditionally associated with Hamlet, the other is spotted with large red stylised drops of blood. The chains round the showgirl's neck suggest that 'Denmark's a prison'. Thus far the costume can be called dramatic; it becomes comic with a G-string decorated with the white face and golden hair of the drowned Ophelia. |
| Associated objects |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.713-1996 |
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| Record created | July 4, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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