Costume worn by Anna Neagle in the film Victoria the Great, designed by Doris Zinkeisen, 1937.

Dame Anna Neagle was one of the most popular stage and screen actors of the early 20th century. Neagle appeared in a series of successful historical dramas portraying the title role in Nell Gwyn (1934), actress Peg Woffington in Peg of Old Drury (1936) and Queen Victoria in Victoria the Great (1937). The film was released the year of King George VI’s coronation and marked the centenary of Queen Victoria ascending the throne. The film was a huge success and it prompting a sequel with Neagle reprising the role in Sixty Glorious Years (1938).

The costumes were designed by Doris Zinkeisen, a Scottish stage designer, painter and writer. Zinkeisen began her career designing the costumes for the C.B. Cochran reviews and went on to become one of the most prolific designers of the 20th century. One of her most enduring costume designs was for Laurence Olivier’s career defining Richard III, which he performed on stage in 1944.

The British Film Institute (BFI) acquired its costume collection for display at the Museum of the Moving Image, which existed on the South Bank in London between 1988 and 1999. The collection is made up of British, European, American and Japanese films and covers the period from the silent film era to the mid-1990s. It contains a wealth of historic and significant film costumes worn by major performers and designed by some of the 20th century’s most important film costume designers. The collection was transferred to the V&A in 2015.