Not on display

Costume Design

1958 (Painted, drawn)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Costume design for Barbara Windsor as a Committee Woman. The design depicts a full length female figure wearing a lowcut, long sleeved, tight fitting black dress with puffed skirt. She wears a blue and purple sash with "True Party" written in white over her right shoulder. She also wears a pair of white gloves, a small black har with veil, and she carries a black handbag in her right hand.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gouache and pencil, on paper
Brief description
Costume design by Desmond Heeley for Barbara Windsor as a Committee Woman in "Keep Your Hair On!", Apollo Theatre, 1958.
Physical description
Costume design for Barbara Windsor as a Committee Woman. The design depicts a full length female figure wearing a lowcut, long sleeved, tight fitting black dress with puffed skirt. She wears a blue and purple sash with "True Party" written in white over her right shoulder. She also wears a pair of white gloves, a small black har with veil, and she carries a black handbag in her right hand.
Dimensions
  • Height: 250mm
  • Width: 191mm
  • Card mount height: 252mm
  • Card mount width: 377mm
The design has been mounted directly onto card with another design (S.657-2001)
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
  • ' 2 / COMMITTE '

    Note
    Textual information; Upper right hand corner of the design; handwriting; ink

  • ' Windsor '

    Note
    Textual information; Centre right hand edge of the design.; handwriting; pencil

  • ' SMART LADY. '

    Note
    Textual information; Lower right hand corner of the design.; handwriting; ballpoint pen

Credit line
Given by Jeremy Lawrence
Object history
This costume design by Desmond Heeley is part of a collection of 15 designs and other items donated to the Theatre Museum by Mr Jeremy Lawrence in 1991. The design was executed for a production of John Cranko's musical "Keep Your Hair On!", which opened at the Apollo Theatre on February 13th 1958. The music was composed by John Addison, and the lighting was by Michael Northern. Heeley also designed the settings in collaboration with Tony Armstrong Jones. The cast included Betty Marsden, John Turner, Gilbert Vernon, Erik Mork, Rachel Roberts, and Barbara Windsor.
Production
Reason For Production: Commission
Subjects depicted
Associations
Literary referenceKeep Your Hair On!
Collection
Accession number
S.656-2001

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdOctober 12, 2001
Record URL
Download as: JSON