Frank Costumes FROM THE PLAY
FROM THE BELASCO, NOT FROM THE FILM
Once Again, THESE COSTUMES ARE NOT FROM THE FILM.
Last Updated: 9/8/2006
How We Got Them:
I purchased the costumes at auction from Dori Hartley at the 25th Anniversary on Oct. 13, 2000. Dori was given several of Tim's costume items from the failed Broadway production at the Belasco many years back.
(I believe you can read the story in Bill Henkin's "Rocky Horror Picture Show Book.") I purchased the fabric items and another fan, Jeff Mace, purchased Tim's shoe. Three years later, I acquired the shoe from Jeff.
So yes, these costumes are NOT FROM THE MOVIE. They are from a 1975 version of the play where Tim played Frank and Sue Blane did the costume design. They are posted here because people have asked to see them and I feel people may find some useful construction tips here. Sue Blane probably used similar techniques for the film items.
These photos are quite large and may take a while to load. I will be posting more...but for now, here is a start.
The Belasco Red Corset
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Corset interior, laid out flat. Note the boning lines and how the panels are assembled.
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Corset exterior. Yes, there are four straps; they're just hard to lay out flat.
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One of the straps. One side black shiny knit (?) fabric, one side red satin, serged together and sewed straight down the middle onto a thin piece of black elastic to get the gathering. (The elastic doesn't show up well in the photo; sorry.) The elastic loops at the end to hold the fitting.
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One of the straps, from the back. The elastic shows up much better here. It is sewed directly onto the back of the corset; that's red bias tape sewn along the bottom interior edge of the corset.
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Detail showing lace on the corset bottom. Note that Sue glued the sequins on (note also the colors she used) and that many of them have come off. The black lace is sewed onto the corset body; the red ruffle is sewed on over it so the top of the black lace peeks out on top.
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Bugle bead detail, Frank's right. 3 long red strands; one short one; 1 long and 1 short black strand. Yes, they look sort of ruby red in the picture, but I'm sitting here looking at the original and they are black. Again, the ruffle is just stitched right on top of the corset.
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Bugle bead detail, Frank's left.
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Center bottom detail. Note the use of bias tape along the edges of the satin. Most of the eyelets have pulled out; this corset has one or two red eyelets left. I strongly recommend the use of eyelets.
