Angels Costumes is a supplier of

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people. The term also was tradition ...

s based in London, England to the film, theatre and television industries, as well as to the general public. The company, founded in 1840, is the longest-established costume supplier in the world, and has supplied costumes to 37 films that have received the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, including the 2010 film ''Alice in Wonderland'' and, most recently, ''

The Grand Budapest Hotel ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort in the fiction ...

''. Since its founding the company has stayed in family ownership for six consecutive generations, and is currently run by Chairman Tim Angel,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(former chairman, BAFTA; former governor,

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

) and his three children, Emma (director of fancy dress), Daniel (head of costume) and Jeremy (creative director).

Early years

Morris Angel started his business in 1840 in the Seven Dials area of London, near Covent Garden, selling second-hand clothing and tailors' samples from

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

. Morris Angel's shop became popular with theatrical actors, who at that time had to purchase their own clothes and costumes for auditions and performances. It was a request from actors to hire rather than buy outfits for the duration of a performance that began the business model that remains in use by the company today. Morris Angel brought his son Daniel into the business in 1870, and seven years later, the family opened a shop at 119

Shaftesbury Avenue Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadilly C ...

which still house
Angels Fancy Dress
nearly 150 years later.

Cinema and the Oscars

With the advent of cinema, the Angel family made its second major diversification by supplying costumes to the new movie industry. Angels supplied its first Academy Award-winning costumes to Laurence Olivier's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' in 1948. To date, 37 Best Costume Oscars have followed for work that the company has undertaken on major international films, including '' Star Wars'', ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'', ''

Lawrence Of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–191 ...

'', ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'', '' The Aviator'', ''

Memoirs of a Geisha ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and ...

'' and '' Marie Antoinette''. In 2015, Angels provided costumes to four of the five films nominated in this category: ''

Mr. Turner ''Mr. Turner'' is a 2014 biographical drama film based on the last 25 years of the life of artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). Written and directed by Mike Leigh, the film stars Timothy Spall in the title role, with Dorothy Atkinson, Paul Je ...

'', ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'', ''

Maleficent Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed " Mistress of All Evil ...

'' and ''

'', which won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design that year.

Twenty-first century

The business currently has two divisions: Angels The Costumiers, based in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

, which supplies costumes to the entertainment industry, an
Angels Fancy Dress
suppliers of fancy dress to the general public. The Angels warehouse in Hendon, north London, where the majority of their costume collection is stored, houses an estimated five million items on approximately eight miles of rails. Angels now runs public tours twice a month. The shop now houses four floors of fancy dress costumes available to purchase and hire. Angels Fancy Dress also sells costumes online. In 2015 Angels celebrated its 175-year anniversary, and to mark the milestone decided to hold an exhibition showing some of the company's most famous costume creations. Dressed by Angels, held at the

Old Truman Brewery The Black Eagle Brewery is the former brewing plant of Truman's Brewery located around Brick Lane in the Spitalfields area, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Truman's subsequently became Truman, Hanbury and Buxton. By 1853, the Black Eagle ...

in London from October to November 2015, allowed the public to view more than 100 iconic costumes from the worlds of film, TV, and theatre. As a companion to the exhibition, Angels also brought out a book, ''Behind the Seams'', which offers readers further insight into the workings of the company. In 2016, Angels won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Due to the shift from brick and mortar stores to online, Angels then launched Fancydress.com in 2001. Fancydress.com remains the UK's leading fancy dress retailer to this day.

Trivia

In September 2005, the original cloak worn by Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas's '' Star Wars'' film was rediscovered hanging on the rails at Angels. Having been unwittingly available to the general public for some time as a monk's robe as well as being used as a crowd-scene costume in films including ''The Mummy'', the provenance of the piece was confirmed by John Mollo, who created the item for the film in 1977, and received an Oscar for his efforts. The Obi-Wan Kenobi cloak was auctioned by

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

in London on 6 March 2007 for £55,000. It formed part of a sale of 400 lots from the Angels archive – alongside costumes from ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

'', '' Doctor Who'', and '' Highlander'', as well as items worn onscreen by

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia ...

and

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

. In the late 1980s, fashion designer

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashio ...

worked at Angels as a costumier, and Daniella Helayel of London fashion company uses costumes held at Angels for inspiration. Until 1966 Angels was also the tailor to the military and diplomatic services, and now houses a collection of military and civilian uniforms.

References

External links

*
Angels Fancy Dress Store

Fancydress.comFancydogs
{{BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award 1840 establishments in England Costume design British companies established in 1840 Retail companies based in London Retail companies established in 1840 BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award