Between historical accuracy and creativity:

costume design in the Final Arc of Elizabeth: the Golden Age

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the costumes designed by costume designer Alexandra Byrne for the final scenes in the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age, by director Shekhar Kapur. The aim is to investigate the reconfiguration of the costumes through a contemporary conception, subverting the pattern represented in the portraits of the English monarch, presenting the designer’s choices of wearable elements and the psychological relationship between the costume and the dramatisation of the scene. In effect, the article aims to indicate the relevance of research into these relationships, which combine portrait analysis with costume design, in a new interdisciplinary study that deals not only with the reconfiguration of the image, but also with the techniques used to create clothes and costumes in different periods, using different materials.