Shirley Ann Russell
Shirley Ann Russell was a British costume designer. She has received various accolades, including a BAFTA Film Award and two BAFTA Television Awards, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and an Emmy Award.
Career
Russell studied Fashion at Walthamstow College of Art, and she later attended the Royal College of Art. She ran her own firm of film costumiers, called The Last Picture Frock, particularly specialising in 1930s and 1940s clothing. The firm was sold to the costumier Angels in the 1970s. Her interest in historic costume began when she assisted Doris Langley Moore, the founder of the Fashion Museum, Bath. She was a widely-acknowledged expert on period costuming and was often called upon by art dealers to help them date paintings.Russell's costume designs were detailed and nuanced, using costume to show subtle distinctions in class. She was known for the weight and authenticity her design lent to characters. In 1969's film Women in Love her designs signalled the social and cultural differences between the two Brangwen sisters and the Crich family, and were nominated for a Best Costume Design BAFA. She designed for stars such as Vanessa Redgrave in A Song at Twilight, Rudolf Nureyev in Valentino and Roger Daltrey in Lisztomania. Her design for Daltrey was described by Russell as "fantasticated gear" - the jacket had huge labels featuring keyboard motifs. Another "fantasticated design" is 'The Acid Queen' from Tommy.
Collaborations with her husband Ken Russell included: Women in Love, Amelia and the Angel, The Music Lovers, The Devils, The Boy Friend, Savage Messiah, Mahler, Tommy, Lisztomania, and Valentino. Russell's other credits include The Little Prince, Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Return of the Soldier, The Razor's Edge, Hope and Glory, The Bride, Yanks, Gulliver's Travels, I Dreamed of Africa, and Shackleton.