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You’ve never seen Titanic like this – in fashion and Legos!
James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster movie “Titanic” won a record 11 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Costume Design. Now, 20 years later, an assortment of fashions worn in the movie will soon be on display at Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Glamour on Board: Fashion from Titanic the Movie runs February 9 through May 13 and is included in estate admission.
Leslie Klinger, Biltmore curator of interpretation, says around 50 costumes will be displayed throughout George Vanderbilt’s palatial home. The exhibit gives onlookers a chance to admire the exquisite fashions, some of which may have only appeared on screen for a few seconds. There are also prominent costumes like those worn by lead actors Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio.
“There really are some stunning designs,” says Klinger. “We spent quite a bit of time in 20th Century Fox’s archives and their wardrobe. They had racks and racks of clothing stored since filming. We were able to draw key costumes, but we were also able to draw from stock of support costumes.”
She says one of the coolest finds in their research was a 1912 ad in a copy of Les Modes, a French fashion magazine of that time period. The ad was apparently the inspiration for Kate Winslet’s outfit when she was boarding.
“Edith Vanderbilt was a subscriber,” Klinger says. “We have all of those magazines from that time period. Edith was taking inspiration for her own fashion from these magazines and treasured them enough to keep the copies in our library. The connections are really deep with what the Vanderbilts and their guests were wearing at that time.”
Ironically, George and Edith Vanderbilt were booked on the ill-fated voyage of Titanic, but George decided to make a last-minute change and they arrived back in the U.S. aboard The Olympic.
Beginning in March 2018, the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, will display the world’s largest replica of the RMS Titanic. But it’s created out of something you might not expect—56,000 LEGO bricks.
A 12-year-old boy in Iceland conceived the idea when he was 10 years old and spent 11 months building the 25-foot model. Brynjar Karl Birgisson, who is autistic, has also gained international attention for his book, “My Autistic X Factor.”
Birgisson says on his website (brynjarkarl.com), “I’m known as the LEGO boy. I follow my ship wherever it travels and tell people how I built it and also encourage kids to follow their own ambitious dream.”
The Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge is the first and only location in the U.S. where the ship will be on display. A sneak peek is planned in February. For additional details, visit titanicpigeonforge.com.
