The current special exhibit at The Biltmore in Asheville, NC is Fashionable Romance which features various wedding gowns that have been featured in films over the years. On a recent trip I was thrilled to discover that non-flash photography is permitted within the house if you use a cell phone or point and shoot camera (no larger cameras, tripods, selfie sticks or other larger photography equipment is allowed) so it allowed me the opportunity to capture some of the beauty of the dresses and men’s attire to share on the blog.
Many of the films were new to me but several were ones that I remember and the beauty of the costuming was not lost on me when I first saw them and certainly not as I viewed them in person at the estate.
I remember my dad loved the movie Out of Africa and so of course if he loved it I had to love it as well. Who wouldn’t love a movie with both Meryl Streep and Robert Redford? 
I remember the costuming was spectacular in this film and it makes me want to go back and rewatch it. The wedding gown was designed my Milena Canonero and the white silk hat was trimmed with floral embroidery and netting. It completed the outfit I think.
Don’t you love how they posed the mannequin just like the movie still?
How about this lovely dress from Hamlet? Once again they staged the dress beautifully with the mirror.
Gwyneth Paltrow starred in Emma in 1996 and the tone of the costuming for this early 1800’s based film was understated. Several outfits were on display from this film and they were simply stunning.
Another film I had never heard of was The Magnificent Ambersons which came out in 2002. The dress created by John Bright shows the 1880’s wedding dress style.
Mansfield Park, a film made in 2007, featured another 1800’s style wedding dress that was worn by Jane Austen’s beloved Fanny Price that was designed by Mike O’Neill. Simple but beautiful.
The Aristocrats was a 1999 film based on the lives of the Lennox sisters and the gown on display was typical of the 1740-1750 time period.
Costume designer James Keast designed the following dress for Geraldine Somerville to wear as she portrayed Lady Emily Lennox.
There were a lot of other dresses on display but you will have to go see the exhibit for yourself to see those I have not included on my blog tour. The exhibit runs February 12 – July 4, 2016 so you still have plenty of time. For more information about tickets and pricing click here.
To round out the exhibit the folks at The Biltmore have continued the experience in Antler Hill Village where the exhibition continues with displays that focus on the weddings of George and Edith Vanderbilt, their daughter, Cornelia and Joh Francis Amherst Cecil and grandson William A. V. Cecil and Mary Lee Ryan. The exhibit shares with visitors the first ever display of the family wedding veil worn by Mary Lee Ryan and her first cousin, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at her marriage to John F. Kennedy. 
If you want to read the other posts I have shared on this wonderful exhibition please feel free to click on the following links to go directly to those posts.
Fashionable Romance at The Biltmore
Fashionable Romance at The Biltmore Continues
