Costumes from Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet visit New York

Olivia Hussey in Franco Zefferelli's "Romeo & Juliet"

It may have been Olivia Hussey’s nude scene that packed teenagers into movie theaters to see Franco Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet” in 1968, but it turned out to be the clothes that everyone remembered. The vermillion velvet gown, embroidered with silk, gemstones and pearls, that Juliet wore to the masked ball to dance the morisca with bells on her wrists; the moss-green doublets and violet caps of the street-fighting Montague boys; and the gray-blue sleeves that cloaked Romeo’s young arms as he hoisted himself up to the ancient stone balcony to kiss his lover, have all stayed in the collective memory for two generations.

These costumes—some of the most ravishing ever seen on film—were designed for “Romeo and Juliet” by Danilo Donati, who won an Academy Award for his work.  Nineteen of the historic garments are on display this week, free to the public, at the Time Warner Center. Each is a tour-de-force of color, texture and exquisite handiwork.

You’ll see Juliet’s famous vermillion dancing gown and Lady Capulet’s claret party dress with its stunningly wide, salmon-colored sleeves of patterned silk. A fabulous gold-threaded, green gown with coral inlays, embroidered with seed pearls, looks like it must have been worn by one of Romeo’s relatives. And a marigold gown with sleeves of carved velvet and red, gold and green checkerboard shoulder capes must have belonged to a noblewoman from the Capulet family.

Donati used color to distinguish the two family groups, dressing Juliet and her family in hot colors, while keeping Romeo’s clan in the shadows with blues, greens, plums and violets. When members of the warring families meet in the market square and fight, we can tell who’s in which clan, as easily as if they were Bloods and Crips.

But Donati’s colors and textures also responded to Shakepeare’s poetry with a rich visual poetry of their own. Rarely has there been a more sensual marriage of language and design.

“She doth teach the torches to burn bright!” exclaims Romeo, the first time he glimpses Juliet dancing the morisca.

Donati makes Olivia Hussey blaze in his crimson velvet. On her head, he’s placed a small, ruby cap, covered with pearls, and her raven hair is pulled back and braided with gold threads. He dresses her hot-headed cousin Tybalt (Michael York) in a black-and-mustard doublet and a burnt-sienna hat, which Tybalt tosses arrogantly into the air before charging at his foe.  

“Peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee!” Tybalt sneers as he lunges at Benvolio.

Seeing the costumes pinned onto mannequins and arranged in a roped off section on the Time Warner Center’s second floor balcony is sobering experience. I found myself awed by the opulence but dismayed by the context. These gowns, meant to sway to the beat of the morisca, are entirely still now. The fur-trimmed cloaks and velvet doublets sit heavily on dummy shoulders.

Poorly lit and badly served, the costumes seem to huddle between Hugo Boss and Borders, like unloved children abandoned at the mall. Somebody should have set up well-focused spotlights to make the silks and pearls glimmer mysteriously, as the designer intended. And, somehow, things should have been arranged so the public could walk around and among these garments, as one must with any sculpture.

What the costumes lack most, of course, are the actors who once inhabited them. But a dedicated curator and passionate lighting designer could have worked wonders. So could a big, HD video screen, running clips from Zeffirelli’s movie, for those who’ve never seen these clothes in action.

On loan from the Italian Cerratelli Foundation, which owns a large collection of couture-quality movie and opera attire, the “Romeo and Juliet” costumes are treasures that are part of Italy’s cultural heritage. Sent here to advertise Tuscany—Zeffirelli himself is Tuscan, while Donati (1927-2001) was born in Luzzara but studied art in Florence—the costumes would do more than that if they were handled wisely. They would illuminate one of the world’s truly great art and design traditions. Born with the Romans over two thousand years ago, Italian design continues to flourish today, not only in fashion and cinema but in every field.

Little known in this country, Danilo Donati designed inspired, imaginative costumes for some of the most beautiful movies of the twentieth century, including Zeffirelli’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “The Decameron” and “The Canterbury Tales,” and Federico Fellini’s “Satyricon” and “The Clowns.”  A large and lovingly-produced Donati show in New York seems long overdue. Curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute…are you listening?

Meanwhile, New Yorkers should take advantage of the free show this week and head for the second floor of the Time Warner Center. You might want to bring a flashlight—but bring your camera too. Then go home and watch the movie. Forty years after its debut, Zeffirelli’s “Romeo and Juliet” is still a delight on every level.

By Mona Molarsky © 2009

Romeo and Juliet Costumes: Tocasana in New York - on display at the 2nd floor of the Time Warner Center,  Columbus Circle and 59th Street,  through May 31, 2009. Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) The exhibit is free and open to the general public.
 

For more information:

To see clips of Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" on YouTube click here

To see the "Romeo and Juliet" trailer on YouTube click here

Danilo Donati profile
Franco Zeffirelli profile
The Cerratelli Foundation
Romeo and Juliet where are they now?

The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes