Arlington Museum of Art to show shining, shimmering, splendid costumes from Disney Archives (2024)

The coat of Captain Jack Sparrow is a light, linen silk tweed, crafted to accommodate the eccentricity that actor Johnny Depp captured in the character.

Viewing the costume up close, it becomes apparent the outfit is entirely hand-stitched for realism, appearing right out of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise’s 18th-century setting.

Starting Sept. 14, Arlington locals can see the costume up close — each stitch and thread — at the Arlington Museum of Art, next to over 300 other costumes and props from the Walt Disney Archives.

The museum’s latest exhibitions put Belle’s yellow dress worn by Emma Watson in “Beauty and the Beast” next to Maleficent’s dark robes worn by Angelina Jolie. In the neighboring room, Lily James’ crown from “Cinderella” sits near a collection of jewels from “The Chronicles of Narnia” franchise.

The costumes and props are split into two exhibitions: “All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives,” which is on display for the second time since its debut in 2021, and the “Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume” collection.

Arlington Museum of Art is the first venue to host both exhibitions simultaneously, and it’s hosting the collections until March 23, 2025.

“It’s always like Christmas when they take costumes out of the crates,” said Kendall Quirk, the museum’s registrar and director of exhibitions. “It’s an emotional thing to see these personal characters in front of you and to see what they really look like.”

Quirk said some museum visitors will find props from their favorite Disney comfort movies; others will find costumes from nostalgic films they’ve watched their whole lives.

She speaks from experience, finding her own nostalgia in the exhibition’s crowns and props from “The Princess Diaries.” Quirk grew up watching and relating to the franchise and said she feels the rest of her generation can say the same.

Each costume is displayed with facts and quotes from the designers and actors about the experience of creating, or wearing, the outfit.

“Early on Meryl knew she was going to be crouched down and have this stance, almost like a spider’s stance,” reads a quote from Oscar-winning designer Colleen Atwood, who designed Meryl Streep’s costume as the Witch in the “Into the Woods” film. “I had to make sure that the costume worked for her.”

Drew Shaw

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Arlington Report

Art is more than paintings on a wall — a central message the museum wants to communicate through its hosting the costumes, Quirk said.

The exhibitions explore artistry seen in the sculpting of a glass slipper, the casting of a prop crown and the sketching of an ice-studded suit for Jack Frost in “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.”

“Costuming is an art, and these designers are artists,” Quirk said. “There are sketches on the wall and you hear them talk about it, read their quotes about how they created these characters and their looks. These movies are thought about and cared about by everyone involved, not just the viewer.”

Drew Shaw

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Arlington Report

The museum’s other exhibition, “She Said, She Said: Contemporary Artists from the Rubell Museum,” is on display through Nov. 3. In August, the museum opened a showing of the Giant Water Bottle Sculpture Project, a 30-foot sculpture made of more than 20,000 water bottles that has traveled across Tarrant County.

Drew Shaw is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at drew.shaw@fortworthreport.org or@shawlings601. At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policyhere.

This article first appeared on Arlington Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.