Spring 2016 The Costume Designer 27
The two additional images illustrate ancient principles
of alchemy: The Tree of Knowledge and The Hand of
Mysteries. The last image, painted on the back of his coat, is
an amalgamation of many recurring themes. I fell in love with
the illustrations of medicinal bottles found in 18th-century
alchemy manuscripts. They are quite beautiful—with birds
flying inside them, fish swimming, or plants growing out of
them. They represent various potions and elixirs. There are
also a lot of illustrated skulls in alchemy. So I designed a tree
that grows out of the bottle into a skull. You can buy potions
to take life, or give it—the meaning is ambiguous.
It is a singular coat. I am incredibly happy about it. It is
a magical hocus-pocus kind of garment, but I think it also
has an air of sophistication and intellectualism to it. It's a
coat that asks you to think and consider your possibilities
very carefully.
This magical garment wouldn't have been possible with-
out my embroidery team: Liz, Fiona, Julia, and Francesca,
and my textile artist, Helen.
All images courtesy of Terry Dresbach
