Oh boy, these are gonna be hard to find! You're looking for a high heel, knee-high boot that laces up the back side of the leg. They also have a peep-toe (but you'll most likely have to create that yourself). It looks like part of the vamp is made of a shinier, patent leather - and then the rest is some sort of slightly-stretchy pleather. Most Franks just attach a different anklet to their boot so they don't have to fuss with it in their quick change before the dinner scene.
D'Orsay (pronounced "door-say") is a style of heel where the sides are cutaway on the vamp. You can read more about its 19th century origins and history here.
Terry de Havilland (aka the "Rock-n-Roll cobbler of the 70s") was an English shoe designer (1938 - 2019). You can read more about his amazing career here.
Frank's Sweet T shoes are D'Orsay style platform heels designed by Terry de Havilland. They feature a very small, triangular peep-toe opening that is hard to discern from the side view (like the red shoes below).
The modern "Lena" line by Terry de Havilland is similar in many ways, but not an exact match. Most of the newer lines have a larger, curved toe opening (like the silver shoes below).
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| Newer D'Orsay styles by Terry de Havilland | Vintage peep toe shoes with a triangular opening |
I was so excited that the Space Suits who inspired mine were actually there - along with so many other people in amazing costumes. My wings were actually just left-over prototypes - one was made with 3mm foam and the other side with 4mm foam. No big deal, I don't think anyone could tell. The buckle was 3D printed by my husband. First I sprayed the vertical bits hot pink, then I over-sprayed them with a darker (almost purplish) glitter spray to get it to match the tabard.
RHS Space Suits from one of the early stage productions (before the film) - not sure what color they were, but I've seen references online that they were silver.
I'd like to curate a product list on Amazon - the best option to accomplish this goal is to create an Amazon Influencer Acct. However, I deleted my Columbia's Closet accounts on Facebook and Instagram several years ago. They were permanently deleted and not able to be restored so now I'm having to build everything from the ground up again. Amazon will look at my social media metrics before approving me - I need roughly 500 followers, but also a lot of interaction (in the form of likes and comments). So if you've got some free time and want to help me reach this minor goal please follow (and even share!) my accounts with all your Rocky Horror friends:
Columbia's Closet on Instagram
Columbia's Closet on Facebook
I guess in my original post about Columbia's Pajamas I never included her shoes. Although I can't tell if she's wearing shoes during Touch-a, you can clearly hear them when she gets up to leave the dinner table. The best time to see them is during her monologue before she gets Transduced. It's also a great capture of that ridiculously long string hanging from her waist.
They're just basic black mules (slide-on slippers with a heel).
They're also on her feet during her Eddie's Teddy verse, but so hard to see without lightening the screenshots substantially...
In the stage production the Usherette has traditionally been performed by the same actress as Magenta. In the original 1973 cast Patricia Quinn wore a pink usherette dress with an enormous Elvis Presley pin and carried a "Strawberry time" serving tray. The outfit was topped off with a fan-shaped cap (?) that read Sloane Cinema. The Royal Court Theatre (located in Sloane Square, London) was built in 1888, and for a period between 1935 to 1940 was actually used as a cinema before being closed from bomb damage in the war. The theatre reopened in 1952 and the smaller Theatre Upstairs (with just 63 seats) was added in 1969 - where Rocky Horror would premier 4 years later.
Shawn A. speculates the tailcoat was cut down from a longer coat - and I find that theory intriguing. Perhaps cut down from a Frock coat of some sort (think Abraham Lincoln style of coat). Check out that wayward button way up there on his chest (and the dangling threads of buttons past). Either way, here's some detailed photos from Mick (click to enlarge). Also great shot of the Winklepicker boots, his single spat, and the lacing on his right leg. And did someone split their pants? Hmm.
Bruce M. believes it's a vintage tailcoat from the very early 20th century and has provided this example of a tailcoat pattern from that era. He says "If you look closely at the photos, you can see it was a vintage tailcoat, probably from about 1910's. It has the characteristic 'strap' on the tail skirt as and center front seam, typical of tailcoats made from about 1810 to the 1910's. It looks like it was probably made for someone slightly taller than Richard O'Brian, so a hump could go across the shoulders. The edge of the tail was either worn and/or distressed to look very used."
Per a discussion in the Rocky Horror Costume FB Group, it appears to be a M16 Stahlhelm (issued from 1916 to the end of WW2) likely with Lancers Death or Glory Badge on the front. Replicas available from Epic Militaria in Ireland (however it doesn't come in silver color).
Ruth's research on the Anal Retentive Costume List claims it's a German WWII M42 style helmet, which is similar with slightly different holes.
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| screen shot provide by Peter J. |
Todd D. emailed me this amazing rehearsal shot of the space suits sans wings!
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This is from the 1979 "Rocky Horror Picture Show Official Magazine"
You can also view the PDF online in my Google drive.
This was a recent topic in a Facebook group and it got me reminiscing. I can't speak for everyone, but I can offer some insight into what it was like for me. I started performing in 1987 so there were still some "old school" people hanging around with us.
Besides watching the movie and looking for details at the show every weekend, my primary source was actually other performers. Costume knowledge was sort of cumulative - so you'd work with what had already been figured out by your predecessors and then try to find new details to improve your own costume.
The Rocky Horror Poster Magazines and Bill Henkin book had been out since 1979 (and advertised through the fan club) featuring some great reference photos from the film and Mick Rock's collection. There were also trading cards, calendars, production stills, etc - things you'd find at comic book shops.
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| All of this was available in 1978-9 |
Some members in our local (Houston) cast had a 13th generation VHS tape of the film with Japanese subtitles. It was awful - you couldn't see a single detail when you tried to pause it. Not very useful for costume research, but it helped a lot with choreography.
Articles would also in other mainstream magazines - especially around every 'anniversary'. I would dig through library catalogs to find "Rocky Horror" in back issues of People and Time Magazine. Sometimes they'd even have a physical copy of the magazine on hand and some pages may or may not have gone missing from a library in rural Arkansas...
In 1989 MTV aired "The Rocky Horror Video Show" which was a 30-minute condensed version of the film - it had Dammit Janet, Time Warp, Sweet T, Hot Patootie, I'm Going Home, and (new to me!!) Super Heroes. And of course by then we all had VHS recorders!
My costume was constantly being upgraded as I corrected mistakes and found better materials. Nobody in our cast had everything - we shared a lot. I had a gold tailcoat that a lot of other Columbias borrowed. .
My tabard pattern (~$7 for large format printing)
1 yd Metallic Foil Gold Spandex ($7.99/yd + tax & shipping = $17.16)
1 pkg Warm & Natural batting 45" x 60" ($19.99 + tax = $21.63)
3 pkg Wright's 7/8" Single fold bias tape ($3.99/ea + tax = $12.96)
6 1-1/8 Fabric covered button kit ($6.99/pkg + tax = $7.56)
2 yd Black Kona Cotton backing ($9.99/yd + tax = $21.63)
Large snaps (for neck opening and tabs)
= $87.94
You can see why it's not really feasible for me to make/sell these when it costs over $80 just to make the tabard without the belt and wings. There's not much room left for cost of labor.
I'm hoping to make separate blog posts for the belt and wings...
Magenta wears her stiletto boots up until the Takeover scene. The scalloped button edge is very Victorian-esque, though the stiletto heel definitely is not. They appear to be brushed satin, and there are 7 working buttons (notice her left boot is unbuttoned in Touch-a). Some years back Betsey Johnson released a very similar homage; though it's suede, has 6 faux buttons, and a zipper for easy wearing. They still turn up on sites like eBay and Poshmark regularly - search for "Betsey Johnson Wing It" boots.
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