Screen worn Liam Neeson Rob Roy Costume

[Guthrumironhead]

I thought some would find this of interest.

http://https://m.ebay.com/itm/Rob-Roy-MacGregors-Liam-Neeson-Highland-Tunic-Shirt-Nightdress-Kilt-w-COA/263752197894?hash=item3d68db2706:g:YocAAOSwJV1Z4Sc P:sc:USPSPriority!27540!US!-1

[Tobus]

That "buy it now" price of $819.99 is awfully low for Hollywood memorabilia like that. Something seems "off" about it.

They say it has a certificate of authenticity, and there's a photo of one (which looks like a printout that anyone could fake with their laserjet printer). Then the description reads, "The origin of the kilt is unknown. The costume was acquired as a set along with the tunic but the kilt did not come with a letter or show evidence of its' authenticity. Please consider the kilt not authentic as it is highly likely that it is a reproduction piece." So, what gives? Is it real or not?

[OC Richard]

One needs to take the "screen worn" claim with a large grain of salt.

This is due to the way costumes in films are done.

Let's take Indiana Jones' fedora for example. When an Indiana Jones film was leading up to being shot a number of identical hats would be ordered from the hatmaker. I'm not sure how many, but it would probably be at least a dozen, maybe around 20.

Then all of these hats would be distressed in a matching way.

When a shot was being done all of these hats would be to hand, and the costumer would grab one for the particular shot.

The fact that all of these hats would tend to take on very subtle individual peculiarities in shape is why Indiana Jones hat experts have identified specific hats in different scenes. Sometimes the hat will change from shot to shot in the same scene.

Now it's true that all of these 20 or so hats were made for the film. But which ones were "screen worn"? Nobody knows. The closest we can get is to study the film, and if a "screen worn" hat comes up to auction which has a shape that didn't appear in any scene in the final cut of the film we can say it's probably an authentic hat made for the film, but not a "screen worn" hat. I do believe the Indiana Jones hat on display at the Smithsonian is like that (if I recall the discussion correctly).

So this Rob Roy shirt might be an authentic item made for the film. But was it screen worn? Who can say. For that final sword fight they would have had a dozen or so shirts with identical cuts and fake blood to hand.

BTW they do this because it's far cheaper to have a number of identical costume pieces to hand, so if the actor spills something on it or rips it or whatever they can just grab another one and keep the production moving on schedule. It would be unthinkable to only have one costume, and if something happens to it on set have the whole production delayed while they make another one!

[Me cousin Jack]

One needs to take the "screen worn" claim with a large grain of salt.

This is due to the way costumes in films are done.

Let's take Indiana Jones' fedora for example. When an Indiana Jones film was leading up to being shot a number of identical hats would be ordered from the hatmaker. I'm not sure how many, but it would probably be at least a dozen, maybe around 20.

Then all of these hats would be distressed in a matching way.

When a shot was being done all of these hats would be to hand, and the costumer would grab one for the particular shot.

The fact that all of these hats would tend to take on very subtle individual peculiarities in shape is why Indiana Jones hat experts have identified specific hats in different scenes. Sometimes the hat will change from shot to shot in the same scene.

Now it's true that all of these 20 or so hats were made for the film. But which ones were "screen worn"? Nobody knows. The closest we can get is to study the film, and if a "screen worn" hat comes up to auction which has a shape that didn't appear in any scene in the final cut of the film we can say it's probably an authentic hat made for the film, but not a "screen worn" hat. I do believe the Indiana Jones hat on display at the Smithsonian is like that (if I recall the discussion correctly).

So this Rob Roy shirt might be an authentic item made for the film. But was it screen worn? Who can say. For that final sword fight they would have had a dozen or so shirts with identical cuts and fake blood to hand.

BTW they do this because it's far cheaper to have a number of identical costume pieces to hand, so if the actor spills something on it or rips it or whatever they can just grab another one and keep the production moving on schedule. It would be unthinkable to only have one costume, and if something happens to it on set have the whole production delayed while they make another one!

only the nose knows

[figheadair]

Forget Roy Roy's kilt (or not). The plaid worn by the Duke of Argyll in the flight scene (and once on horse back) was a one off - I know, I wove it. It was also naturally dyed. Had I know that it was going to be sold off afterwards I'd have bought it back as it was a lovely piece Wonder where it ended up and if the buyer knew what they were getting. I doubt it.

[OC Richard]

Many if not most of the fabrics used for the costumes of the major characters in big-budget TV shows and films are one-offs, especially woven for the production.

Current examples are Westworld and Game Of Thrones.

But they don't weave enough for one costume, they weave enough for a dozen or so of each costume piece.

Back in the 1980s an example was the tweed for Sean Connery's hat in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. They wove yards and yards of that stuff, no-one seems to know how much, and they made a number of hats, no-one seems to know how many. They have slightly different shapes which is why on different shoots, different scenes, the shape of his hat changes.

Which makes you weaving a single bit of fabric for Rob Roy different than usual practice. What if grease or paint or something got spilt all over it during filming? Or it got lost, or destroyed or damaged in some way? Shooting (filming) can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, and obviously they're not going to shut down production so a new piece of fabric can be woven. They had to have had backup, it's unthinkable for them not to have had. If they only got one piece of fabric from you, the backup pieces would have had to have been woven by somebody else.

It's always been so. We don't even know how many pairs of ruby slippers were made for Wizard Of Oz. I think over a dozen authenticated pairs are known.