British designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux studied theatre design at university, then began working for the BBC, then worked independently on film. She’s done several well-lauded contemporary productions (like Chernobyl), but she has a solid resume in period films. Let’s take a look!
Doctor Who: “The Visitation” (1982)
Set in 17th-century London.
The Black Adder (1983)
The first season of this epic comedy show! In this one, Black Adder (Rowan Atkinson) is an evil genius living in 1485 Britain.
Oscar (1985)
A biopic about Oscar Wilde, starring Michael Gambon.
Sunday Premiere: “The Happy Valley” (1986)
A TV episode about a murder that took place in 1941 Kenya.
Theatre Night: “The Miser” (1988)
A TV adaptation of the Molière play.
The Woman in White (1997)
A BBC adaptation of the 1859 “sensation” (aka gothic) novel.
Great Expectations (1999)
A BBC adaptation of the Dickens novel.
The Lost Prince (2003)
A bio-series about the developmentally disabled youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary. Dicks-Mireau won an Emmy for this.
10,000 BC (2008)
An adventure film about a tribe of mammoth hunters.
“Dicks-Mireaux began her research in the British Museum, as well as archive collections in Cape Town. However, she acknowledges, ‘there’s not much at all on clothing in the British Museum. The only visual records from around that era are some rock paintings in South Africa. So we took inspiration from the screenplay'” (10,000 B.C. movie production notes).
An Education (2009)
A coming-of-age story set in 1960s London.
Bel Ami (2012)
An adaptation of an 1885 Guy de Maupassant novel.
The Hollow Crown: “Richard II” (2012)
One play from the gritty Shakespeare series.
Brooklyn (2015)
A young Irishwoman immigrates to the U.S. and has to find her way between two countries.
“I didn’t want that thing where the woman is of limited means and has tons of great clothes changes, never re-wearing anything. She was not a girl of a lot of means; she was just a working girl in a department store. So I wanted to make her wardrobe what she’d possibly really wear” (Q&A: The Costumes: ‘Brooklyn’s’ immigrant tale dressed in Irish, American style).
Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)
A biographical film about the writer of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories and his family.
Last Night in Soho (2021)
A psychological horror story in which a modern-day woman dreams about, and then starts to live the life of, a woman in the 1960s.
“She turned to paper patterns. ‘Sandy wasn’t a fashion model, you see. She was just an ordinary girl wanting to be a great singer-it was important to keep that grounded,’ she explains. ‘When I was growing up in the sixties, paper patterns and making your own dresses, because clothes were so expensive, was a big thing… I remember going to John Lewis to look at the patterns and dream about what I could make'” (The story behind Last Night in Soho’s nostalgic 1960s costumes).
The Wonder (2022)
“Set in The Irish Midlands in 1862, the story follows a young girl who stops eating but remains miraculously alive and well.”
See How They Run (2022)
A comedy/mystery film set in 1950s London.
What’s your favorite of Odile Dicks-Mireaux’s period work?
I loved “The Lost Prince,” but didn’t pay attention to the credits when I saw it. Every choice here seems period perfect and I like her philosophy of how the characters wardrobes came to be. Have to say that I do love a Regency gown on Miss Haversham. It’s perfect. The costuming on Blackadder has always been spot on – especially series 2 and 3. Not having seen “The Woman in White,” I just want to know why the young man is working on a Rossetti painting??? “Last Night in Soho” is on my watchlist – will definitely be paying more attention to the costuming when I do see it.
I haven’t seen “Woman in White,” but I was wondering the same thing! “Last Night in Soho” is AMAZING, but stressful. You’ll enjoy it!
The Rossetti painting is a plot point, which I mention in my review (linked above), but I don’t give details about it on except for the dates as it relates to the costumes.