Object of the week: Costume designs for Julie Christie in the swinging 60s drama Darling

Julie Harris’s costume designs for the swinging London drama Darling (1965) would earn her an Academy Award, as well as the status of genuine fashion influencer. One writer noted how “a wave of Darling fashions swept America when the film was released there.” Yet, Harris herself remained somewhat ambivalent about the mod style her work on the film had epitomised.

Born in 1921, Harris described herself as “brought up in the film fan era of Carole Lombard and Joan Crawford, and Irene Dunne coming down the stairs singing ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ swathed in white fox”, which meant that the more gauche and quirky end of 1960s fashion didn’t really appeal to her personally; instead, she cited mature star Deborah Kerr as her favourite person to dress because she “liked her kind of clothes – and the way she wore them”.

Nonetheless, the designer rose to the challenge of creating precisely the right wardrobe for Darling’s girl-about-town Diana Scott, played by rising star of the era Julie Christie (who would also win an Oscar for the film). She kitted Christie out in miniskirts and knee-socks for the character’s more casual moments, then more opulent gowns and formal fashions as Diana climbs the social ladder, eventually becoming an Italian principessa.

Crafting the more youth-orientated outfits from the earlier part of the character’s trajectory, Harris was astute in seeking Christie’s advice on what young women were wearing at the time. They undertook pre-production shopping trips to acquire suitable off-the-rack clothes, and Harris would later give Christie credit for keeping the skirt lengths above the knee for her character, despite Harris’s qualms that the mini-skirt fad might have passed into obloquy by the time of the film’s release: “Julie Christie said keep it short and she was so right.”

Alongside the clothes that were acquired pret-à-porter, Harris also designed many costumes, setting out their details in her sketches, which are preserved in the BFI National Archive. These are things of beauty in their own right, expertly drawn with pencil, ink and pastel, often with fabric swatches attached to give directions to the costumiers who would be making the garments. 

The sketches also frequently include insights on character and scene. The smart suits and coats Harris designed clearly speak to Diana’s more serious moments, when she is attempting to adopt an appearance of sombre professionalism. But the addition of an op-art monochrome hat reminds us of her youthful verve. 

Evening dresses showcase her beauty and desirability, her route to social mobility as she eagerly accepts the role of decorative addition to all the best parties. Diana is a style chameleon, able to code-switch and always knowing the right thing to wear for all the many and varied situations she faces – which is achieved through Harris’s costuming expertise.

A particularly pivotal costume in Darling is Diana’s elegant principessa evening coat, intended to go over a chiffon underdress, and over a slip; layers deliberately designed to be torn off by their wearer as she suffers a breakdown, lonely and desperate in her aristocratic isolation, and trying to get back to the real woman beneath, whoever she might be. 

“Jewellery to break away” reads one of Harris’s telling annotations to the sketch, suggesting just how essential her contribution was to Darling’s climactic depiction of a woman in crisis, through the expressive medium of costume.

Produced with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.

For more on Julie Harris, her career in costume design and her work on Darling, read Melanie Williams’ article ‘The Girl You Don’t See: Julie Harris and the Costume Designer in British Cinema’.