"Orlando, to me you were and always will be, whether male or female, the pink, the pearl, and the perfection of your sex"

Last Saturday I watched the film 'Orlando' (1992)- it is an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel of the same title which has frequently been cited as a fantasy romance written for Woolf's lesbian lover Vita Sackville West. I am an avid Woolf fan, 'Mrs Dalloway' is in my top three books of all time, and Tilda Swinton plays the lead role of eponymous hero/heroine Orlando, and she is a film and fashion icon, so I should have liked it. I think I did. Perhaps it will grow in my esteem if I re-watch it, because the story is so confusing that it is difficult to follow and perhaps the second time around you focus more on character than plot. Despite the confusion, the cinematography and art direction is astounding. The set design for the Russian scenes is so inventive and eye-catching that you want to somehow pause the film and zoom in and around to examine all the minute details. The costume design is without a doubt the highlight of the film (apologies Tilda, it may have been the script or the odd direction to speak certain lines into the camera, but you really did not impress me this time). Sandy Powell was Oscar and Bafta nominated for the costume design and most definitely deserved to win. The sheer scale and depth of reference from French, Russian, Arabic and English histories of fashion, and the accuracy and believability of the costumes created is testament to Sandy's almost unparalleled skills. I also feel it is essential to mention the wigs!! They deserved an award in themselves, especially the French aristocratic ones which are so large and extravagant that they must have weighed a tonne!