Out of this World costume exhibition comes to California

The collection of 43 items began their roadshow in February 2008 at the Oshkosh Public Museum in Wisconsin and, having stopped off in states such as West Virginia, Montana and Washington, has now made its way to The Golden State, where it will also finish in January 2011. According to the blurb, “the exhibition examines how costume design incorporates colour, style, scale, materials, historical traditions and cultural cues to help performers and audiences engage with the characters being portrayed.” Its purpose “to offer museum visitors new ways of seeing characters as defined by their costumes.”

And the costumes on offer are the stuff of every film fan’s dreams. If you’re looking for a little heroic inspiration, there’s the whip used by Harrison Ford as intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones in the saga’s first instalment, Raiders of the Lost Ark, as well as the leather jacket he dons in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. While comic book fans will enjoy the Batsuit as squeezed into by George Clooney for the misfiring Batman & Robin.

Or if you prefer to cheer on the bad guy, there’s Arnie’s leather jacket from the time travel favourite, The Terminator and the pointed witch’s hat as seen on Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West in timeless masterpiece, The Wizard of Oz.

Alternatively, if sci-fi is your thing, check out Dan Aykroyd’s ghostbusting costume from the 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II and the embroidered robe as seen on Eldon Tyrell, creator of the replicants in Sir Ridley Scott’s futuristic film noir, Blade Runner. While arguably, the real highlights are those from George Lucas’s much-beloved space saga, Star Wars. If a follower of the Jedi, there’s the robe worn by Sir Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the 1977 original, or if leaning towards the dark side, catch the cape, helmet and lightsaber as used by Darth Vader in Star Wars and its follow-up, The Empire Strikes Back.

The exhibition was organised by the Experience Music Project and will continue at The California Museum until 10th January 2010.

For more information on the times and dates, hit the museum’s website here.

[via Original Prop Blog]