Doctor Who Celebration - wardrobe trailer

Fans of the costumes on Doctor Who had a treat in store with the extensive exhibition, as well as the Wardrobe Workshop where you could meet members of the costume department.

But one little gem tucked away in a corner of the main hall was an original wardrobe trailer used by the costume department.

This was one of the big green buses you see loitering around when location filming is taking place.

Its plain exterior hid the treasure trove of costuming contained inside, and once you did get inside - there was only space for a dozen people at any one time - there was not restrictions to rifling through the racks and having a good nose at the contents of the hangers.

Just inside the door is a sort of office area, with benches on each side where sewing machines could be set up for use.

On the walls were a variety of continuity photos from the filming. Beyond this area were the costume rails. They roughly went in season order down one side, and back up the other.

Above the rails are tags, which once you looked closely didn’t always relate to what was below.

Amongst all the monster and supporting players costumes, there were some choice items for die hard Doctor fans.

Most of the costumes were pretty standard off the peg clothes used during the Tenth Doctor’s era.

But the Eleventh Doctor items proved to be the real treasure trove.

A total of three Donegal tweed jackets were on show.

One was on a display mannequin at the far end, along side an ironing board.

One the rails was another plain Donegal, plus the heavily distressed, burnt and torn version seen in The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang.

On the final rack was a small, but not insignificant collection of Tenth Doctor costumes.
Three pairs of the GAP trousers were hanging up, one pair somewhat torn and distressed, as seen in The Eleventh Hour, or possibly The End Of Time.

Also here was yet another brown Tenth Doctor suit. It has you wondering how many suit were actually made!

The final gem was a whole fist full of Tenth Doctor ties!

You could rummage through and see Tie 3, the YSL used in School Reunion.

Tie 5, the Thomas Nash tie from The Idiot’s Lantern.





Tie 11, the Massimo Dutti from The Next Doctor. (missing its label on the reverse).

Tie 12, the Massimo Dutti from The Doctor’s Daughter.

There was also the Rocha John Rocha tie, which was bought but went unused, as well as an unlabelled red and black floral tie, also unused.

But the prize was the replica Christian Lacroix ties made for The Eleventh Hour.

These have the blue swirls embroidered on with the reddish patches.

Two were here, one in pristine condition, the other torn and distressed.


It was jaw-dropping to discover the red patches on the tie are just fabric painted on by hand. I’m sure we all thought there were sections of red fabric appliquéd on, but as is often with film and tv work, the simplest solution is often the best.

It was quite inspiring to see the ties first-hand.
I might even have a go at making my own. Hummmm.

Doctor Who Celebration - costume exhibition

This weekend’s Doctor Who Celebration has been a feast for the eyes for fans.

As well as catering for those who have come to Who through the relaunch series, there has been a good nod to the history of the show with a wide variety of guests and an extensive exhibition of costumes culled from Cardiff’s Doctor Who Experience.

They had a near complete set of Doctor’s costumes on show (missing was the Eighth and War Doctors) arranged in a circle around Bessie.

The Tenth Doctor costume on show is not the one from The Experience (that was on the costume department display elsewhere at the Celebration).
The blue suit was often on display at the various regional exhibitions prior to the permanent Cardiff base opened.

One way or another there was quite a bit of stuff relating the the Tenth Doctor’s era.
There were costumes from all three main companions, including Rose’s 1050s outfit from The Idiot’s Lantern; Martha Jone’s iconic blood red leather jacket; and two of Donna Nobel’s costumes.

There was also some costumes from spin-off series Torchwood, including Captain Jack’s RAF greatcoat.


The Mr Smith attic set from Sarah Jane Adventures, plus her car. Also on show was Sarah Jane’s car from K-9 And Company.

If you want to see the costumes for the other Doctors at the exhibition, click the links below

Third Doctor              Fourth Doctor

Fifth Doctor                  Sixth Doctor

Seventh Doctor        Eleventh Doctor

* WARNING* FAKE items on eBay

I’ve been in two minds about posting this, but I decided to do so as a warning to other to sometimes be wary of what you see for sale on eBay.

The two items I’m highlighting appeared this week, and raised some eyebrows on a number of forums and social media sites.
They are so obviously wrong to not take in the savvy costume fan, are named such and come with apparent verifying documentation to possibly take in the less observant buyer.

Anyway, I leave you to judge their authenticity for yourself, but for what it’s worth I have my own opinions.

DAVID TENNANT
SCREEN USED SUIT

Day Of The Doctor - costume portraits

It’s less than ten days until the 50th Anniversary special, and the BBC have released some high resolution pictures of David Tennant in full costume.

The brown pinstripe suit is back; worn with a classic light blue shirt; off-white converses; and the new St George by Duffer narrow tie.





The shirt is a new, as yet unidentified label, rather than a previously worn from the Tenth Doctor era.

My Ultimate Tennant Suit - Half of Ten

A couple of days ago I showed you a pair of original GAP trousers on eBay that sold for £150.

I did wonder who had paid such a sum for one pair of trousers - but I have to confess I knew all along who it was - ME!

The trousers arrived today, and I must say they are in near mint condition.

You might notice in the corner of my photo there are other pairs lurking around.

Well, I now actually have three pairs!

It’s taken me a few years to get to this stage, so I’m in no real rush.

To complete a suit I really need six pairs - one to wear and five to tailor the jacket.

The pairs I have are:

Pair 1 - 
Size 34 x 32

These were left over from the Ultimate Tennant Suit, and taken as part-payment

Pair 2 -
Size 36 x 30

These are my latest acquisition through eBay

Pair 3 -
Size 36 x 34

I bought these through a private sale via the Gallifrey Base forums

If you have a pair of GAP trousers and are willing to part with them to help me reach my target, please email me at tennantcoat@me.com.

Super-rare GAP trousers on eBay

Since 2009 when I exclusively revealed the brand of the fabric used to make the iconic Tennant Suit was from GAP trousers, a few pairs have cropped up on eBay.

Photo by Scott Sebring

So far only one person, Kevin Coppa, has gathered enough pairs to recreate the suit in the form of the Ultimate Tennant Suit.

He was lucky enough to find six pairs from which we fashioned the jacket, based as closely as possible on the original suit.

Since then I haven’t seen many pairs for sale, but tonight a pair of size 36 waist closed, selling for a hefty £150 price tag.

I wonder who got them?

GAP Trousers Brown with blue pinstripes

SOLD FOR £150

GAP FLAT FRONT TROUSERS
CHOCOLATE BROWN WITH BRIGHT BLUE PINSTRIPES
MINT CONDITION - NEVER WORN
36" WAIST - 30" INSIDE LEG
~~

THESE ARE THE SAME BRAND, STYLE AND COLOUR AS WORN BY DAVID TENNANT IN DOCTOR WHO
~~
GAP never made a jacket to match these trousers, the one you see the Doctor wearing was made by the BBC costume department from four or five pairs of trousers. I don't think I'll ever find another four pairs so I'm selling these on in the hope that they might help someone else out.

The tie that never was on eBay

Now I’d be the first to admit this is a bit of a non-story since this tie was never screen-worn.

But two of the Rocha John Rocha ties as sold at the infamous Bonhams auction in 2010 (see right), were recently sold on eBay.

Although she never used it, the tie fell within the rules that costume designer Louise Page set herself - dark brown accented with light blue to reflect the brown suit with blue pinstripes.

You can see here how it could have worked with the suit and overcoat.

Not being one of the sought after ties, they sold for £10.99 each, which is a snip!

Rocha John Rocha Silk tie
Dark brown with bright blue stripe

BRAND NEW MENS LUXURY DARK BROWN/WITH BLUE METALLIC STRIPE DESIGNER CREASED EFFECT SILK HAND FINISHED TIE NEW IN WRAPPER FROM THE ROCHA COLLECTION@DESIGNERS AT DEBENHAMS( RRP £22.00)

THIS IS A LOVELY TIE, DARK BROWN WITH BRIGHT BLUE BROKEN STRIPE PATTERN, AND IS MADE OF 100% SILK, HAS A CREASED EFFECT, IS LINED, AND IS DRY CLEAN ONLY

WIDEST PART IS 3.75 INS

St George by Duffer Anniversary tie - the good news and the bad news

For those of you out there still on the look out for a St George by Duffer anniversary tie - the good news is that the Debenhams website now has them with 10% off!

This makes them £12.60 rather than the full £14 price tag.

St George by Duffer
Blue jacquard floral tie

But if you stop and think about it, it also means they are on their way out and Debenhams are looking to sell off the last of their stock.

So if you haven’t got yourself one yet - now’s your last chance - you are on notice!

Idiot’s Lantern tie - now in MONOCHROME!

A couple of days ago I teased about a tie that had arrived in the post.

Subsequently I had some comments that picked up on the word idiot I used, and yes, I was alluding to the Thomas Nash tie as seen in The Idiot’s Lantern.

BUT I wasn’t referring to the version currently being worked by Magnoli (you lost your bet, whoever you were, sorry).

One of my readers sent me a link to a tie on Amazon.com from a pretty nondescript menswear seller who has a silk tie for sale that is the exact image of the Thomas Nash tie - except it is in grey and black!

My jaw dropped when I saw it (as I imagine a few of my readers are right this minute seeing the pictures!)

The pattern looks ABSOLUTELY identical to screen-worn tie - just lacking any colour.

I HAD to order myself one, and this week it arrived.



I’m lucky to own an original Thomas Nash tie (the only one I ever saw on eBay during many years of searching) so the first thing I did was put it side-by-side to compare.

As you can see, not only is the weave perfect, the scale is too. It is precise.

This is way too much of a coincidence, that I am left wondering if they have bought in a pre-woven design and just coloured it in their own colour scheme, oblivious to its previous use by Thomas Nash.

I don’t know - but what other explanation can there be?

Well, if you want to get one of these ties yourself, before they sell out, the link is below.

Please be aware through Amazon.com they only ship to the US.

Silver Geometric Tie (Swirls) by Scott Allan

Alternatively, you can order from the Scott Allan Collection website.
They will ship internationally, and shipping to the UK is $8.99.

Scott Allan Ties
Silver Grey Geometric Necktie

Replica tie - but not as we know it

I’ve just received a tie in the post.

It’s a ‘replica’ tie - is stitch-perfect - but not quite what you’d expect.

Check back in the next couple of days to see what it is and my review.

You’d be an idiot to miss it!

If the Tenth Doctor wore a bow tie...

... this would be it!

While on the hunt for the perfect Matt Smith bow tie, a good friend of mine has found an interesting maker on Etsy.com, called TheDirectorsCabin.

As well as a small range of Eleventh Doctor bow ties (see right) they also do a number of other Doctors including the Fourth and Fifth, plus several abstract Doctor Who related patterns.

But the ones that caught my eye from a Tenth Doctor point of view were a number based on his iconic brown pinstriped suit!

I find it interesting that one of the bow ties is the same colour as the old JoAnn linen fabric which was around many years ago.

David Tennant Tribute Silk bow tie

David Tennant Tribute Cotton bow tie

David Tennant Tribute Pre-tied bow tie