Over the next few weeks we are going to profile a few of the costumes used throughout the series. From the way they’re made to why they were designed the way they were. This week is Ebony and her Series 4 and Series 5 costumes. Click any of the pictures for a larger view.
Ebony has long been the wearer of red and black. She’s stong, both physically and mentally and she has the attitude to boot! Her costumes throughout each series have reflected her path at the time although always sticking to the black and red theme.
She’s got a body to die for and the costume department make sure everything she wears makes her look fantastic.
But there’s also comfort to consider. She needs to be able to run in them and in summer they need to be cool and in winter, warm.
Series 4 Costume
Ebony’s series 4 costume came in right at the end of Series 4 just as the Mallrats defeated The Techno’s.
The pants are made entirely of leather. Very soft and lightweight leather. The pants are divided into four panels – all black except for two red panels down the front. The front red leather panels each have seven bands across the top of the leg. From the knee down there is no front to the legs. They carry on down the back with the red satin lining on the inside. This gives a great effect and Meryl says they’re actually really comfortable to wear. The pants have a zip fly and dome at the top.
The belt is made of silver eyelets and vinyl and each eyelet is riveted by a band to the next one. The belt was also made by the costume department.
In Series 3 Ebony had a red jacket covered in silver eyelets. The costume department expanded on this idea in Series 4 by making a one shouldered halter top in the same design. These eyelets are extremely heavy and the jacket alone weighs about 2kg. On the halter top the eyelets are only on the front and there are 14 in total. There are criss cross ties on both the should and under the arm in which to do the top up. Again the entire piece is made from leather and has a satin lining.
Series 5 Costume
Ebony had quite a few costumes in Series 5 and this one didn’t feature until nearer the end.
The pants are made of soft black leather with four overlaying panels at each knee. From the knee down there are slits down the front as with the Series 4 pants. On the front of each thigh there are cut out panels which are criss crossed with red shoelaces. The outline of the holes is with a silver and black band. Again the inside of the pants are lined with red satin from the knee down and black linen from the knee up. These pants are done up with a zip at the front.
The other half to this costume is the corset. A very tricky thing to make I’d imagine. The whole corset is divided into eleven panels. Four black leather ones on each side plus three red leather ones in the middle. To match the pants they use the same black and silver banding down the front of the corset to outline the frontal detail.
The shoelaces are also used in the corset to criss cross two of the red leather panels. They start at the top and go over the shoulders.
It is lining that contains the boning. The lining is double sided and the boning is sewn in between the layers. The layer closest to the body is soft black brushed cotton and the other layer is heavier cotton like a thin pair of jeans. To lace the top up there are ten eyelets on each side to which black banding is laced through and done up tightly.
Finally there are the boots. Ebony’s worn a number of black boots throughout the five series but she’s been wearing these ones for the last two. With a 3 1/4 inch heel they are black leather and the label inside says Tamara, London.