Final Reflections on Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style

I am only now recovering from serious withdrawal symptoms even though its been almost 5 weeks since the Designing Bond exhibit completed its 13 week run. The place had been my second home for 13 weeks and now it's gone.

Goodbye blue snuggers! Here is the scene that greeted me upon each visit. You can also see the authentic Jinx bikini and replica Andress bikini and replica Sean TB trunks, as well as Dalt's film-worn scuba mask from LTK and the on the floor is the actual QoS boat anchor.

I miss these guys. It's like losing friends. To paraphrase Lupe. I miss them so much!!! Speaking of, her awesome red evening dress, is shown below. I spent much time gawking and sneaking little fabric grabs when the roving security weren't looking.

Virtually everything on display was authentic. The few replicas were identified as such. This whole exhibit was Bond movie heaven. Kamal Khan's backgammon board complete with all the little props- the dice cups, the actual dice, and it was justing sitting there on a table in the casino room, unfortunately with the security guy loafing right beside it. He wouldn't let me roll the dice. I asked him wasn't he curious to know if they actually came up double sixes every time. The guy gave me a blank look. Philistine!



Here, we have a glimpse of the casino room where a bevy of actual film-worn dresses were displayed. The Pam and Lupe dresses shown here were so close you could make out with the mannequins if you wanted. My personal favourite though was the little Olga dress from QoS. It was behind glass. I found myself continually circling back to ogle this actual Olga dress. Like being transported to the Bolivian desert with Olga. You could even see the little tear in the dress which is so visible in still photos.

The Eletra King, Vesper and Ivanka dresses are also visible in this shot as well. So many other iconic Bond costumes were displayed and many quite touchable. I will make a full listing in another posting.





I will say one of the funniest moments was seeing the actual ATAK machine from FYEO and the actual Bombe Surprise from DAF. Both are only brightly painted wood constructs. There is nothing remotely mechanical about either prop. I had to laugh. The buttons on the ATAK can't even be depressed.  Quite funny.

The Vesper dress. I can't remember what the tuxes were. If they weren't Sean tuxes, I didn't care and none of them were, although Sean's coat and hat from DN were displayed in the Mi6 office room. The coat and hat that Sean carries into his first meeting with MP and M. Iconic stuff and I touched both the hat and the coat. They were hanging on the actual coat stand. Awesome. Amazing that such an old coat and hat were so well preserved.

But again this is a shot of the Vesper dress.

Fleming first editions. :shock:



The actual "little golden gun" :shock:



Cable car film-used model and actual Holly black pantsuit from cable car fight.:shock:



Is this display double-plus awesome or what.



The Plenty O'Toole dress here is a replica, but it sure looked real. The mannequin was constructed to pay homage to the famous cleavage.



Another shot from the casino room which is where most of the dresses were displayed, and not behind glass either. It was like being transported into the films.

The Tiffany Case pastel pantsuit is the real thing and yes I touched it. :bounce:

The Laz kilt and Tracy dress were replicas but identical to the real thing. The same designers did all the replica work with tender loving care to detail.

One of my favourite displays. I almost pulled up a chair and asked for a reading. No doubt she would have flipped the fool card. That's the real dress, shoes and real prop cards. Triple-plus awesome.



OP prop balloon



Here we have the actual FRWL briefcase, preserved after all these years, as well as Dalts prop case from LTK and of course the famous Haselblad gun.



This display was pretty neat. That's the real photo (bottom left) which appears in the film

Check out this slideshow. Lots of great shots from the Tiff display

http://www.fashionmagazine.com/blogs/society/2012/10/26/designing-007-exhibit/attachment/james-bond-exhibit-tiff-lightbox-19/

The Tiff entrance to the magical world of Designing Bond.



Snuggers close-up. I miss the snuggers.



Even SF was represented. Actual Q film props. Bond's new personal weapon  and case, though not in the shot were located in the same display. You can see the corner of the case.

Severine's "backless" dress was also on display in the casino room with the other iconic casino dresses.

Watch this short video narrated by Designing Bond curator. There are some great exhibit shots in it.

I'd like to see Helga wearing this next time I come by Baker Street.

Nice pics, tiff.

You're a very funny man, Mr. Tiff!

Seriously, though, that looks like the hell of an exhibition. Sure wish I could see it. Don't spose it'll make its way down to Lubbock, though.

It was a brilliant exhibit, for sure! I especially loved the golden room - my jaw dropped when I walked in and saw who was lying there. Too bad I only visited it once - but it was double the fun as I was explaining all the props and scenes to my date, who had never seen a Bond film at the time.

Don't suppose the ball-bashin' rope from CR was on display...

As far as I remember, Q's card was not there, nor any other reference to Skyfall. Was it added later?

Would have loved a chance to go round this exhibition tiff, highly unlikely I will get to. Seriously jealous here.

I'll say. Looks a real Bond mecca.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Don't suppose the ball-bashin' rope from CR was on display...

Not only was the rope there, but so was the bottomless chair - all as part of an interactive set piece giving visitors a chance to re-enact the infamous scene.

And as for Skyfall props, there were passports, various ID's, M's (Mallory's) door, and Silva's island costume.

Walecs wrote:

As far as I remember, Q's card was not there, nor any other reference to Skyfall. Was it added later?

You probably saw the London exhibit. There was stuff from the London show that Tiff didn't get. We didn't get the ice palace display or the Connery mannequin standing beside the Aston. Tiff doesn't have the space that the Barbican has.
Best part of this exhibit was getting to see, and touch in many cases, actual props and items from the films.
Tee Hee's arm that Rog tossed from the train was hanging on the wall and fully touchable.Nothing fake about that rig. It was pretty solid. The experience was like making a physical connection with these classic films and being briefly transported into the scene.
Also Bach's Anya evening gown from Spy had it's own display area. The dress practically shimmers to the touch. But I mostly ogled the Olga dress. Good thing it was behind glass.

GeneralGogol wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Don't suppose the ball-bashin' rope from CR was on display...

Not only was the rope there, but so was the bottomless chair - all as part of an interactive set piece giving visitors a chance to re-enact the infamous scene.

Yes it was great fun stripping down to get the gonads pulverized. Keeps you coming back! Very much worth it of course, what with the rope being the actual film-used rope and all.

I don't know where this traveling circus is going next. You figure any big burb could host it. NYC would seem like a logical stop or L.A. The Bond-crazy Japanese would mob a Tokyo exhibit. I might even hop on a plane , if they had a Helga "healthy chest" display in honor of YOLT.
An interactive Tanaka home bathhouse set-up might be fun too.

tiffanywint wrote:

Walecs wrote:

As far as I remember, Q's card was not there, nor any other reference to Skyfall. Was it added later?

You probably saw the London exhibit. There was stuff from the London show that Tiff didn't get. We didn't get the ice palace display or the Connery mannequin standing beside the Aston. Tiff doesn't have the space that the Barbican has.
Best part of this exhibit was getting to see, and touch in many cases, actual props and items from the films.
Tee Hee's arm that Rog tossed from the train was hanging on the wall and fully touchable.Nothing fake about that rig. It was pretty solid. The experience was like making a physical connection with these classic films and being briefly transported into the scene.
Also Bach's Anya evening gown from Spy had it's own display area. The dress practically shimmers to the touch. But I mostly ogled the Olga dress. Good thing it was behind glass.

Exactly.
You mean this mannequin (excuse me but I'm covering part of the car)?

GeneralGogol wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Don't suppose the ball-bashin' rope from CR was on display...

Not only was the rope there, but so was the bottomless chair - all as part of an interactive set piece giving visitors a chance to re-enact the infamous scene.

And as for Skyfall props, there were passports, various ID's, M's (Mallory's) door, and Silva's island costume.

Thank you. No. Shark can "sit in" for me.

tiffanywint wrote:

Walecs wrote:

As far as I remember, Q's card was not there, nor any other reference to Skyfall. Was it added later?

You probably saw the London exhibit. There was stuff from the London show that Tiff didn't get. We didn't get the ice palace display or the Connery mannequin standing beside the Aston. Tiff doesn't have the space that the Barbican has.
Best part of this exhibit was getting to see, and touch in many cases, actual props and items from the films.
Tee Hee's arm that Rog tossed from the train was hanging on the wall and fully touchable.Nothing fake about that rig. It was pretty solid. The experience was like making a physical connection with these classic films and being briefly transported into the scene.
Also Bach's Anya evening gown from Spy had it's own display area. The dress practically shimmers to the touch. But I mostly ogled the Olga dress. Good thing it was behind glass.

GeneralGogol wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Don't suppose the ball-bashin' rope from CR was on display...

Not only was the rope there, but so was the bottomless chair - all as part of an interactive set piece giving visitors a chance to re-enact the infamous scene.

Yes it was great fun stripping down to get the gonads pulverized. Keeps you coming back! Very much worth it of course, what with the rope being the actual film-used rope and all.

I don't know where this traveling circus is going next. You figure any big burb could host it. NYC would seem like a logical stop or L.A. The Bond-crazy Japanese would mob a Tokyo exhibit. I might even hop on a plane , if they had a Helga "healthy chest" display in honor of YOLT.
An interactive Tanaka home bathhouse set-up might be fun too.

There should be a recreation of Dink's bum for the slapping.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

GeneralGogol wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Don't suppose the ball-bashin' rope from CR was on display...

Not only was the rope there, but so was the bottomless chair - all as part of an interactive set piece giving visitors a chance to re-enact the infamous scene.

And as for Skyfall props, there were passports, various ID's, M's (Mallory's) door, and Silva's island costume.

Thank you. No. Shark can "sit in" for me.

You're too kind, sir.

You know, the serious Craig fan-boy might be convinced to "take the seat" and experience the rope, just like Dan. Might be impossible to resist.:affraid:
@walecs. Nice photo. You have gazed upon and experienced the iconic DB5, up close and personal. Life is good.