Phyllis Dalton A Career in Costume Lawrence of Arabia to The Princess Bride spans Dalton’s extraordinary 50-year career in the film industry. Having sewn in Soho workrooms for Laurence Olivier’s Henry V, she did intelligence work at Bletchley Park. After serving an apprenticeship at Gainsborough Studios, Dalton designed costumes for The Man Who Knew Too Much and helped recreate Ravensbrück for Carve Her Name with Pride. Following risky location work on the Cold War thriller, Our Man in Havana, she designed costumes for the epic Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. Cult classics, Oliver!, A Private Function and The Princess Bride ensued before Dalton enjoyed a late renaissance with a young Kenneth Branagh on Henry V, which brought another Oscar, and Much Ado About Nothing.

Many of the book’s illustrations have been sourced from Phyllis Dalton’s personal archive and showcase unique ephemera, fabric swatches, production stills, large format pencil & watercolour sketches, and pages from production notebooks from six decades of film-making. Many of these stunning images, including Dalton’s personal on-location photographs from the Lawrence of Arabia shoot, have never been published before.

Click the link below to hear Alexander Ballinger remembering Phyllis Dalton on Radio 4’s Last Word on 31st January 2025.
Play Show here