COSTUME ILLUSTRATIONS
Drawing is central to Eleanor’s research methodology. When studying extant clothing she adopts what has been termed ‘the slow approach to seeing’. So much can be gleaned by looking closely at garments; by questioning how they are constructed, how they would have been worn, how large or small the wearer was, how the garment would have sounded as it moved or how it might have altered posture. Drawing forces the artist, or in this case, the historian, to fully engage with the material object in front of them and thus to begin to answer questions that might otherwise have been overlooked.
In her work as historical consultant, drawing also allows Eleanor to convey costume ideas or character interpretations to her clients.
Many of Eleanor’s popular drawings are available to view on her Instagram page or to purchase via the Brontë Parsonage Museum or Chawton House Library.
ILLUSTRATION COMMISSIONS
Eleanor is happy to take commissions for costume illustrations for museums, authors and for the media. She can work from photographs of garments or material objects. Where the item is damaged, fragmented or even missing, using her deep knowledge of dress history, of sartorial codes and conventions and of contemporary manufacturing processes, Eleanor will ‘reconstruct’ or ‘reimagine’ an item otherwise lost to the recesses of time.
CASE STUDY - SHARON WRIGHT
“Aside from her professional talents, Eleanor is a delightful person to work with. She is a true scholar, while also generous and friendly to fellow researchers and writers. I cannot recommend her highly enough.”
Writer and journalist Sharon Wright commissioned Eleanor to research, and ultimately recreate in the form of a drawing, the wedding ensembles of Patrick and Maria Brontë. No portraits of the pair as they were on the 29th December 1812 either ever existed or have survived, but by combining Sharon’s own research with Eleanor’s extensive knowledge of the surviving Brontë family wardrobe and of early nineteenth century formal and ecclesiastical clothing, important conclusions could be drawn. The final image was included in Sharon Wright’s book, ‘The Mother of the Brontës: When Maria Met Patrick’, Pen and Sword, 2019.