April’s speaker was Ninya Mikhaila, an historical costumier based in Nottingham, who makes museum-standard costumes. She explained how she came to work on costumes for the 2022 film “The Lost King”. Throughout the film, which is set in 2012, the year Richard III’s bones were found in a Leicester car park, Richard appears in 15th century regalia, and Ninya was initially brought in to create an accurate representation of armour for the Battle of Bosworth scenes at the end of the film. She was contacted in the March, with costumes to be finished in May! Undergarments needed to be right for the armour to be attached to, and she showed us photos depicting the fitting of armour and the crimson velvet arming doublet worn by Harry Lloyd (who played Richard in the film), a process made more difficult by Covid distancing restrictions in place at the time. Subsequently she was asked to design all the costumes for him. His surcoat in crimson and blue silk with gold embroidery indicated a person of royalty or high rank, and the leopards on it were embroidered in India. Ninya herself created the fleurs de lys in 3 different sizes. We gained a fascinating insight into the details that goes into making historically accurate costumes.