Love of Stage

After the war ended Beaton started working on his first love, theatrical productions. One well known production was Lady Windermere's Fan in 1945. "Beaton lavished color and style to serve as a tonic for post war Britain." (Beaton, & Vickers 6). 

Cecil Beaton (1946)
On the set of Lady Windermere's Fan
National Portrait Gallery 

He took part in many other productions like The School for Scandal and Quadrille. The most famous Beaton production though is My Fair Lady (1956). 

Cecil's famous Ascot costume 

Beaton designed the ascot dress and hat for Audrey Hepburn to wear in the movie. The dress was the most memorable costume from the production. Beaton looked back to his childhood to create the costumes for this movie. His Aunt Jessie served as one of the main sources of inspiration. He remembered people dressing like this, and knew Black Ascot because when he was a little boy it was in the papers which Beaton loved to look at. 

Cecil Beaton's sketch for My Fair Lady

The costume design was very different for the era. Beaton said "For me, coming out of punk and the New Romantics, Ascot was a little like sleeping with the enemy. However much I might balk at conservative society, that was always balanced by the Ascot scene from My Fair Lady which was genius." (The Independent)

Scene from My Fair Lady
The Independent 

 Beaton, C., & Vickers, H.  (2003). The unexpurgated Beaton: the Cecile Beaton diaries as he wrote them, 1970-1980. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

"On the set of Lady Windermere's fan". (2015). National Portrait Gallery. from http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw67894/On-the-set-of-Lady-Windermeres-Fan

Rogers, L. (2014). My Fair Lady costumes. History Room. Retrieved from http://lisawallerrogers.com/tag/my-fair-lady-costumes/

"How to trot: a royal ascot is the ultimate hat parade."(2015). Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/hot-to-trot-royal-ascot-is-the-ultimate-hat-parade-2294616.html?action=gallery&ino=6