The star needed a quick release from the heavy silk satin and chenille gown typical of the late 19th century. “I had just had our second child, so getting in and out of the costume to breastfeed was important,” said Blanchett.

To assist Blanchett, costumier Mary Anne Lawler used fake buttons on Hedda’s 19th century gown, which was designed by the late costumier Kristian Fredrikson.

Fredrikson was said to be skilled at layering two or three pieces of economical fabric to create the illusion of a sumptuous fabric. “Theatre is a magic trick, from the performers to the designer to the director,” Fredrikson told The Australian in 2005. “I’m hoping to create audiences’ dreams.”

Other costumes on display in the hallways of the STC’s Walsh Bay home include the costume that Patricia Barker, a men’s tailor on the theatre company’s staff, made for Philip Quast when he played Ben in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in 2021.

The velvet suit was handmade from an acid-avocado-green cotton velvet for a scene where Ben (the brother of the protagonist Willy Loman) sings the Cole Porter song It’s De-Lovely. Quast recalled: “I think it was even upholstery material. I guess you could say I was a ‘lounge singer’.”

Some pieces are bought, altered and dyed, like a pink shirt being finished for actor Justine Clarke to wear in a new play about former prime minister Julia Gillard’s famous misogyny speech. Joanna Murray-Smith’s Julia opens on March 30.

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Above the wharf’s entry stairs, a mannequin wearing a dress sequinned in gold and silver – made for the character Titania in the 2016 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – appears to float. It is a reference to the moment when Oberon’s spell causes Titania (then played by Paula Arundell) to levitate. With some showbiz pizzazz, Titania rose.

Hazel Fisher, Scott’s wife, is the costume store co-ordinator. She says the matching sequinned jacket made for Oberon is the most popular item rented.

The Fishers met “over the ironing board” in the Opera House costume department where they both worked in the 1990s.

Scott said he had been thrilled to discover he could make his own shirts when he started in the industry. The costumes he made for the Australian Opera’s production of La Traviata three decades ago are still touring Australia.

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