THE TELEGRAPH.CO.UK. – Richard Madden and Lily James managed to wreck some of the practice dresses during Cinderella rehearsals. The Scottish actor takes on the role of Prince Kit in Kenneth Branagh’s live-action remake of the classic Disney telling, with Lily James in the title role of Cinderella.

Triple Oscar-winning designer Sandy Powell is behind the spectacular costumes, with Richard revealing how careful he was with her creations.

“I kind of always think there were three of us in this relationship; the prince and Cinderella and the dress,” Richard smiled to Cover Media. “So we had to learn a new technique of dance, which was kind of like skiing so you won’t destroy it. And we practised for a couple of months before Sandy would let us near the actual dress. We managed to tear up a couple of the practice ones in the process.”

Sandy has previously bagged golden statues for her work on The Young Victoria, The Aviator and Shakespeare in Love, so she is a pro at period costumes.

For Cinderella, Sandy blended different time periods in order to produce the fairytale outcome.

“For me it was 19th century, with a bit of 1940s and 1950s thrown in. Like for the stepmother [Cate Blanchett], I was looking at those, sort of, 1940s actresses like Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford. And when they were in films, made in the 1940s, set in the 19th century, how it all looked, it’s all a bit wrong – you can still see the 1940s, and I really liked that element for Cate,” she explained.

“And then for the sisters I went a decade higher and went to sort of 1950s versions of the 19th century.” (source)