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Getty Images<\/p>\nJonathan GeddesGlasgow and west reporter<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Tim Curry has donned the iconic costume on both stage and screen<\/p>\n
It is a long way from Scotland to Transylvania, but without a Glasgow connection the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show might have looked very different.<\/p>\n
The recent autobiography by actor Tim Curry, who has played mad scientist Dr Frank N Furter on stage and screen, revealed the character’s distinctive costume came from a Glasgow market.<\/p>\n
Curry was appearing at the Citizens Theatre in 1971 when he first donned a Victorian corset, purchased by costume designer Sue Blane, for a production of French playwright Jean Genet’s The Maids.<\/p>\n
Both Blane and Curry then worked on Rocky Horror<\/a> two years later, where the outfit was re-used.<\/p>\n The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical horror-comedy about a newly engaged, innocent couple, Brad and Janet, who suffer a flat tyre and look for help at a castle.<\/p>\n They encounter Dr. Frank-N-Furter and the musical follows the couple’s wild night.<\/p>\n Curry’s recent book Vagabond recalls that after a stint performing in the counter culture musical Hair, he was seeking to try more classical onstage material.<\/p>\n Ironically, he ended up spending a year at the Citizens repertory company, which was establishing a reputation for unconventional theatre.<\/p>\n Among the parts in his run was Solange in The Maids – a production where the main female characters are played by males. <\/p>\n In his book Curry recalls director Lindsay Kemp being very tough with him on set, and details how he acquired the corset.<\/p>\n He wrote: “Sue Blane dressed me in a Victorian corset, worn backward, that she found on a cart at a local flea market – I think she paid three pounds for it.”<\/p>\n Tim Curry spent a year at the Citizens Theatre from 1971 into 1972<\/p>\n Saffron Shearer, a costume designer at the recently reopened Citizens<\/a>, told BBC Scotland that some versions of the story have the costume bought at the Barras market, while others suggested it was the old Paddy’s Market on Shipburn Lane.<\/p>\n Saffron became interested in costume design by being a huge fan of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and was thrilled when she started working at a theatre that had featured Tim Curry.<\/p>\n She told BBC Scotland: “The Maids was in the old studio theatre, not the main house, and it was pretty controversial at the time – quite filthy and weird.<\/p>\n “It was called the Close theatre and it had a little room to try more Avant Garde material. To overcome censorship laws they made it a private member’s club, and that’s where they were having poetry readings, film screenings and new theatre.<\/p>\n “Sue Blane was starting out at the time and doing costumes, and just found this corset at either the Barras or St Paddy’s – over the years I’ve heard both. It was a very unusual shape, laced right up to the neck and not cut for a woman. <\/p>\n “I suspect she dyed it or covered it in stuff, to make it more tacky looking.” <\/p>\n Tim Curry’s corset used in The Maids was revived for The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/p>\n After finishing at the Citizens, Curry returned to London and began looking for work.<\/p>\n He encountered Richard O’Brien, who had just drafted the first version of Rocky Horror<\/a> and was seeking a lead who was acrobatic, muscular and could sing.<\/p>\n Saffron added: “They had no budget, and were looking for set design and costumes. They knew Sue Blane and she’s always said they got her drunk until she agreed to do it.<\/p>\n “She knew Tim, so thought the corset from the Citz world work. She got it posted down to her. <\/p>\n “The Maids pictures don’t show anything sparkly so I assume she sparkled it up for Frank N Furter. When it took off and became the hottest ticket in London, they were still using it.” <\/p>\n A three week run of the show in a small London theatre was met with great reviews and sell-out crowds, and the show was soon a smash hit<\/a>, running throughout the West End in London, touring the country and spawning a film adaptation, starring Curry again. <\/p>\n Those versions all stayed true to the original’s corset costume for Frank N Furter. <\/p>\n Rocky Horror is considered a cult classic, both as a musical and in a 1975 film version<\/p>\n Earlier this year the Citizens Theatre Young Company’s first show in the revamped theatre focused on the history of the Close studio space, including a scene written around The Maids and including references to Curry’s future role as Frank N Furter.<\/p>\n Saffron said Curry’s time at the Citizens – which the actor described as a “remarkable repertory theatre” in a recent interview with the New Yorker<\/a> – appeared to have made an impression. <\/p>\n She said: “There was a lot of risks being taken, and he’s always said they were being encouraged to tear chunks out the script. Everything was open to interpretation. <\/p>\n![\"Citizens](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/d9d546e0-ab72-11f0-9045-ff945a3371d8.jpg.webp.webp\")
Citizens Theatre<\/p>\n![\"Citizens](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1202d690-ab73-11f0-b2a1-6f537f66f9aa.jpg.webp.webp\")
Citizens Theatre<\/p>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/40b2be10-ab73-11f0-9045-ff945a3371d8.jpg.webp.webp\")
Getty Images<\/p>\n