By Staci Layne Wilson

The late great comedienne Gilda Radner famously quipped, “I base most of my fashion sense on what doesn’t itch.” But for the film stars who must be trussed, corseted, stitched and Spandexed in to certain iconic costumes, there’s not much choice when it comes to comfort.

It’s quite eye-opening to see the genuine, ingenious engineering that has gone into some of the iconic threads now on display at the historic Wilshire May Company Building (which is the future location of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles).

You see, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London (famed worldwide for its costume and textiles exhibits) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have joined forces to present the final showing of the groundbreaking multimedia exhibition known simply as “Hollywood Costume” – and it’s a doozy.

The Academy has enhanced the V&A’s collection and the original exhibit now includes more than 150 costumes including Jared Leto’s dishy dress from Dallas Buyers Club, as well as costumes from such recent releases including The Hunger Games, Django Unchained , The Butler  (yep! It’s those funkalicious black and white numbers worn by Forrest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey!), The Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle  (the daring disco dress with the plunging neckline), and The Great Gatsby to name a few.

Don’t get your knickers in a knot thinking the only threads on display are from today – nope, you’ll get an eyeful with Marilyn Monroe’s famous Seven Year Itch white halter dress, Rocky’s red-white-and-blue boxing boxers, Claudette Colbert’s Cleopatra garb in all its glimmering glory, and even Tippi Hedren’s prim little Mod skirt suit from The Birds.

Some of my personal favorites were The Dude’s robe and other slouchy stuff from The Big Lebowski (Gilda would definitely approve), the Count’s long flowing crimson cape from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Spiderman crawling up a wall and Satine from Moulin Rouge swinging from a ceiling trapeze, 007’s tux and tails, Rachel’s Blade Runner attire, and of course at the end of the rainbow is the Academy’s own prized pair of the most famous shoes in the world – the original ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz shown with Dorothy’s blue and white gingham pinafore dress.

While the array of attire is amazing indeed, it’s the way the whole display has been put together that’s especially awe-inspiring. The mannequins are all very stylized, and some are even topped with monitors displaying the moving and blinking heads of the stars from the scenes in their films. Others are headless, but ‘wear’ hats propped up with c-stands and other filmic equipment. What’s more, there are well-placed video interviews with the actors, costume designers, and film directors all imparting truly fascinating trivia tidbits.

It’s a ticketed event, on view through March 2, 2015. Find out more by visiting the website here.

But that’s not all! If you’re still in a movie mood, you can walk mere steps to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and check out their truly stunning artistic exhibition called “Haunted Screens: German Cinema in the 1920s.”

This provisional pageant of style and strangeness explores masterworks of German Expressionist cinema from the frenzied fantasy of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to the chilling art which accompanied the murder mystery M when it was released in 1931. And of course, the Expressionistic granddaddy of ‘em all: Metropolis is well-represented.

Organized by La Cinémathèque française, Paris, the daring display boasts over 150 drawings as well as manuscripts, posters, storyboards and set models. Kino Ektoplasma — a three-screen installation created for the exhibition by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson — resurrects lost films of the Expressionist era in quite mesmerizing bits and sequences.

This exhibition is included in General Admission for the museum and is housed in the Art of the Americas Building until April 26, 2015. Here is more information at the LACMA website.