Period costume designer Ruth Caswell was dressed for success today as she embarked on her latest mission as fashion adviser to the stars.

The 50-year-old mother-of-two, from Oakworth, was on her way to London to fit actor Will Kemp with an outfit for his role in a new film called 'Shakespeare in Love', starring Dame Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I.

This latest venture will make it a hat-trick of sucesses for Mrs Caswell, who has recently tailor-made outfits for former footballer Eric Cantona for his role in Elizabeth I, as well as working as a textile researcher for the BBC dramatisation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Mrs Caswell, who has worked in the fashion costume field for more than 30 years, said: "I've been involved in costume-making for theatre and musicals over the years and that's helped me to set up a network of people who I can work with.

"On projects such as this, designers have a general idea of what the set and the costumes should look like. Then I work with old photographs and do research into the period and take the project past the design stage.

"It's making the costume come alive, seeing something new on the page and making it into reality which is the most exciting thing."

Mrs Caswell's latest creation for Shakespeare in Love - which took her a week to make - consists of a doublet and hose made with brightly coloured silks.

She was taking the outfit to London this week where she will meet Will Kemp for a fitting. Her career has also taken her to more exotic locations, such as Barcelona, where last year she met up with Eric Cantona to fit his costume for his role as the French ambassador in the film Elizabeth I.

"He was absolutely lovely, a refined gentleman and a charming man," said Mrs Caswell of the former soccer star-turned actor.

Mrs Caswell - whose outfits cost thousands of pounds each - has also set up a textile archive at Bradford and Ilkley Community College. Two years ago she completed an MA in textile history at Winchester University.

Her next project is an exhibition at Keighley's East Riddlesden Hall called Costume in the Making, on Sunday, April 26.Her daughter Amy is also a textile designer and has worked alongside her mother on costumes for Pride and Prejudice.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.