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 mum-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.

And this latest venture will make it a hat-trick of successes for Mrs Caswell, who has recently tailored outfits for footballer Eric Cantona for his role in the film 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: "On projects such as this, designers have a general idea of what the set and the costumes should look like and 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 today to meet Will Kemp for a fitting.

Her career has also taken her to more exotic locations such as Barcelona, where last year she met Eric Cantona to fit his costume for his role as the French ambassador in Elizabeth I. "He was absolutely lovely, a refined gentleman and a charming man," said Mrs Caswell of the 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 and has an MA in textile history from Winchester University.

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