Actor Tim Curry in 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show. On Aug. 14, the cult film celebrates the 50th anniversary of its cinematic debut in the U.K.Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images
“Don’t dream it, be it.”
While widely recognized as one of the most famous mantras in musical history, few know that this phrase from The Rocky Horror Picture Show – which celebrates the 50th anniversary of its cinematic debut in the U.K. on Aug. 14 – originated in the world of fashion.
Long before the 1975 film became a cult classic, its creator, Richard O’Brien, discovered the slogan on a lingerie ad. “It made complete sense that Richard found the phrase on a Frederick’s of Hollywood advert,” says Sue Blane, the legendary costume designer behind Rocky’s original stage productions and the 1975 film.
“Much of what I designed was a take on a Frederick’s catalogue I saw – and still have,” she says of the hyper-feminine lingerie and marabou-trimmed baby dolls the retailer was known for. “Obviously, Rocky’s costumes were a rather disrupted and distorted take, but Frederick’s started up some ideas.”
Blane, now 76, is a decorated force in British theatre and cinema. She was bestowed an MBE (Members of the Order of the British Empire) in 2006 and is one of few theatre designers to be a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI). Blane’s CV spans opera, ballet, drama, TV and film. Her post-Rocky work includes period film Lady Jane, often cited as a visual precursor to A Room with a View, Downton Abbey and Bridgerton.
In contrast, Rocky features burlesque corsets, glittering capes and dominatrix heels; the wardrobe wasn’t seen as just spectacle – it was about scene-stealing transgressive power.
“‘Don’t dream it, be it’ became a mission statement, a map, a primary directive,” Blane says. The movie – often dubbed a musical comedy horror – follows Brad and Janet, a seemingly normal couple stranded by a storm who take refuge in a castle inhabited by the eccentric and gender-fusing Dr. Frank-N-Furter and his guests. Stripped of their clothes and social norms, they experience a night of provocation before escaping in their underwear.
When offered the stage version at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 1973, Blane was stunned to learn her entire costume budget was £400. After a night out with director Jim Sharman and cast members – “too much wine, but a fabulous time” – she began concepting clothes at 3 a.m., hangover and all. “It was more than 50 years ago,” she reflects, “but I remember this: it was great fun.”
The notion that London’s gender-fluid club scene shaped her vision is one she quickly shuts down: “I barely lasted 10 minutes at those places. I didn’t need to be there. In the streets of London – especially along the King’s Road – you had punk, futuristic, sci-fi. People used to promenade and show off their radical, outrageous looks.”
For the film’s wedding scene, Brad (played by Barry Bostwick) wears an ill-fitting tux with plaid tie and cummerbund, while Janet (played by Susan Sarandon) wears a lilac skirt suit and cheap sun hat. Blane envisioned the pair buying their awkward outfits at a supermarket. “I’d never been to the U.S.A., but you can see my vision of white middle-class Midwestern America was that it was 25 years behind the U.K. in terms of fashion. Brad’s trousers were always too short so you could see he wore white socks – which was considered dreadful in the U.K.”
Other iconic looks include those worn by Eddie (played by Meat Loaf), whose leather jacket was hand-painted and reworked with animal print. “It was a childhood fantasy come true. I made that rocker look feminine … with some inspiration from my mother. She had a leopard-print house coat, which I would stare at for hours as a child.”
The most legendary look belongs to Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry): a black sequined corset showcasing a “mom” tattoo, fishnet garters, black glitter gloves and chunky pearls. “Aside from being very influenced by The Addams Family, Frank-N-Furter was meant to present as semi-vampire, semi-drag queen and part middle-class woman. The pearls were the middle-class bit, the corset is the drag, the cloak is the classic vamp and then we threw in the fishnets to give Tim a bit of showgirl.”
Her collaboration with Curry began during a production of Jean Genet’s The Maids at Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre Company. “The early looks from Rocky actually were borrowed from the brassieres and corsets and underwear coming off of The Maids production, since I had no money.” By the time the show became a film, Blane had a modest $1,600 costume budget. “We made it all work eventually,” she says. “I still can’t believe the impact.”
That impact hasn’t waned. “When you feel sexy, you feel strong, confident, and powerful – I bring that to every project I am a part of,” Blane observes. She likens great costumes to “performance-enhancing drugs for actors – especially brilliant talents like Tim. He took to the heels and fishnets like he was a superhero.”
Backstage at a Rick Owens fashion show at the Palais de Tokyo in June, 2023, in Paris. As a designer Owens is known for his signature ‘glunge’ (goth-meets-grunge) aesthetic.WWD/Getty Images
Fashion titans took note. During lockdown, Marc Jacobs styled a Rocky-inspired editorial on himself. Jean Paul Gaultier, who saw the original stage show, later credited it as a major influence on his gender-blending designs. In The New Order’s February, 2024, issue, fashion designer Rick Owens recalled the rush he felt watching Rocky’s party scene as a kid – “with weirdos on motorcycles” – and noted, “I was able to do that,” explaining how his fashion reimagined that pivotal movie moment. Owens is known for his signature “glunge” (goth-meets-grunge) aesthetic.
“I’m terribly complimented by it all,” Blane says of the Rocky-inspired looks worn by fans at tribute events (over a hundred are planned worldwide this fall). “For someone like Gaultier – who’s gone on to change the world by putting Madonna in a corset – to have looked to Rocky? That means so much … but I have no clue who Rick Owens is, or that the reach would be this wide for this long.”
