{"id":3764,"date":"2008-07-03T23:22:25","date_gmt":"2008-07-04T06:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.originalprop.com\/blog\/?p=3764"},"modified":"2009-03-08T14:29:17","modified_gmt":"2009-03-08T22:29:17","slug":"superman-costumes-in-the-marketplace-bermans-nathans-wardrobe-tag-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.originalprop.com\/blog\/2008\/07\/03\/superman-costumes-in-the-marketplace-bermans-nathans-wardrobe-tag-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Bermans & Nathans Wardrobe Tag Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bermans & Nathans of England (acquired by Angels Costumiers in 1992) made the costumes worn by Christopher Reeve in the Superman<\/em> films of the 1970s and 1980s.\u00a0 As such, one of the components of provenance and authenticity are the wardrobe or asset tags affixed to costumes at the time of production.\u00a0 Of the confirmed authentic costumes I am aware of, these pieces have wardrobe tags.\u00a0 However, some costumes which have been trading in the marketplace exhibit tags that are not consistent with photos of authentic tags I have assembled for my own reference.<\/p>\n

This article will provide an archiving of photos of tags already “at large” in the marketplace via public sales on eBay and via auction houses in order to compare and contrast these labels and share information with collectors.\u00a0 I do have a growing database of “B&N” tags from Superman<\/em> and a variety of other films, but am only providing photos here of examples that have already been published on the web.<\/p>\n

NOTE:\u00a0 Correct B&N wardrobe tags on a costume do not exclusively guarantee a costume is authentic.<\/span><\/p>\n

I understand that some authentic, unused tags have circulated in the marketplace.\u00a0 More, it would not be impossible to bleach authentic tags used in one production in order to type information from another production to “repurpose” them.\u00a0 In other words, again, an authentic tag with correct traits does not guarantee such a piece is authentic, but is merely one component of provenance and authenticity to consider along with other variables.<\/p>\n

Also, Bermans & Nathans was in business for many years, so I imagine that there was an evolution of tag style and usage, and of course different employees were involved in making such tags.\u00a0 However, I think it would be logical that wardrobe tags for the same film should have significant consistency.<\/p>\n

Bermans & Nathans: “Baseline” Superman III Wardrobe Tags<\/h3>\n

The only truly “confirmed authentic” examples of Bermans & Nathans tags posted publicly on the Internet currently are those of the Superman III<\/em> costume sold by ScreenUsed, which included a Warner Bros. Certificate of Authenticity (see Questions About Superman Costumes in the Marketplace: Authenticity, Sources, Quantity<\/a>).\u00a0 Below are those tags (watermarked):<\/p>\n

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I have photos of other B&N tags from Superman III<\/em> costumes that have strong provenance that match these, but that have not been published on the Internet previously, so I will not publish them in order to keep the exact details confidential.<\/p>\n

However, another example of a Superman III<\/em> B&N wardrobe tag published on the net that is consistent with those I have seen on confirmed authentic and examples with strong provenance is the “billybats11” Superman III<\/em> costume offered on eBay in December of 2007 (see Superman Costumes in the Marketplace Retrospective: billybats11 “Evil” Costume<\/a>).\u00a0 Below is an example of that wardrobe tag that “appears” correct, and matches confirmed authentic Superman III<\/em> B&N tags, for the purposes of analysis and comparison:<\/p>\n

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What is unique to these Superman III<\/em> Bermans & Nathans tags?<\/p>\n