Collection: The Fashion Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Costume and Textile Collection

  This important costume collection divides into several elements: early dress, before 1800; the 19th century; modern dress; and dress accessories and underclothes. The modern collection is strong in the work of 20th century British designers, although it includes the work of leading designers from Europe, the United States and Japan. Included in the collection are several rare pieces by Lucille, Lady Duff Gordon, the first London couturiere to be recognised as a dress designer in her own right at the beginning of the 20th century. Norman Hartnell is also well represented, as are the design houses of Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. Vogue magazine donated to the museum a collection of 60 ensembles of clothes each one contributed by one of the currently influential designers of 1991. This collection gives a snapshot of fashion design over the world in one particular year. Early dress dating from the late 16th and 17th centuries is a strength of the museum. Of particular note is the silver tissue dress, c.1660. Made of a fine cream silk woven with silver thread, this dress is in remarkable condition and is the only matching bodice and skirt of this period still in existence. Another fine early costume is Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick’s coat. A brown woollen cloth coat embroidered in silver, with original matching stockings, it dates from c.1720. The collection includes over 80 women’s gowns and over 100 pieces of men’s dress, including a fine selection of embroidered waistcoats, of 18th century date. There is also a rare fashion doll’s dress of the 1770s. Dolls dressed in miniature clothes were used at this time to demonstrate the latest fashions. This dress is in the court style and may have been used at the English court of George III. Early decorative gloves. This is an extremely important and fine collection of early decorative gloves, on loan from the Worshipful Company of Glovers of London. The Spence collection consists of 150 pairs or single gloves, many of which are splendidly embroidered gauntlet gloves of the early 17th century. 19th century costume is well represented by an extensive collection of women’s dresses of high quality. Its importance lies in its ability to illustrate the major developments in 19th century dress such as the emergence of haute couture, the development of ready-made and mass-produced clothing, the use of the sewing machine and chemical dyes. The collection includes day and evening wear, sportswear and wedding clothes, including the wedding dress and going-away pelisse worn by Lady Byron in 1815. Men’s clothes are less numerous, but are represented by coats, suits, overcoats, hats and other accessories. It is unusual to see underwear as well represented as it is in this museum. For the 19th century there is a comprehensive collection of some 1,200 items. It includes structural items such as corsets, crinoline frames and bustles, as well as shirts, chemises, drawers and stockings. Of particular interest in the modern collection are some collections formerly belonging to individual women and reflecting a distinctive style or taste at a given time. Clothes including English and French couture ranging from the House of Worth at the turn of the 20th century to Christian Dior’s designs from 1947 to 1957 are represented by clothes formerly owned by: Mary Chamberlain (third wife of the politician Joseph Chamberlain); Mary Curzon (wife of Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India); Molly Tondaiman (the Australian-born Ranee of Pudukottai); Martita Hunt (an actress); and Dame Margot Fonteyn (ballerina). A rare aspect of the collection is the Dress of the Year scheme, by which it is brought continually up to date. Each year since 1963 the museum has acquired a significant example of modern dress by asking an independent expert to choose a set of clothes to represent that year’s most important new ideas or directions in current fashion. Since its inception, clothes have been acquired from both Britain and abroad. The work of many leading international designers is represented.

  Subjects

  Costume (leisurewear); Textiles; Costume and Textile; Costume (designer)

  Photographic Collection

  The archive of the fashion house of Worth and Paquin (1902-1952) comprise photographs, designs and press cuttings and, as well as being a research resource in their own right, support costumes in the Museum of Costume. Also of considerable interest and importance is the Sunday Times Fashion Archive. This collection comprises over 2,000 fashion photographs used in the Sunday Times by the renowned fashion editor Ernestine Carter from 1957 to 1972. The research centre has a substantial photographic collection, though two aspects are a particular strength, the Worth and Paquin House Archives; and the Sunday Times Fashion Archive.

  Subjects

  Costume (leisurewear); Textiles; Costume and Textile; Costume (designer)Costume (workwear) Photography

  Archives Collection

  Bath and North East Somerset Heritage Services Division. This is an exceptional collection of archival material which supports and provides context for the collection of the Museum of Costume. There is an extensive library of books and periodicals, and other archival material including original fashion plates, designs and patterns for dressmaking, needlework and knitting. The Mattli collection is a strength of the collection. There is also a small amount of material relating to clothes made or retailed in Bath. The Mattli collection consists of designs and sketches by this Swiss-born London designer. The archive supports a collection of his clothes in the Museum of Costume.

  Subjects

  Costume and Textile; Costume (designer); Art and Design; Archives; Drawings

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC