Well, we are now 5-6 months into the craziness that is a Covid-19 ravaged 2020. The world looks very different, and I think we are becoming accustomed to constant change and adaptation. Unfortunately, museums have been hit particularly hard by Covid. For obvious safety reasons, they were forced to stay closed for months, and now have very limited capacities. Some have had to stay closed even longer, like the Fashion Museum. It is one of my favourite museums, though, Today I’m going to chat about why you should visit the Fashion Museum in Bath, either online or in person!
The Fashion Museum in Bath
According to the Museum’s site,
The Museum of Costume was opened in the Assembly Rooms on 23 May 1963. It was founded by Doris Langley Moore, a designer, collector, writer and scholar, who gave her famous private collection of costume to the city of Bath.
The Museum of Costume changed its name to the Fashion Museum in summer 2007. The Fashion Museum is owned by Bath and North East Somerset Council and is managed by the Heritage Services section. It is housed in the Assembly Rooms building, which is owned by the National Trust.
Langley Moore is one of the most important figures in the beginnings of fashion history as a field. And not only did Langley Moore donate her collection, but so did thousands of other people. The collection has nearly 100,000 pieces in it, and curators are still working to catalogue all of it. Incredibly, the collection includes pieces from several different royals, as well as Dame Margot Fonteyn. (Yes, THE Margot Fonteyn.) Many have been donated by people like you and me though, and those garments have incredible stories. (Like the skirt below that was made from blackout curtains used during the war, to celebrate VE Day!)
A History of Fashion in 100 Objects
The Fashion Museum is quite small, fitting in to the lower level of the Assembly Rooms (a must see for any Austenite). However, it packs a stylish punch, and does a lot with their space. Their main exhibition, which is permanent, is A History of Fashion in 100 objects. It takes you on a timeline of English/British fashion from the sixteenth century through to today, with 100 different and unique garments and pieces. 100 might not seem like a lot when they have a collection of 100,000, but I spent an hour and a half walking through the main exhibition, and could have taken more time. This exhibition is very thoughtful- the “periods” are grouped together specifically, so that the visitor can see specific trends changing and merging side by side. I can guarantee you, they have NOT just thrown things together in a timeline and moved on. If you are newer to fashion history, this exhibition is the perfect introduction for anyone. (Plenty of information is included with garments, but no previous knowledge is needed!)
Dress of the Year Scheme
The Dress of the Year Scheme is one of my favourite parts of the Fashion Museum. It is known across the fashion world, not just in Bath or even in museums. It is an annual event, where the Fashion Museum chooses a notable figure from the fashion world (or two) to choose a garment that they believe best represents the year. It could be a designer, it could be a journalist or an editor, it could even be a blogger.
Dress of the Year started in 1963- you can see every winner from 1963 to 2019 on the Fashion Museum’s site. (Under each image, you can see both the selected garment and accessories, and who the selector was.) In November 2020, we will find out who this year’s selector and garment is. I can only imagine what the pandemic is going to do to the selection- will we perhaps see a mask? You can see some of my favourite selections on display above and below!
Royal Women Exhibition
And what would my discussion of the Fashion Museum be without covering the Royal Women exhibition? This was quite possibly my favourite exhibition of all time, and considering I was able to see the Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition, that is a statement. This exhibition looked at the fashion of four royal women who were close to the crown but didn’t wear it- Queen Alexandra, Queen mary, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret. (And a dash of the Countess of Wessex thrown in!) These four women all used fashion to make power statements- about themselves, about the Crown, about Britain. It was incredibly well staged, and really showed how powerful of an image fashion can make (if anyone doubted it). And there is nothing like multiple Norman Hartnell and Christian Dior gowns to make your jaw drop.
If you would like to see Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary’s sections, read my first post here!
If you would like to see Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, and the Countess of Wessex’s sections, read my second post here!
Visiting the Fashion Museum in Bath
Sadly, the Fashion Museum will be closed until at least Easter in 2021. I know that it wasn’t an easy decision for the Bath Preservation Trust (who oversees it) to make, but luckily, we have options. The curatorial team is still hard at work, and creating content for us. If you haven’t already done so, I would recommend “walking through” the 3D model of the Fashion Museum and the Assembly Rooms. You can walk through the entirety of the 100 Objects exhibition, and see some of the Dress of the Year items! (Go down to the bottom floor to see the Fashion Museum.) They also have been very active on social media, and are sharing some real gems from their collection. I’ve also emailed them with some identification questions, and they answered incredibly quickly.
I hope that you are planning to visit the Fashion Museum in Bath, either in person or virtually!
Cheers,
The Historian
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