The distinctive shape of these three panels placed together suggests that they were once the...
Timeline
1700s
Panels of silk
1720s
Waistcoat
Acquired from Jenny Pearson Probably the earliest waistcoat in the John Bright Collection this example...
1730s
Embroidered Panels
Acquired from the estate of Doris Langley Moore These embroideries are clearly designed as central...
1740s
Stomacher
Acquired from Jenny Pearson Stomachers were flat, roughly triangular pieces of fabric that were pinned...
1750s
Gown
Acquired from the Castle Howard Collection. The gown and matching petticoat was bought at the...
1760s
Coat and Waistcoat
This coat and waistcoat would originally have been part of a suit with breeches of...
1770s
Gown
This dress is a typical example of a formal gown of around 1780, the robe...
1780s
Coat
By the last decades of the 18th Century wool had taken over from silk as...
1790s
Court Dress Coat
Once part of a suit with breeches of the same fabric and a waistcoat, probably...
1800s
Shoe
Acquired from the costume designer Dinah Collin. Found abandoned in a theatre more than thirty...
1810s
Pelisse
This is a short version of a pelisse, an overgarment, generally following the high-waisted form...
1820s
Stole
The production of luxury accessories such as the fashionable stoles of the early 19th Century...
1830s
Coat
This man’s coat combines practicality with style. Its dense wool fabric, known as superfine, provides...
1840s
Dress
...
1850s
Stole
The image shows one of the end sections of a stole embroidered with what are...
1860s
Dress
Fashionable garments made from expensive, richly trimmed materials, originally worn by the upper classes, survive...
1870s
Slippers
The upper parts of these two pairs of men’s slippers have been stitched by hand...
1880s
Dress
After decades of fullness, supported by horsehair petticoats, crinoline cages and bustles, the skirts of...
1890s
Knitted Jacket
Label ‘Médailles d’Or’ Although knitwear, mainly in the form of hosiery, was one of the...
1900s
Dress
Acquired from Margaret Wicks Label: ‘Manton Patrick Court Dressmaker 44 Baker St. W.’ The...
1910s
Hat
Acquired from the Castle Howard Costume Collection The hat is made of broad raffia braid,...
1920s
Shoes
Acquired from the collection of the costume designer Shirley Russell. Stamped: Perugia, 11 Faubg St Honoré,...
1930s
Dress
Acquired from the Theatrical Ladies’ Guild This evening dress, formerly belonging to Princess Alice of...
1940s
Shoes and Gas Mask Bag
Gas Mask Bag, Early 1940s Shoes, 1940s Bag acquired from costume designer Charlotte Holdich In...
1950s
Dress
Acquired from the Barnicoat family of Dorset Apart, perhaps, from the quality of the silk...
1960s
Boots
Designed by Mary Quant. ‘Quant Afoot’ boots were being advertised in the winter of 1967-68...
1970s
Jacket and Trousers
Acquired from the costume designer Dinah Collin The trousers and jacket are part of a...
These garments belonged to the late Chilean artist Mariella Phillips who moved to London to...
18th Century Overview
The silhouette of the early 18th Century is suggested here with a reproduction gown, made by Cosprop, that frames an original stomacher, one of the earliest pieces in the collection. Some fine examples of 18th Century dress, including gowns of brocaded silk, embroidered waistcoats and ornate stomachers, can be found in this section.
19th Century Overview
This dress dates from the beginning of a century which sees the evolution of the female silhouette from high-waisted tubular dresses, through bell-shaped skirts and full sleeves, to elaborate gowns worn over cage-crinolines and bustles.
An outline of these fashion changes can be seen in the Dresses section.
20th Century Overview
The relatively simple line of this dress marks the move away from fashions dependent upon unnatural understructures, such as the crinolines and bustles of the 19th Century, towards more practical clothing attuned to new lifestyles in which work, leisure, sport and two world wars played a significant part.
Garments in this section include costumes worn in Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes productions, which had a major impact not just upon the ballet world but also on international fashion, souvenirs from two coronations, and suits, dresses and accessories block-printed by the firms Footprints and Crysede.