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
Suit
This man’s suit, comprising a coat, waistcoat and breeches, was acquired in Paris. It appears...
1750s
Gown
This damask gown came from a family collection in the Rutland area. It dates from...
1760s
Waistcoat
Made of dull mauve silk with a horizontal double ribbed weave, this waistcoat would almost...
1770s
Gown
Worn with reproduction stomacher Acquired from Jenny Pearson This two piece gown, comprising a dress...
1780s
Bodice
This bodice has been photographed from the back, pieces of the silk at the front...
1790s
Printed Sash
Neoclassical taste, which looked back to the culture of the ancient Graeco-Roman world, dominated architecture...
1800s
Dress
Reproduction belt. This dress is constructed in a manner typical of the years around the...
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
Like many other examples of this date, the clear lines of this sparsely trimmed dress...
1850s
Stole
The image shows one of the end sections of a stole embroidered with what are...
1860s
Dress
Acquired from Jill Salen By the early 1860s the width of the skirt, supported by...
1870s
Dress
Acquired from Deborah Warner The design of this dress owes much to the ‘Dolly Varden’...
1880s
Dress
Acquired from the collection of Doris Langley Moore. This dress previously belonged to Doris Langley...
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
Dress
Acquired from the estate of costume designer Shirley Russell The loose, tubular body of this...
1930s
Dress
Acquired from the Theatrical Ladies’ Guild This evening dress, formerly belonging to Princess Alice of...
This formal day outfit of matching coat, dress and hat was designed for smart autumn...
1950s
Dress
Acquired from the Barnicoat family of Dorset Apart, perhaps, from the quality of the silk...
1960s
Paper Dress
Label ‘Waste Basket Boutique by Mars of Ashville, N.C.’ Industrial experimentation, a general interest in...
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.