National Museums Liverpool Blog - fashion

Here's our Curator of Costume and Textiles, Pauline Rushton, to tell us about her favourite pieces of costume from our current display at the Walker Art Gallery, 'Mrs Tinne's Wardrobe'.

If you love vintage costume then you really should make a visit to our Craft and Design Gallery at the Walker, as you'll have the chance to see some more of the clothes from the wardrobe of local doctor’s wife and well-known shopaholic Mrs Emily Tinne!

Curator Pauline Rushton with Mrs Tinne's maternity dress.

Between 1910, when she married Dr Philip Tinne, a member of a wealthy family of sugar merchants, and the outbreak of war in 1939, Emily amassed an enormous number of outfits. Some were made for her by a local dressmaker, Mrs Taylor, while others were bought from Liverpool’s best-known department stores and ladies’ outfitter. Names such as George Henry Lee’s, the Bon Marché and Owen Owen’s still provoke a nostalgic reaction in many a seasoned Liverpool shopper. 

Most of the outfits in our new display have never been seen in public before, including a very rare maternity dress from about 1920. Emily Tinne had seven pregnancies but surprisingly there are only three maternity garments in her huge wardrobe of more than 700 items. This must surely be because she threw the rest of them away after her children were born. 

I can remember the sense of relief I had myself when I was able to throw away a pair of baggy maternity jeans, after my son and daughter were born, thankful that I’d never have to wear them again! 

Elspeth, Emily, baby Bertha and Ernest, 1916

Press assisitant Jo Vickers has been taking a look at what the box of delights that is Sudley House has to offer during the Easter break:

Young visitors enjoy playing with our traditional toys.

Sudley House is having a fashion frenzy this Easter! Budding fashionistas can get crafty and create their own works of art based on the ‘Costume Drama’ exhibition at two free family-friendly events.

With Ladies Day at the races only a couple of weeks away, why not get into the spirit by making your own stylish headwear to take away with you? At ‘Beautiful Bonnets’ from 1-4pm on Wednesday 4 April, you can explore the beautiful costumes in our collection before using a range of collage materials to create your own gorgeous hat!

On Thursday 12 April, be inspired by the stunning exhibition of clothes and accessories from the Jane Austen era to create your very own works of art at ‘Fabulous Fashions’ from 1-4pm.

Both events are suitable for children aged five and over and are absolutely free!

And there’s plenty more to keep the little ones entertained at Sudley House over Easter. Come and explore the Childhood room and find out about children’s toys of the past. There are lots of toys, books and jigsaws to play with, as well!

The exhibition 'Costume Drama: Fashion from 1790 to 1850' runs until 17 June.

 Ready to hit the town...

I always think that the best way to finish off an outfit is with a great pair of shoes. These fantastic metallic snakeskin-effect leather shoes are my favourite from last year. They were great for a fantastic wedding I went to in November as well as for Christmas parties! They have a small platform as there have been loads of 70s influenced trends around lately. 

If you like 70s fashion, we've got a fantastic exhibition of 1970s clothes on at the Walker Art Gallery right now - 'Feathercuts and Flares'. There is a pair of red and silver crocodile-skin leather platforms on display (below) that definitely remind me of my shoes. 

They were made by Terry de Havilland who is famous as the maker of stage shoes for many of the glam rock stars of the early 1970s, including people like Mick Jagger and David Bowie. His signature material was snakeskin, both natural and metallic. They certainly make a style statement!

And if that's not enough fashion for you, we've also got a 'Fashion Fix' week of events starting on Monday 13 February, also at the Walker.  There'll be fashion workshops and the chance to dress up and have your picture taken in our 1970s photo booth.

It'll be the perfect warm up to London Fashion Week, starting on Friday 17 February...

Platform shoes by Terry de Havilland (about 1972-73)

Which country do you think is the most stylish? France? Italy? Japan? We reckon that Spain should be giving the rest of the world some pointers after seeing this fashionable crew of students who recently came to visit our Finishing Touch exhibition!

They would fit right in at the races, wouldn't they?

The group visits Liverpool and the surrounding area every year and they decided to really get in the spirit of the exhibition by trying on the hats that are in the exhibition's resource area. We think they look fab!

They were staying in the region for a month as part of an English language program and cultural experience and told our Curator of Decorative Arts, Alyson Pollard, that they thoroughly enjoyed their visit and are looking forward to coming back again soon.

Lovely 1970s gear!

Ah flares. Make mine high-waisted in a dark blue denim please, with sailor-style buttons! (I still can't quite say goodbye to my skinny jeans though.) Our upcoming exhibition at the Walker, 'Feather cuts and flares', will also be embracing 70s fashion by showing costume including bohemian pieces and shimmering glam rock platforms.

The clothes are ready to go on show but Dave Moffat, our Assistant Curator of Decorative Art, is on the look out for images to be used in the exhibition.

He’s looking for images showing fashion in a classic 1970s style - flares, massive collars, tank-tops in brown and orange, platforms and also some of the more subtle trends like the Laura Ashley 'country look' and the bohemian look.

They need to be; clear shots (not someone standing in the distance please!) your own personal photographs and copyright free.

If you are interested in getting involved, please scan and email your pictures to:  david.moffat@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

This beautiful silk kimono is featured in our 'Art in Revolution: Liverpool 1911' exhibition, because one of the paintings on show depicts a lady called Dorothy Reilly wearing it. Dorothy Reilly was the wife of Charles Reilly, who held the Roscoe Chair of Architecture at Liverpool's University from 1904. Albert Lipczinski completed the painting during 1911-1913 so we can assume that the kimono is also from around the same time.

You can’t quite appreciate how amazing the detail is on it from these images but the glory is in the embroidery along the back, which includes birds, trees and even a turtle!

Even today there is a trend among high fashion labels such as Issa for kimono-style pieces, as well as on the high street. Nicole Richie also has many long kimono tops and dresses in her celeb-friendly 'Winter Kate' collection.
 
So we know that this style of clothing was popular as 'leisure wear' in Britain around the beginning of the 20th century. But why? Our Curator of British Art, Laura McCulloch told me; 

‘Japan opened up to the West in 1854 after 200 years of self imposed isolation from the rest of the world. As a result, Japanese items including prints, sculptures, lacquer ware and kimonos flooded onto the market in Europe, mainly through shops such as Liberty's in London. As now, the craze for Japanese things was in full swing by the early 1900s.

Also, the kimono has long sleeves which means that it was made to be worn by an unmarried woman as married women would wear clothes with shorter sleeves.’

We know that the kimono was passed down within the Reilly family and was occasionally worn by other women in the family. I often get beautiful hand-me-downs from my Gran, such as this lovely beaded evening bag, so I can definitely relate to this! It’s such a treat to receive a beautiful and timeless piece of clothing or accessory from another generation that you can treasure.

When shopping for footwear, there is nothing more satisfying than getting a new pair of boots. This vintage brown leather pair that I'm wearing today are a particular favourite of mine - you can see them here - a bit Victorian I like to think!

So you can imagine my excitement at being introduced to this fab pair of boots, which will be on display later this month at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. They will be shown as part of 'The Finishing Touch', an exhibition of women's accessories from our collections, dating from 1830-1940.

Ladies boots from the exhibition.

The boots pictured here date from around the end of World War 1 and are very practical but still stylish. Apparently they have a design which imitated men's boots of the time and were pretty hard-wearing. I can't believe how they are in such great condition, despite being so old. The fact that women had started to wear this type of footwear reflected their social situation at the time; women were now going out to work and needed to have footwear that would be suitable for this.

It's certainly shaping up to be an interesting and beautiful exhibition. You'll be able to find out about fashion etiquette and how the place of women in society was reflected through the accessories that they wore. 

It opens on Friday 27 May 2011, but in the meantime you can get a sneak preview of some more of the accessories on our Flickr set here.

Little did we know when we opened the Hitched: wedding clothes

A dress fit for a Princess. (Traveller wedding dress, 2010).

and customs exhibition last Summer that its closing weekend would coincide with that most lauded of all nuptial ceremonies – the Royal Wedding.

As speculation grows about Ms Middleton’s dress, wedding fashion through the ages is once again the subject of intense media and public interest. Kensington Palace is displaying a set of Royal dresses to mark the occasion, tracing style changes from Princess Charlotte’s 1816 silver-embellished number to Princess Alexandra of Kent’s magnificent 1963 lace creation. And tomorrow another dress (and designer) will join the history books!

Speculation over who has designed the dress has reached fever pitch. We haven’t witnessed this sort of excitement since Carrie Bradshaw nearly made it up the aisle with Mr Big in a stunning Vivienne Westwood gown. Original speculation put Dame Vivienne in the mix, but given her anti-establishment stance (and let's not forget the Sex Pistols' high jinx on the Thames during the Jubilee), it’s not really that surprising she’s out of the running. Names like Sophie Cranston, Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, Phillipa Lepley, Alice Temperley and Jenny Packham are currently being bandied about while Bruce Oldfield says it’s definitely not him.

The Hitched exhibition at Sudley House features wedding outfits from the Victorian age to the present day and includes dresses from Jewish, Chinese and Traveller communities, as well as civil partnership suits. Sudley House also has a pretty garden and traditional tea room – a lovely place to continue the celebrations and toast the Royal newlyweds with a scone and a brew.

'Hitched: wedding clothes and customs' closes this Monday 2nd May, so this weekend is the last chance to see it. Later in the year you will be able to see Costume Drama: Fashion from 1790 to 1850 at Sudley House, exploring outfits from the ‘Jane Austen’ era - the type of designs you might see in a TV adaptation. If you can’t wait until then, the Lady Lever Art Gallery will be hosting The Finishing Touch: women’s accessories, 1830-1940 from later this month.

The Beat Goes On: Liverpool, Popular Music and the Changing City

It's all go on the publications front at NML with new titles arriving and due shortly.

You may already know that we recently launched a book to accompany the Hitched exhibition at Sudley House. Also called Hitched it features 13 beautiful wedding outfits in full colour, together with close-up details and many original wedding photographs. It's a snip at £4.95 and is available through our venue shops and our online bookshop.

If you enjoyed The Beat Goes On exhibition at World Museum last year then the new book of the same name is for you. It is a critical historical account of popular music in Liverpool, looking at why the city is so important musically and how has it sustained its importance, from the Beatles to the Zutons and beyond. It's also available to buy online and through our venues.

Very soon we'll be launching Transatlantic Slavery: An Introduction and that old favourite, the John Moores catalogue to accompany this year's exhibition - more on both on the online shop.

Win a book: If you fancy getting your hands on any of these just answer this simple question - how many art books are featured in the NML online shop? (clue: some are available in more than one package so count carefully.) Send us your answer with your name, address and the name of the book you would prefer using this contact form. The deadline for entries is noon on Friday 10 September at 2010.

Update 01.09.10: Apologies to people who tried to enter yesterday and couldn't. Please use the entry form instead.

Opening to the public today, the exhibition showcases a small selection of the 120 wedding dresses in National Museums Liverpool’s collections, alongside a small number of outfits worn by grooms and pageboys.

Our members were treated to a fascinating insight into the exhibition by curator Pauline Rushton. We were taken on a historical journey of wedding attire, all very different in style; including a brown dress made of corded silk, dresses inspired by famous designers Paul Poiret and Christian Dior and a typical blue wartime wedding dress. The most modern piece on display is a dress on loan from the travelling community worn by Winifred Delaney for her wedding in March 2010.

Members thoroughly enjoyed this exclusive insight into the exhibition and for many it brought back happy memories of their own special day. I felt very nostalgic thinking about my own wedding day last year only to talk to a couple of members who are celebrating 56 years together on Saturday!

For more information on how you can become a member and take part in our fantastic events along with many other exciting benefits call our Membership Officer on 0151 478 4157 or visit our membership web page."