I have been going to London for as long as I can remember and at this stage have seen many of the museums that the city has to offer. One that I keep coming back to is the Victoria and Albert. It houses so many amazing exhibits and I also love their changing retrospective showcases. Today I wanted to share one of their more permanent collections with you – from their Fashion and Textiles Archives.
The exhibition can be found in Room 40 of the V&A and I love stepping back into the past by exploring the collection. The collection was renovated and completely changed back in 2012 and now the Fashion Galleries show European fashion and accessories from 1750 up to the modern day. They focus on progressive and influential designs and the collection now houses over 100,000 pieces!
The slightly aquarium feeling display is a joy to walk around as is done in chronological order around the outer circle of the gallery. What I also like about the exhibition is that many of the garments on display are complimented by accessories, paintings etc. from the same time period. This part of the exhibition remains pretty constant and then there are often temporary showcases in the central and upper level. An example of a temporary exhibition would be the ‘Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear’ exhibit which I have talked about before here.
This is one of my favourite pieces – the Silk, silver-gilt thread, linen thread, silk thread, hand-sewn Mantua dress. I just completely fell in love with it – I am not sure if it was the gold detailing or the shape but it stole my heart. To give you some information on the style of piece that this is – ‘the gown consists of a bodice with a train at the back. A very wide petticoat of matching silk completes the ensemble along with a triangle of silk known as a stomacher, in the centre front’ {via}.
Certainly a museum to check out when next in London – but make sure to give yourself enough time, this is not going to be a museum that you can just spend an hour in and think you have it covered! 🙂 Check out all details on exhibitions and what’s on here.
