Early nineteenth century fashionplate

This is one of the richest areas of the Fashion Museum collections with examples from the slender white muslin dresses of the early 19th century to more colourful and voluminous dresses, such as the bright blue silk day dress worn with a cage crinoline from the 1860s, seen below.

To see more nineteenth century fashion, see the Collection search.

Fashions across the 20th century are well represented in the collections at the Fashion Museum including work by many of the worlds leading fashion designers.

A particular strength is the holdings of British fashion designers, including work by Norman Hartnell, such as this cream silk jersey evening ensemble from 1960.

Each year since 1963, when the museum was founded in Bath, we have asked a fashion expert to select a dress or outfit for the museum’s collection to represent the most important new ideas in contemporary fashion. The chosen designers or manufacturers have always very generously given the clothes to the Fashion Museum and the firm of Adel Rootstein donates an up-to-date mannequin for the display.

Dress of the Year choices from 1963 to 2005 are listed on the left.

A pair of stays or a corset was an essential piece of clothing for fashionable women throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection includes a small number of stays from the 1780s and corsets from the later part of the 19th century.

British fashion is known throughout the world for it tradition and iconoclasm. The Fashion Museum has important collections of the work of many British designers, many of whom are less well-known than the big names who feature regularly in histories of 20th century fashion, but who have made equally significant contributions to British fashion.

Work by different British fashion designer will be featured from time to time in the Fashion Museum galleries. The designers currently featured all worked in the 1970s and 1980s and are John Bates, Janice Wainwright, Wendy Dagworthy and Sarah Dallas.

The collection at the Fashion Museum includes sizeable collections of fashions worn by particular women. This gives opportunities to investigate questions of individual taste and changing fashion across the course of one woman’s life.

The women include Ottoline Morrell, Molly Tondaimann and Margot Fonteyn.

The collection at the Fashion Museum includes sizeable collections of fashions worn by particular women. This gives opportunities to investigate questions of individual taste and changing fashion across the course of one woman’s life.

The women include Ottoline Morrell, Molly Tondaimann and Margot Fonteyn.