Last year, I really enjoyed seeing the ground floor clothing exhibit at the V&A in London. This year, I'm returning and am wondering which museum or museums have good clothing exhibits. Does anyone have any recommendations?
I posted in a different forum about this, and someone suggested I go to Bath to the Fashion Museum. I'm trying to see if that is feasible. I'm already going to Oxford on a day trip and would prefer to stay in London, if at all possible.
Thanks!
There is a small, interesting museum in High Barnet, north London. High Barnet is at the end of the Northern Line of the underground. My sister-in-law used to volunteer there, at the museum, and I know that she had much to do with the museum's fashion collection. You could contact the museum to see if a visit would be worth the longish ride on the tube.
I went to the fashion museum in Bath back in 2007 and to me, it wouldn't be worth to do a day trip to Bath just for that purpose. Maybe I just had high expectations but I was disappointed on how small the museum was. However, if you combine it with a visit to the Roman baths then it may make the trip worthwhile. We had a car that day and was able to visit Bath and Oxford on the same day. It was a whirwind but we did it!
I loved the Fashion Museum in Bath. I hope you can go to it sometime. On a day trip including the Roman Baths and lunch in the Pump Room would be good.
There's an exhibit at Kensington Palace that just opened two weeks ago on Princess Di's dresses; not sure how long it will be on display; see this link:
If you are doing a day in Bath, then I think the fashion museum is a great addition to the itinerary, but I wouldn't go there just for that.
I do recommend checking out Kensington Palace. They routinely have displays of various royal gowns, including Princess Diana, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Victoria.
Also, the V&A usually rotates their fashion collections and has special collections, so I'd check to see what their display is at present. It's likely different than what you saw last year.
The Museum of London, a stones throw from St.Paul's, has clothing in it, free entry too. You will need to skip through the museum to later dates as its organised over roughly 2000 years, from 0 where you enter to modern'ish day where you leave. It's not fashion focussed though.
I did go to Kensington palace last year to see the exhibit featuring Diana's, Princess Margaret's and the Queen's gowns. It was quite something!
Thanks, all, for the suggestions. Bath does seem like quite a distance to go just for one place.
A little late to the party but I'll throw this in:
The York Museum had an incredible exhibit (still running so far as i can tell) called Shaping the Body about the evolution of fashion. I spent a couple hours there taking pictures of the corsetry for a friend who loves historical clothing.
https://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/exhibition/shaping-the-body/
In London, Liberty is a very pretty store, and they have some of their own fabric designs: http://www.libertylondon.com/uk/department/fabric/
I know you said you want to try to stay in London (which I understand), but for anyone else reading this, in Manchester, the Manchester Art Gallery has an exhibit through April 23, 2017 on Japanese design, including some stunning clothes by the likes of Issey Miyake. And it's free! http://manchesterartgallery.org/exhibitions-and-events/exhibition/modern-japanese-design/
They also have an exhibit on Mary Quant through November 5, 2017, but since this is in a satellite location, I missed this one. It's easily accessible by bus from the center. http://manchesterartgallery.org/exhibitions-and-events/exhibition/mary-quant/
They had a lovely collection of period clothing at the Victoria & Albert Museum when we went a couple of years ago. It wasn't a special exhibit as I remember. I loved the V&A. It was my favorite museum in London.
Camden Market in London also has many stalls of retro fashions, just for fun.
