Continued: Input on Daily Itinerary for Week in London

Yes Trafalgar and National Gallery too much after the V & A.

On the day we visit V&A we will have lunch somewhere adjacent to the museum bc the reviews of the museum’s food isn’t great. Then we will walk about 5 minutes to Harrods. Probably won’t buy but it’s an amazing store. Great pastries, maybe a savory to have with our evening cocktails.

Questions: I must not be using the V&A website properly. I can see that there are fashion collections, but the collections page doesn't tell me where. The interactive map labels each room but none of them say fashion. Same question for literature/manuscripts.

I can't see them either.

Any museum in the world of course only ever has a tiny percentage of it's items on display at any time.

The 'collections' is essentially a massive catalogue.

I have seen more museum catalogues than is good for me, and this is a very good example with full details and images. There is enough information for you to be able to order up any non displayed item. I have no idea how much notice you would have to give, and many items are probably stored off site.

This a complete listing of the 47, 965 fashion items they hold.

If you click on any individual item and scroll right down to bottom right it tells you where it is currently displayed. Clearly neither you or I can do that for all but 48,000 items but I have not yet found a fashion item that says anything other than 'Not currently on display at the V&A'

If you go to Manuscripts and choose this item- https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O140016/manuscript-skidmore-francis-alexander/
there is a catalogue note at centre right as to where you can view the item on pre-order.

For fashion items drilling down into the catalogue suggests that such viewing is at Blythe House, Kensington Olympia, not on site.

This is as simple an answer as I can give- in essence I think you may be disappointed if going to see certain things.

I love museums and will admit that the V&A flummoxes me. I even resorted to taking a London Walks tour of the museum as I thought it might help me figure things out for future visits, lol. No, it did not.

There is an information desk in the entry foyer so I would stop there and see if they can enlighten you and point you to your areas of interest. I have not done this but might next time I go. I particularly enjoy Regency fashion and finally found some (not as much as I wanted!). In looking at the map and clicking on the interactive features it looks like for my particular interest it was Level 3 rooms to the left side of the Dome area.

https://www.vam.ac.uk/features/digitalmap/?floor=3&latlng=-4491.030046128495%2C4115.911201458424

I'd go for 2P for your tea. Even if you spend 3 hours in V&A it will take about 30 minutes to walk to Kensington Palace and then you'd have time to sit a few minutes in the Park or look at the Peter Pan Statue (which is a little out of the way between the two). I'd definitely look at the V&A tea room area just to see the William Morris decorations in there. Maybe stop for a coffee about 11?

Stuart, I don't know what I'd do without you.

Pam, thank you so much. How did you know my daughter especially loves Regency fashion?

I will take your advice to ask at the desk when we arrive. The statues and casts will be easy to find, then anything else we decide to see we can do on the spot.

I will book tea for 2:00, and we are definitely seeking out the Peter Pan statue, it's on our list of must see.

Oh, that is funny!

Is she a Jane Austen fan? There is a neat book of DIY walks called, oddly enough, Walking Jane Austen’s London. I’ve done pieces of them if I was going to be in a certain neighborhood. You probably don’t want to try and research them this time but if that’s her era, add it to the “next time” list!!

We visited the V&A in late July, I'd say the bulk of the fashion I saw was located in the same room as the special Diva exhibition. If you look at the interactive map, it's Room 40 on the ground floor (and labeled Fashion). The Diva exhibition costs extra, and is in a loft area in the room. Below it are displays of fashions from various time periods, and those are free to view.

Other fashion is mixed in with the period displays on Level 1. If you click up one level on the interactive map, then click Room 52a, you can see a case of clothes displayed on mannequins in the background. Other rooms have similar displays. I believe I also saw a bit of fashion in the Design 1900-Now (Room 74, Level 2).

Didn't look at literature/manuscripts while we were there, but in searching the catalog, if you narrow down books with an additional search for "literature", then click "on display" and choose "South Kensington" from the drop-down, you end up with 43 items. Some of these are in the same places as the fashion--i.e. in a case in the room covering a certain time period--but most of them can only be seen by request. This is not unusual since you're talking about old paper and unique items that need special handling. I used to work in an academic library, and the items in our special collections were viewed by appointment only, though we did put together special displays for classes when a professor requested it. I'm assuming the V&A and other museums have a similar system.

Leslie, thank you so much!

The Peter Pan Statue is between the Italian Gardens and the overpass along the path adjacent to the Serpentine. Its well before the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain area.

From the V & A, 20 minute stroll.

I think there's also a Chanel exhibit at the V&A, and the Windrush exhibit looks good. We always eat at the Polish restaurant behind the South Kensington tube station. It's pricey but excellent. I think it's in Rick's book because that's how we found it back in 2002!

We took 2 free docent led tours during our morning tour of the V&A in April 2023. We just showed up. Both tours were excellent. One was a tour of the first floor fashion collection, It was wonderful. I believe it lasted about an hour.

You can use the interactive map to find the fashion exhibit - it looks like it is in room 40. https://www.vam.ac.uk/features/digitalmap

I would also recommend visiting the Theatre and Performance collections. I found them so impressive and wonderful.

To find more exhibits, go to the interactive map and click the search button, then key in the word you want, like "fashion" or "costume" or whatever, and the room number will pop up.

ETA: just realized that Leslie already gave you the room no. for some of the fashion collection. But do keep in mind that there are many people there who will be happy to guide you to what you want too see. )

We took 2 free docent led tours during our morning tour of the V&A in April 2023. We just showed up. Both tours were excellent. One was a tour of the first floor fashion collection, It was wonderful. I believe it lasted about an hour.

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind.

I would also recommend visiting the Theatre and Performance collections. I found them so impressive and wonderful.

To find more exhibits, go to the interactive map and click the search button, then key in the word you want, like "fashion" or "costume" or whatever, and the room number will pop up.

Thank you! I don't recall noticing a search option when I was looking at that page-too overwhelmed, most likely!

The Museum of London is wonderful too.
Although I believe it was closed for renovations , so I’m not sure if it has reopened yet.
Well worth a visit to learn the history of the city.