March 16, 2012 • 1 note

This silk brocade day dress dates from about 1841-1846. It is on display in the Costume Drama exhibition at Sudley House until 17 June 2012.

March 13, 2012
This dress represents the River Mersey. Astrid Caroe, the daughter of the Danish Consul in Liverpool, wore it to a fancy dress party at the Town Hall in 1912. The dress is now on display in the Global City gallery at the Museum of Liverpool.

This dress represents the River Mersey. Astrid Caroe, the daughter of the Danish Consul in Liverpool, wore it to a fancy dress party at the Town Hall in 1912. The dress is now on display in the Global City gallery at the Museum of Liverpool.

March 7, 2012
This quilt, titled ‘Pig in the Pen’ by Arlonzia Pettway, is part of the International Slavery Museum’s collections. Arlonzia is from Gee’s Bend, a small rural community on the site of a former cotton plantation owned by Joseph Gee and his relatives. Over the centuries the women there have developed a bold, distinctive quilting style based on traditional American and African American quilts.  “When I was nine years old, I made my sister a dress and me a dress out of blue taffeta cloth. My mama saw those two dresses and thought they was bought made. She showed those dresses off to everybody. I just had a head for doing anything. It was just born in me to make things.” Arlonzia Pettway Find out more on the International Slavery Museum website.

This quilt, titled ‘Pig in the Pen’ by Arlonzia Pettway, is part of the International Slavery Museum’s collections.

Arlonzia is from Gee’s Bend, a small rural community on the site of a former cotton plantation owned by Joseph Gee and his relatives. Over the centuries the women there have developed a bold, distinctive quilting style based on traditional American and African American quilts. 

“When I was nine years old, I made my sister a dress and me a dress out of blue taffeta cloth. My mama saw those two dresses and thought they was bought made. She showed those dresses off to everybody. I just had a head for doing anything. It was just born in me to make things.” Arlonzia Pettway

Find out more on the International Slavery Museum website.

February 23, 2012 • 2 notes • liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

We’ve created this ace online fashion game, Off The Hook, inspired by costume from our collections and we had to tell you about it…

You can see here how we started by photographing a pair of spotty yellow shoes (from 1790-1810) on display at Sudley House, which then inspired a cute illustration, which eventually became part of the game.

Have a go at being a stylist yourself, using costume from the 18th century right up to 2001!

Play Off The Hook here…

February 23, 2012
Detail of a beautiful blouse from the Tinne collection of clothing, which was the subject of the popular exhibition A Passion for Fashion, held at the Walker Art Gallery in 2006.

Detail of a beautiful blouse from the Tinne collection of clothing, which was the subject of the popular exhibition A Passion for Fashion, held at the Walker Art Gallery in 2006.

February 7, 2012 • 1 note
As it’s the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens today, here’s a fantastic painting from the Lady Lever Art Gallery which features his daughter Kate as a model. This emotional scene, ‘The Black Brunswicker’, was painted in 1860 by the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais. It shows a fictional incident highlighting a historical moment, when the Black Brunswickers troop left for the battle of Quatre Bras at Waterloo in 1815. The troops suffered severe losses at the battle. Millais wished to be historically accurate in making the dress look quite antique. It is actually a compromise between the fashions of 1859 and 1815 when waists were still kept high.  The dress is painted in such a realistic way, capturing the shine of the fabric and the creases in perfect detail, that you could almost touch it.

As it’s the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens today, here’s a fantastic painting from the Lady Lever Art Gallery which features his daughter Kate as a model.

This emotional scene, ‘The Black Brunswicker’, was painted in 1860 by the Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais. It shows a fictional incident highlighting a historical moment, when the Black Brunswickers troop left for the battle of Quatre Bras at Waterloo in 1815. The troops suffered severe losses at the battle.

Millais wished to be historically accurate in making the dress look quite antique. It is actually a compromise between the fashions of 1859 and 1815 when waists were still kept high. 

The dress is painted in such a realistic way, capturing the shine of the fabric and the creases in perfect detail, that you could almost touch it.

February 7, 2012
Outfit of the week: Eyes down! See Lily Savage’s Bingo-themed evening dress with holographic sequins at the Walker Art Gallery as part of the Savage Style display, until 19 February.

Outfit of the week: Eyes down! See Lily Savage’s Bingo-themed evening dress with holographic sequins at the Walker Art Gallery as part of the Savage Style display, until 19 February.

February 3, 2012
No prizes for guessing who designed this stylish outfit! This is a detail of the Vivienne Westwood Dunbar suit worn by Holly Johnson. You can see the suit in the Wondrous Place gallery in the Museum of Liverpool.

No prizes for guessing who designed this stylish outfit!

This is a detail of the Vivienne Westwood Dunbar suit worn by Holly Johnson. You can see the suit in the Wondrous Place gallery in the Museum of Liverpool.

February 1, 2012

Best shoes EVER! These fabulous Terry de Havilland platforms are currently on display in the Feathercuts and flares exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery. 

January 31, 2012 • 1 note
Emily Tinne wore this wool serge bathing costume during her honeymoon in Ireland in 1910, with a matching bathing cap and espadrilles. It doesn’t look like the most practical thing to swim in, but swimwear at the time was designed more for modesty than comfort! Find out more on the website. This bathing costume and many more outfits from Emily Tinne’s huge collection were featured in the popular exhibition A Passion for Fashion at the Walker Art Gallery in 2006.

Emily Tinne wore this wool serge bathing costume during her honeymoon in Ireland in 1910, with a matching bathing cap and espadrilles. It doesn’t look like the most practical thing to swim in, but swimwear at the time was designed more for modesty than comfort! Find out more on the website.

This bathing costume and many more outfits from Emily Tinne’s huge collection were featured in the popular exhibition A Passion for Fashion at the Walker Art Gallery in 2006.