Museum threads

With the awards season in full swing there’s been some...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:18:27 -0500

With the awards season in full swing there’s been some interesting red carpet creations on show over the past few weeks. This beautiful 1950’s evening dress would definitely have turned heads.

It’s on show at Sudley House as part of 20th Century Chic:100 years of fashion, a fascinating new display of 12 beautiful outfits charting a century of women’s fashion.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes shot of one of the mannequins...

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 10:10:00 -0500

Here’s a behind-the-scenes shot of one of the mannequins waiting patiently to be installed in a new display at the Walker Art Gallery, Mrs Tinne’s Wardrobe, A Liverpool Lady’s Clothes, 1910-1940.

The small display is now open, and has been described as a must for fans of vintage gowns and stunning costume from the early 20th century.

It features 14 outfits from the Tinne collection, 10 of which have never been on public display before.

This unique dress was designed and created by Liverpool...

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 09:13:00 -0500

This unique dress was designed and created by Liverpool dressmaker Thelma Madine and Ryan Edwards, stylist at hair salon Voodou. A team of eight dressmakers from Thelma’s business, Nico Bridal Wear, took 300 hours to make the dress over a period of three months. It has 12 petticoats, complete with 1,200 crystals and 250 metres of hair extensions, all hand dyed and styled by Ryan.

In November 2011 the dress was worn by the winner of the first Alternative Miss Liverpool pageant, as part of the annual Homotopia Festival. The dress is on display at the Museum of Liverpool until 18 December 2012 as part of the 2012 Homotopia festival.

Using human hair

Due to the current popularity of hair extensions, there is a lucrative international market for human hair. It is often difficult to trace the origins of the hair used in the extensions. This raises serious concerns about human rights and whether the hair may have been obtained unethically in Eastern Europe, Russia and India in particular.

We cannot be completely certain of the origins of the hair used in the extensions which make this dress. As a result, we are using this display as an opportunity to highlight this important issue.

For more information on a range of human rights issues visit the International Slavery Museum.

Shauna Richardson with her crochetdermy Red Rum, which is on...

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:27:00 -0400

Shauna Richardson with her crochetdermy Red Rum, which is on display in the Liverpool Love exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool until 25 November 2012.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/exhibitions/liverpool-love/

In this short video crochetdermist Shauna Richardson talks about...

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 04:02:00 -0400

In this short video crochetdermist Shauna Richardson talks about the Red Rum figure she made for the Liverpool Love exhibition, which is at the Museum of Liverpool until 25 November 2012.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/exhibitions/liverpool-love/

Just a few examples of the flora and fauna that have been...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 05:18:00 -0400

Woolly wildlife at World Museum

Knitted fan seaweed

A family of knitted slugs

Just a few examples of the flora and fauna that have been knitted and crocheted for our displays at World Museum this summer. All of the woolly wildlife will be given to Claire House Children’s Hospice, who will be selling them in their charity shops in order to raise money.

Find out more about the project and how you could get involved on the blog.

This silk brocade day dress dates from about 1841-1846. It is on...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:37:15 -0400

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.

This dress represents the River Mersey. Astrid Caroe, the...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:37:23 -0400

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 quilt, titled ‘Pig in the Pen’ by Arlonzia...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:36:52 -0500

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.

We’ve created this ace online fashion game, Off The Hook,...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:07:00 -0500

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…

Detail of a beautiful blouse from the Tinne collection of...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:59:04 -0500

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.

As it’s the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:29:08 -0500

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.

Outfit of the week: Eyes down! See Lily Savage’s...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:20:35 -0500

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.

No prizes for guessing who designed this stylish outfit! This is...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:09:27 -0500

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.

Best shoes EVER! These fabulous Terry de Havilland platforms are...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:04:18 -0500

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

Emily Tinne wore this wool serge bathing costume during her...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:11:00 -0500

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.

This stunning evening dress is made from rayon satin and is...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:33:00 -0500

This stunning evening dress is made from rayon satin and is overlaid with pink net and grey lace. You can see a detail of the velvet trim here as well. We don’t know the maker of this dress, but it dates from about 1950-1955.

Find out more about the dress here.

Outfit of the week: Today we are feeling GROOVY! This...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:51:00 -0500

Outfit of the week: Today we are feeling GROOVY! This man’s grey flared polyester trousers and corduroy jacket is on display at the Walker Art Gallery in the Feathercuts and flares exhibition.

This advertisement for crepe soled shoes is from the Collinson...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:36:20 -0500

This advertisement for crepe soled shoes is from the Collinson archive at the Maritime Archives and Library, in Merseyside Maritime Museum. The archive contains the business records of J Collinson & Company, shoe makers and retailers from 1831 to 1978.

"Nothing is so vulgar as an incongruous glaring coloured glove."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:25:00 -0500

This advice from ‘Etiquette for Ladies’, 1843, was featured in the 2011 exhibition The Finishing Touch at the Lady Lever Art Gallery.