Our historic collection team has interrupted its usual work to help mount star pieces for ‘Costume Couture -Sixty Years of Cosprop’ at the Fashion and Textile Museum’ #costumecouture #fashionandtextilemuseum #costumemounting #filmcostume #fashionexhibition #costumeexhibition #costumedesign

In their free time, our assistant curators Sage & Annie have come up with an exciting project. Follow them and their collaborators on instagram at @uncovering.dressmakers to learn more! #19thcenturydressmaking #whomademyclothes #historyofdress #historyoffashion #victorianfashion #vintagelabels

We are excited that our dress now graces the cover of this new book:

Thrilled that our collection items feature in the new book ‘Artistic Dress at Liberty&Co’ @yalebooks.bsky.social - including the one on the cover: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/turquoise-dress-by-liberty/. #bookrecommendations #libertydress #artisticdress #fashionhistory #1910sfashion

This fancy dress from our collection is presumably based on this ‚Pierrette‘ fashion plate from January 1884 ‚Der Bazar‘ that was also featured in ‚La Mode Illustrée‘ as ‚Folie‘ (Folly). #1880sfancydress #historyofdress #costumehistory #victorianfancydress #fancydressinspiration #cosprop

'Her riding habit almost swept the ground' - so Charlotte Brontë describes Jane Eyre’s rival, implying the elegance of overlong skirts. Our 1900 habit skirt and the 1898 patent show a new concern for safety over 'dangerous elegance'. More here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/riding-habit/

Cheerful stripes swing gracefully as a lady turns towards her friend in a plate from 1831 'La Mode', illustrating how our bodice might have looked before its skirt was cut off. www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/bodice-and-inner-sleeve-supports-2/#1830sfashion #1830sdress #costumehistory

The abundance of satin stitched flowers around the pocket flap of our #1790s court dress coat reminds us that #mensfashion was not always as restrained as it should become from this time onwards. www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/court-dress-coat/ #historyoffashion #embroidery #1790sfashion

Almost certainly based on the Lily Window in St. Catherine's church in #Oppenheim on the Rhine, our #1850s skirt pattern is linked to both the #gothicrevival movement and the 'Romantic' Rhine tourism that had become popular earlier in the century. www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/skirt-3/

Three dimensional flowers blossom on Louise-Marie de France's stomacher in her 1763 Drouais portrait, as if her dress's floral silk had come alive. Our stomacher from a rich British farming family illustrates how widely the styles of the French aristocracy were copied across Europe. #fashionhistory

Lovely to see this painted 1770s dress and compare it to this one from our collection that was re-modelled in the 1840s: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/dres...

We love this comparison of our promenade ensemble with the example from the Met museum! It’s also lovely to see this popular 1860s style depicted in various impressionist paintings like Monet’s sketch for ‘Déjeuner sur l’Herbe’ from 1865 at the National Gallery of Art, Washington…

We just photographed our green 1860s-70s dresses that will be tested for arsenic and stored separately if they contain any. Having them all mounted just looked too great to not be shared! #arsenicgreen #toxicdyes #fashionvictims #historyoffashion #toxicfashion #scheelesgreen #victoriandress

Gustav Klimt’s soft pink brushstrokes conjure up a dress similar to our silk plissé bodice in his 1897-1898 portrait of Sonja Knips. When cataloguing the bodice from our reference collection, we were immediately reminded of it. #gustavklimt #klimtandfashion #historyoffashion #1890sfashion

Welcome to our account! Here we will be sharing items from our historic dress archive. This 'Folly' fancy dress from around 1883-6 was presumably based on a design in 1882 'Fancy Dresses Described' by Ardern Holt (seen on the left). More on our website: thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/fanc...