Renaissance women's clothing
During the Renaissance period women wore long dresses, often with detachable sleeves. These sleeves were sometimes …
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Corsets & crinolines in Victorian fashion
Changes in body shape throughout the Victorian period were facilitaded by new attitudes and technology. From cage c…
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Beauty secrets - A Sowo mask
This wooden mask is associated with a secret women's society which exists in parts of West Africa. Sande masks are …
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Study Room resource: The role and status of women 1900-39
Prints and drawings that are not on display in the galleries can be seen in the Prints & Drawings Study Room. T…
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Pink velvet evening gown, by Worth, 1900
This silk velvet dress, trimmed with diamante, was worn by Princess Nicholas of Greece. Her grandson, the Duke of Kent, gave it to Sir Cecil Beaton, who was then collecting fashionable dress for his 1971 exhibition, Fashion: An Anthology.
Silk velvet tea gown, by Liberty & Co., 1894
This gown would have been worn as a 'tea gown', as an informal 'at home' dress for the late afternoon, or even as a simple dinner dress.
Woman's boating outfit, by unknown maker, about 1872
This is a jaunty, sensible woman’s outfit of the early 1870s designed for boating or seaside walking.
Pink & cream evening dress, by Festa & Co, 1895-1900
During this period, etiquette dictated that women of society vary their evening dress according to the occasion. Dresses like this silk satin example, with uncovered arms and neck, were known as 'full dress'.
Silk velvet evening gown, by Stern Bros, about 1894
This sumptuous evening dress has huge puffed sleeves which were highly fashionable during the mid 1890s.
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Horrockses Fashions: Off-the-Peg Style in the '40s and '50s
Horrockses Fashions was one of most respected ready-to-wear labels of the late 40s and 50s.
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