Spring 2012 - Dress and Textile Specialists

This ‘storage backdrop’ is something that we are very proud of. Like many museums, we are based in
a historic building, which was never designed to hold collections of dress and accessories, and
storage is something of a premium. The decision to make our 19 th century stores into a display, was
in part an answer to this very problem and included the relocation of over 200 boxes from an off-site
store to the Behind the Scenes gallery. We have not only freed up space in our stores to reconfigure
and make them more accessible, but now our entire 19 th century collection is on display to the
public.
The display is housed in a large gallery divided into 10 cases. Each case displays fashions from one or
two decades, along with different methods of storage. In this way we can demonstrate not only our
collection but the different ways in which we store objects, according to their needs. For example,
the first case, showing fashions from the 1800s also displays our stored shawls and stoles. They are
stored interleaved and folded with plain washed calico and acid-free tissue on shelving – which also
means that we can lift them out with relative ease for people to see in the Study Facilities. The 1810s
case houses our collection of 19 th century lace in a series of stacking trays, lined with calico. Lace
lengths are rolled around tubes made from sheets of melinex covered with stockingette.
Although we do have plans for store tours, we realise that many visitors like to see objects within
the context of a narrative or theme and so we feel we have in some way turned our storage
problems into an opportunity for greater access. Visible labels on stored objects and boxes enable
visitors to glimpse at the range and scope of the collection within the context of 19 th century
fashionable dress history. Our 19 th century shoes, for example, are stored on individually labelled
shoe trays made from acid-free card and plastazote and can be seen within the narrative of 1890s
fashion history, while the majority of our 19 th century dresses are stored in acid-free card boxes, and
are on display alongside mounted examples of mid-nineteenth century underwear and dress. Behind
the Scenes is very much a working store and not just a display.
Fashion Museum stores
The ‘knock-on’ effect of moving our 19 th century collection to the gallery has been a re-thinking of all
of our storage space. Since September last year, Rosemary Harden, Fashion Museum Manager has
been working tirelessly to reconfigure each store room at the Fashion Museum, which has been, and
continues to be, a very exciting process. We have discovered things, which we didn’t realise we had,
like just last week when Rosemary discovered a wonderful Callot Soeurs evening coat in pearl grey
and delicate pink silk satin from the late 1930s. The systematic re-organisation and re-storage of our
objects is enabling us to have a real sense of the collection for the first time and in so doing making it
that much more accessible.
Store 3, which houses our 20 th century hat collection, was completed in July of this year and uses
‘really useful boxes’ to protect and stack the hats. These boxes have made the hat collection
accessible on a number of levels. Previously, the hats were stored in rather nasty brown cardboard
boxes or stacked haphazardly on shelves and it was always difficult to find things. Now, we can
clearly see what have - and knowing your collection is surely at the root of access. Storing hats in this
way makes them easily transportable between the store and the Study Facilities, so that whether
we’re facilitating a study appointment, or looking for something for an exhibition, access to our 20 th
century hat collection has become a pleasure!
Another store which has recently received a makeover is our 20 th century shoe store. Our shoe
collection has gone through many location changes as large sections of the collection have been
moved to other stores or placed on display at different times in the past. We regularly accept new
donations to the collection and naturally, over the years, the organisation of the shoe store has
become slowly more chaotic. This store also contained shoes from the 18 th and 19 th centuries and it
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