Wearing Corsets in Bath? Why Not!

Bath has been a centre of fashionable life for centuries. Located in Somerset, England, this city was a health resort and it became more popular after Queen Anne went to Bath's Spa in 1702 (and in 1688, 1692, 1703). Just in case you did not know, in Bath's Fashion Museum you can try Victorian corsets and crinolines. Interested? Keep on reading. It was Doris Langley Moore, a celebrated costume designer, who first donated her historical dress collection to the city of Bath in 1963. Soon, the City Council founded Museum of Costume. The name changed into Fashion Museum in July 2007. This museum is internationally famous for its collection of fashionable dress and considered as the best in the world. [caption id="attachment_85053" align="aligncenter" width="680" caption="The Assembly Rooms - Entrance to Fashion Museum ©Mamak Ketol"][/caption] Fashion Museum is located in the basement of the Bath Assembly Rooms on Bennett Street. Completed in 1771, this building has long been one of Bath’s impressive Georgian buildings and is still important to the city’s social life. There is a dance room where guests can dance, drink, and socialise. In the early 1800s, it was the meeting place for Georgian dandies, including Londoners. Now, the ballroom can be booked for concerts or weddings. [caption id="attachment_85054" align="aligncenter" width="628" caption="Court Dress (left) and Sack Back Dress (right) ©Mamak Ketol"]

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[/caption] The museum main collection focuses on fashionable clothes for children, men, and women from the late 16th century to the present day. Some of the earliest objects are gloves and embroidered shirts from about 1600. The 1760s court dress (left) is a treasure of the museum’s collection. The cream petticoat is made of woven silk with gold metal thread. The rectangular shape skirts were the fashion of the 1740s, but still gained its popularity after 20 years! The sack back dress (right) worn only at court by the 1760s. (Sack dress was a casual wear in the early 1700s, and turned as a day dress in 1720s.) This particular dark pink dress is quite costly. The silk fabric is woven by combining two types of expensive silver metal thread. The museum also collects other type of clothings such as coats, jackets, shirts, blouses, swimsuits, waistcoats, knitwears, corsets, undergarments, and accessories such as fans, gloves, including footwears. Today the museum collections reached more than 30.000 items. The exhibits change regularly. Since its opening, each year there is a display of Dress of The Year, which is selected by an independent fashion expert. In addition to the permanent collections, there are some temporary displays such as Photographing Fashion, Fashion Photography by John Bates, contemporary fashions by Helmut Lang, and art installation by Mark Clarke. [caption id="attachment_85055" align="aligncenter" width="604" caption="Monroe’s dress by Travilla (left), the sketch and Monroe’s iconic pose by a New York subway (right) ©Mamak Ketol™"]

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[/caption] There are also scheduled events held in the Assembly Rooms. One of them is the touring exhibition by William Travilla (1920 - 1990). Travilla is the man who dressed Marilyn Monroe in eight of Monroe’s movies. He is the one who created Monroe’s most famous cocktail dress filmed in The Seven Year Itch. The combined ticket for the Fashion Museum and Assembly Rooms is £7.25. Normally, access to the Assembly Rooms is free as long as it is opened and there are no functions inside. However, from 1 January 2011 visitors will be charged for an extra £2. Free audio-guides to the displays are included in the ticket. They are available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Japanese. The audio-guides include interviews from prominent British designers of the 1970s and 1980s such as John Bates, Wendy Dagworthy, Janice Wainwright, and Sarah Dallas. If visitors want to look at particular selection in details, they can book a study table in advanced free of charge. There are books on fashion history available in the reading space. (Or ... you can buy Fashion Museum – Treasures book in the gift shop.) [caption id="attachment_85056" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Victorian Corsets ©Mamak Ketol"]

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[/caption] Not only women can experience how Victorian women wear corsets, but children can try Victorian sporting dresses as well. There is no need to pay extra for these activites. So … would you like to wear one of those corsets while you are in Bath? (Please note that photography is permitted.)

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