THE LADIES EMPORIUM

One glass case, some vintage underpinnings, assorted haberdashery and a dash of nostalgia gives you THE LADIES EMPORIUM at HENFIELD MUSEUM.

The Ladies Emporium

I have gathered together a miscellany from Henfields stock that says Drapers Window to me. A drapers with a difference. A drapers window that mixes not just garments but swirls in a bit of time travel too.

                

There are some lace trimmed Victorian unmentionables and a pair of drawers from the 1940s. A Victorian black lace and taffeta yoked cape. 

                            


An Edwardian nightgown, ladies combinations and assorted silk stockings. Shoes from the 1920s. Hat pins from the 1940s . Long steel hat pins with military buttons forming the top. Lace still on its original card from Tobitts Drapers and a  hat brush with ‘Tobitts’ stamped on the handle. This shop was trading in Henfield  from 1858 until the last family member died in 1953. Between 1909 and 1913 Henfield had another drapers and outfitters, ‘Cordery Brothers’. In the case are two pieces of their brown wrapping paper emblazoned with the shop address.   

    

The exquisite detail that home seamstresses sewed into their work stands out in the details on the Victorian and Edwardian underwear and nightgown. There is handmade lace, pin tucks, white work and broderie anglaise. One pair of ladies combinations was made by a Miss Tobitt from the Tobitt Drapers family. They formed part of her trousseau. A trousseau that was never worn. I don’t know why.

                                                                               

In the right hand corner there’s a faded paisley shawl from 1860 that was worn to a wedding, and in the left corner….I couldn’t have a display with out a dress. So a beautiful mauve satin dress is displayed in all its beaded glory. An Edwardian evening gown, the elbow length sleeves are split along their length and gathered together by velvet bands. Gold beads form fringing at the hem and brilliants wind through the beads to create sparkling panels of embroidery.

    

So here is my interpretation of a drapers window. Enormous fun to do and a real pleasure to be had in showing off some of the smaller pieces in Henfields collection.

                    

                                                                                                  

 Incidentally, if you look, the mauve evening gown is priced at a very reasonable Sale Price of 6/11. This dream bargain is courtesy of a sign from Tobitts Drapers that was found when their old premises were being refurbished. 35p is a bit of a snip…..

                                                  

Beau Musée Bowes

Its not often you go to a costume exhibition and come out raving about the transparent thermoplastic mannequins. 

But that is what happened after my visit to the Bowes Museum in County Durham.

Their costume and textile displays have see through acrylic mannequins and innovative peninsula cases, so you can see inside and through and the back of the clothes. What a difference this makes. Seeing something in the round gives a much better picture of a costume. No longer do you have to trade the detail of the back for the detail of the front or vice versa. And you can step back and see the costume from all angles at a distance. This excellent system was developed by Bowes and is now being copied by other museums. I believe that the inspiration for this layout was based on clothes shops in Bond Street in London. Where ever it came from it is a triumph. 

The clothes displayed are arranged chronologically to guide you through the display. A walk through time as it were.

Having by good fortune visited on Bowes 125^th anniversary, not only was admission a snip at £2.50, but there was a programme of talks, tours and music on that day as well. So it was that I had the pleasure of meeting Hannah Jackson, Assistant Curator of Fashion and Textiles, who gave a talk in the fashion gallery about the exhibits (just  2% of their collection is on show) and shared with us her favourite items.

Curators choice.1858-1860 Paletot and carriage boots
 which belonged to Empress Eugenie

Here’s a selection of my favourites.

1815-1820 Scottish Whitework

Day Bodice 1857-1860

1863

1880

  

1919-1920

                                                       

1932

Utility blouse 1941-8

                               

1964 Jean Varon (John Bates)

c1965

I often just walk through a museum to get to the costumes and walk straight out afterwards. At Bowes you cant do that. I was drawn into rooms filled with furniture and paintings and curios and porcelain and a very clever, very famous silver swan. Case after case full of exquisite things. Yes I know that all (most?) museums are like that, but Bowes  is really special. Light airy rooms, quiet nooks with chairs, a wealth of marble staircases, wooden floors and a great sense of space.

And there is still another story to tell from Bowes…the history of Joséphine Bowes and her husband John. The tale of his enormous wealth, a life in Paris, meeting an actress, their love story, a marriage and a zeal for collecting that all came together with their great vision for a museum.  All this is beautifully depicted and described within the museum, along with some eye watering bills from Worth in Paris ‘ 1^st June 1872, Bill for Mme Bowes’ ‘Dress in gauze and lace, Scarf in white crêpe de chine and Valenciennes lace’ etc etc, to a total of 11,184.00 Francs. (£36k today)

Tying the two areas of costume and founders together is a replica of a dress worn by Joséphine Bowes, taken from her portrait and meticulously recreated by Luca Costigliolo. A video of its construction shows in the costume space.

Bowes is exceptional. I have wanted to visit this museum for years.

It did not disappoint.