Costumes and Cuppas in Belfast.

Last Wednesday whilst I was in Belfast for a wedding (of which much more in another post) I had the pleasure of meeting someone whom I had only previously ‘talked to’ via email. And when this person you meet turns out to have been to the same school as you…you immediately relax and feel you are amongst friends.

And it was as if we had known each other for a long time as Anna Liesching the Asst Art Curator at the Ulster Museum and I had wide ranging chat. A perfect way to share knowledge, anecdotes, information and costume stories.

Talk ranged from school, (only fair to point out that Anna would have been there many years after me) to details of how a museum collection is built up, added to and maintained. I heard about the collection of Irish dance costumes held at the Ulster Folk Museum. Their exhibition ‘A Step In Time..The Story Of Irish Dance’ runs until January 2016.

We talked about exhibitions in London that we had seen. Anna was able to confirm that the Alexander McQueen retrospective was as spectacular as the PR people said it was. I told her about my association with a local museum here in Sussex and my research into dresses in their collection.

We went up to have another look at the Age of Liberty exhibition. I was delighted to hear that its run has been extended until August this year.

We both admired the sheer loveliness of these gowns. And speculated on what they would have been like to wear. I reflected that even if they were in my size, I never go anywhere to wear a garment like an exquisitely beaded evening jacket. I gasped when Anna told me that this had been taken to the Museum in a carrier bag. What a treasure to lift out of any sort of bag.

Anna has huge enthusiasm for what she does and I envy her working in the Ulster Museum. The building has spectacular light with a striking view upwards from the ground floor.

It’s lovely to talk costume with a like minded soul.

So thanks again Anna. The tea is on me the next time….