This tailored dolman dating to the late #1880s made by Belgravia tailor Hulbert Beach. Careful pattern arrangement ensures the paisley motifs are symmetrical. I love the deep pleats at the back which must have rippled to reveal the pattern within @jbrightcollection.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Our historic collection team has interrupted its usual work to help mount star pieces for ‘Costume Couture -Sixty Years of Cosprop’ at the Fashion and Textile Museum’ #costumecouture #fashionandtextilemuseum #costumemounting #filmcostume #fashionexhibition #costumeexhibition #costumedesign

Available now! ‘The Costume House: The Inside Story of Cosprop - From A Room With A View to Game of Thrones’ takes you inside one of the world’s most revered costume suppliers and creators. @jbrightcollection.bsky.social

I spent a long time thinking about #1840s fashion when I was writing The Dress Diary & I miss it! It is a transitional decade but the fabric techniques were amazing. This is a warp printed silk creating blurry florals bordered by silk fringe @jbrightcollection.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

I rarely post historic menswear but I just came across this fine 1835-45 silk waistcoat @jbrightcollection.bsky.social & well, how could I resist?🌹 Read about it here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/wais...

Dress, cotton trimmed with cotton braid, c1869-70. Read its story here @jbrightcollection.bsky.social: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/dress/

😎 ‘Horrockses Fashions’ printed cotton sun dress with short matching jacket, early 1950s. Background information, full description & additional images via @jbrightcollection.bsky.social here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/sun-...

Coat by Paul Poiret, Paris, c1921. More here, including additional images, via The John Bright Collection: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/5054/

Mid 1840s one piece day dress made of white printed cotton with a simple design. Read more @jbrightcollection.bsky.social www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/dres...

This week’s Friday treat comes via @jbrightcollection.bsky.social Cotton sun dress, late 1950s, Horrockses Fashions. Read more here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/dres...

In their free time, our assistant curators Sage & Annie have come up with an exciting project. Follow them and their collaborators on instagram at @uncovering.dressmakers to learn more! #19thcenturydressmaking #whomademyclothes #historyofdress #historyoffashion #victorianfashion #vintagelabels

Worn #onthisday in 1931 by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, at a dinner for the African Society at London's Mayfair Hotel. She accessorized the gown of gold mesh woven with floral motifs and turquoise beads over silk chiffon with her Diamond Palmette Tiara. #OTD @jbrightcollection.bsky.social

Thrilled that our collection items feature in the new book ‘Artistic Dress at Liberty&Co’ @yalebooks.bsky.social - including the one on the cover: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/turquoise-dress-by-liberty/. #bookrecommendations #libertydress #artisticdress #fashionhistory #1910sfashion

This fancy dress from our collection is presumably based on this ‚Pierrette‘ fashion plate from January 1884 ‚Der Bazar‘ that was also featured in ‚La Mode Illustrée‘ as ‚Folie‘ (Folly). #1880sfancydress #historyofdress #costumehistory #victorianfancydress #fancydressinspiration #cosprop

Mid 1920s wedding outfit, dress, underdress, veil, headdress & shoes @jbrightcollection.bsky.social. Detailed description & additional images here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/wedd...

Russian art critic and ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev was born #OnThisDay in 1872. He staged The Sleeping Princess in 1921, in which this velvet and crepe de chine dress with laced bodice and patterned skirt was worn by a Village Maiden. John Bright Collection. #fashionhistory

A little bit of #Frockingfabulous #fashionhistory by #Liberty, 1913. Via the John Bright Collection.

'Her riding habit almost swept the ground' - so Charlotte Brontë describes Jane Eyre’s rival, implying the elegance of overlong skirts. Our 1900 habit skirt and the 1898 patent show a new concern for safety over 'dangerous elegance'. More here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/riding-habit/

The effect of a coloured under dress worn beneath a sheer white muslin gown is demonstrated to good effect here, bright yellow satin muted by the sheer layer on top. The cotton is sprinkled with metallic sprigs & braid for additional sunny sparkle @jbrightcollection.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Cheerful stripes swing gracefully as a lady turns towards her friend in a plate from 1831 'La Mode', illustrating how our bodice might have looked before its skirt was cut off. www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/bodice-and-inner-sleeve-supports-2/#1830sfashion #1830sdress #costumehistory

The abundance of satin stitched flowers around the pocket flap of our #1790s court dress coat reminds us that #mensfashion was not always as restrained as it should become from this time onwards. www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/court-dress-coat/ #historyoffashion #embroidery #1790sfashion

The black and brown horizontally striped background, all sombre shades, allows the floral foreground to zing so that the red flowers almost glow. It is an example of the new print technologies that revolutionised the era, late 1840s @jbrightcollection.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Almost certainly based on the Lily Window in St. Catherine's church in #Oppenheim on the Rhine, our #1850s skirt pattern is linked to both the #gothicrevival movement and the 'Romantic' Rhine tourism that had become popular earlier in the century. www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/skirt-3/

Three dimensional flowers blossom on Louise-Marie de France's stomacher in her 1763 Drouais portrait, as if her dress's floral silk had come alive. Our stomacher from a rich British farming family illustrates how widely the styles of the French aristocracy were copied across Europe. #fashionhistory

This striped silk gown, 1775-80, is a new addition to The John Bright Collection website. Full description & additional images here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/dres...

This week's #TwentiesTuesday garment is this bold block printed salmon pink crepe de chine dress with a black scarf-style collar. The avant-garde inspired dress was acquired by The John Bright Collection from the estate of costume designer Shirley Russell. #fashionhistory

1860s cotton promenade dresses. Images via The Met & The John Bright Collection.

18th century women’s riding jackets. Left, worsted wool, trimmed with brocaded silk & silk satin, 1740s, via The John Bright Collection. Right, silk & goat hair, 1760s/70s, via The Met.

Thanks for following! Woman’s waistcoat of wool & silk with mother of pearl buttons, c1890. Full description & additional images via The John Bright Collection here: www.thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/wais...

We just photographed our green 1860s-70s dresses that will be tested for arsenic and stored separately if they contain any. Having them all mounted just looked too great to not be shared! #arsenicgreen #toxicdyes #fashionvictims #historyoffashion #toxicfashion #scheelesgreen #victoriandress

Gustav Klimt’s soft pink brushstrokes conjure up a dress similar to our silk plissé bodice in his 1897-1898 portrait of Sonja Knips. When cataloguing the bodice from our reference collection, we were immediately reminded of it. #gustavklimt #klimtandfashion #historyoffashion #1890sfashion

Welcome to our account! Here we will be sharing items from our historic dress archive. This 'Folly' fancy dress from around 1883-6 was presumably based on a design in 1882 'Fancy Dresses Described' by Ardern Holt (seen on the left). More on our website: thejohnbrightcollection.co.uk/costume/fanc...