Bath: Fashion Museum & Assembly Rooms

One of my favourite museums as a child was the fashion museum, which is in the basement of the Assembly Rooms. I found it rather diminished on this visit. It seems a massive new exhibit is opening on Saturday that is using much of the floor space of the museum. And no, the ticket price was not reduced to account for the smaller collection on view. 

There were 100 pieces reflecting fashion over the centuries.

Her fingers were incredibly long and narrow! 

This next piece I found particularly interesting. The interpretive note that accompanied it says that it was provided to her Majesty‘s revenue to pay the inheritance debt.

My favourite piece was this ball gown for a fancy dress ball. As you might imagine when you see it the theme for the dress is flames.

I was disappointed that there wasn’t any interpretation of the undergarments that would go with this dress. The manikin was wearing a white turtleneck, probably not with the woman who wore it hat on. I also loved the mod dress with the dominant black cross. 

The last two cabinets included the dress of the year for the last couple of years. They were not my taste, but do represent some of the oddities of the Covid pandemic.

2022 dress of the year. Meh