Thursday, 27 September 2012

Work Experience at The Fashion & Textile Museum

Last week I did two days work experience at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.  I love this museum, it is small but quirky and as it only exhibits one show at a time there is a relaxing atmosphere and you can take your time to look around properly without getting distracted by other things.  As well as having an exciting shop where you can purchase design books and unique gifts it has a great cafe with lovely cakes!  Whilst I was there the 'POP! Design . Culture . Fashion' exhibition was running.  It was so interesting and inspiring to be surrounded by such a great collection of things each day.
Whilst working behind the scenes of the museum, I experienced lots of exciting things.  I got to unpack and sort out a suitcase of vintage couture garments for the upcoming exhibition 'Hartnell to Amies: Couture by Royal Appointment.'  This exhibition runs from 16th November 2012-23rd February 2013 and 'celebrates the timeless elegance of London couture and explores how the Queen's patronage of ground breaking British designers helped put London on the international fashion map after the Second World War.' 



Once I unpacked the garments, I photographed them for the reference file in the museum.  This involved me handling each garment carefully and then placing it on the mannequin and photographing it from each angle to show the condition it arrived in.  This was so exciting to do!!  There was a wide selection of garments from tweed two piece suits to satin, pleated opera coats to exquisite ballgowns.  It was fascinating to think what the story was behind each piece; who wore it and for what occasion!  Some of the garments were so tiny I struggled to fit them onto the small mannequin!  

A few sneak peaks of my favourite garments...


This gorgeous ball gown was one
of my favourite pieces, the pleating and
little pin tucks on the bodice are lovely.
Another lovely ballgown with a full skirt.
This one has such a luxurious feel to it and the
design is quite structured which is interesting, especially the neckline.

This was one of my favourite two
piece suits from the collection.  The
tailoring of the jacket is so flattering for
the figure and the contrast of the velvet collar with
the silk fabric looks so nice.
A couple of samples of embroidery from the
garments.  The design detail on both is amazing and
quite inspiring for me as I love creating textures
through embroidery.

 Overall the two days were a great experience.  It was interesting to be behind the scenes of the museum and see how everything is organised and run such as the study groups as well as press releases for upcoming events.



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