The Gallery of Costume...

Evening dress, Zandra Rhodes

I took a trip to Platt Field's Gallery of Costume recently to have a look at a selection of old and new clothes, ranging from the early 1900's up to the present day. It was great being able to take time out of working and see such amazing garments! 

There was a beautiful, bohemian styled Zandra Rhodes dress, with the most intricate and flowing pattern, it was made from a chiffon/silk material; this gave me ideas for scarf designs. I also really loved a 1920s/30s flapper evening dress, which was completely embellished in beads. It was a lovely deep green shade and had a wing like feature at the back of the dress revealing some of the back, so unusual and rare to see such a varied dress design. 

I saw a lovely display of bags from the thirties also very much adorned with beads and they looked so delicate and glamorous, I just wanted to take them all home! 

As well as the many couture dresses by Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino; there were dresses from the fifties and sixties which were akin to Primark where costs through production were minimised.

Now i need to get back to work and start designing, though no doubt I will be taking a leisurely trip back to The Gallery of Costume soon enough!