I Heart Bath Fashion Museum

After a weekend of riots, broken glass and Police helicopters I decided to get out of the city on Tuesday to visit the Bath Fashion Museum. Predictably the city of Bath was as calm as a milpond when S, D and I arrived on Tuesday morning and after a cuppa and some cake we immersed oourselves in the museum’s petticoats and bustles.

I must confess that the last time I visited the museum was back in 2006 when it went under the slightly stuffier name of Bath Costume Museum and all I could remember was how cold it was inside. I was delighted to find that along with the name change, there were some fantastic exhibitions to drool over, including Dressing the Stars: British Costume Design at the Academy Awards.

Fashion and film buffs alike would be in their element here as British costume designers who have contributed to award winning cinema are celebrated. Costumes that have clothed screen legends – including Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp – are on display, as are mood boards, original designs and information about the designers behind the costumes. Forgive the dodgy photography and check out a few familiar outfits, below.

As well as costumes from the silver screen, down in the heart of the museum were several more exhibitions including Dress of The Year and my personal favourite, What Will She Wear? The Enduring Romance of the Wedding Dress, a collection of royal wedding dresses in honour of the Royal Wedding back in April. The display features designs from the 1900s right through to the noughties, with designs by Alexander McQueen and a stunning collection of 1930’s wedding dresses from the archives of Parisian design house House of Worth.

Below are a few photos but they really don’t do the exhibition justice. If you want to see it for yourself you have until January 2012 and Dressing the Stars closes at the end of this month. For more info visit the Fashion Museum website.