The stylish new “Top Trends” display at the Fashion Museum provides a wish-list guide to the autumn/winter 2013 collections and shows how the latest fashion looks from the designer catwalks can be achieved by looking back at fashions of the past.
Six fabulous new ensembles have gone on display at the museum – housed in the Assembly Rooms in Bennett Street, Bath – and each one profiles the latest “must have” look found in fashion magazines and on the high street this season. Whether it’s the sexy “Hourglass” trend, or the eccentric “Layered Luxury” look, the fashion for “The Colour Purple” or for “Gothic Leather”, all the key catwalk styles are featured in this innovative exhibit at the Fashion Museum. Other on-trend looks that are highlighted include winter florals, jewelled hair decorations and the vogue for clutch bags.
But the difference here is that rather than clothes from current fashion designers and high street retailers, all the fashions on display at the Fashion Museum are historical pieces from the museum’s world class collection, all styled imaginatively and given a new lease of life and a look that is 100% glamour.
Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “By looking to the past Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Fashion Museum has brought the displays right up to date, and at the same time given an important message that fashion can be interpretative and personal to the individual.
“Visitors can see six top fashion looks for this autumn/winter which have all been put together using historical fashions from the Fashion Museum collection. It shows how our cultural heritage is not only fascinating to discover but can also have an influence on our modern lives.”
One of the most popular trends this autumn/winter is shown in the display at the Fashion Museum labelled “Capes”. Three lavishly-bejewelled and embroidered capes from the 1890s, 1920s and 1930s are already proving a hit with visitors. This season the cape is one of the items at the top of the shopping list for the fashionista. Designers who showcased this look on their catwalks include Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino and Jason Wu.
Rosemary Harden, Manager of the Fashion Museum, said: “Essentially these are ‘vintage’ clothes – a trend which has become so prevalent in fashion in recent years. But the aim too is to show how fashion is about styling and personal choice, about putting a look together yourself so as to follow the catwalk trend of the day.
“The ‘Top Trends’ fashion looks at the Fashion Museum feature a mixture of styles and periods, all assembled so as to be right on trend for the autumn/winter 2012/13 season. and create a look which equals ‘fashion now!’”
All of the exhibits in “Top Trends” are original and form part of the Fashion Museum’s designated collection of historic and contemporary dress.
The Fashion Museum is open daily from 10.30am to 4pm (exit 5pm). For more information visit www.fashionmuseum.co.uk or call 01225 477789.
