The Museum is currently in transition. Although closed there is an air of expectation within its shuttered rooms. Change is underway raising expectations of a return to our roots in the Cavalcade of Costumes. Watch this space! ...
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A tribute to Edna Moore
Edna Moore, who died on 2nd November aged 97yrs at Casterbridge Manor Nursing Home is well remembered by those working in and visiting the Blandford Fashion Museum. She is described as a “wonderful lady and a great stalwart of the Fashion Museum in its formative days”. At various times she held the posts of Secretary, Chair of the Management Committee, Bookings Secretary, and Tearoom Volunteer. She is thought of with great affection as a lovely, warm, and gentle, person, who had a particular passion for the Cavalcade of Costumes and the Museum. She was also Secretary of the Townswomen’s Guild, founder of Age Concern and the Macular Society. The Museum wishes to extends its condolences to her family and to say that her strength and energy helped to create its popularity and high profile. ...
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Despite the challenging year for the Fashion Museum we've ended on a high.
We learned last week that we had been fortunate enough to win funds from The Kathy Callow Trust. The Kathy Callow Trust makes grants to small Accredited museums to assist with the costs of conservation and display projects.
The Fashion Museum will be using the funds for a very special project; the conservation of a 1920's silk wedding dress worn by Miss Violet Blewden when she married Walter Sadler in 1928. To make this donation even more unique the costume arrived in the original dress box with a photograph of the bride and groom; an original wedding cake box with card and some gorgeous lime green feathers believed to be a bridesmaid's headdress.
The dress is currently with our Conservator, but will be on display at some point in the future once conservation work is complete, which as you can see from the photos is essential as, in its current state, it is too fragile to exhibit. ...
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Yesterday’s Christmas raffle was a great success and in these challenging times the Fashion museum would especially like to thank all their Friends, Volunteers and visitors who bought a raffle ticket - a magnificent £700 was taken
The Museum would also like to single out all those who generously donated a prize including Tara of Morrisons, Hall and Woodhouse, Boots, Stewarts and Cranborne Garden Centres.
Have a great, safe Christmas everyone.
We’ll be back to re-open for our new season in February 2021. ...
Prizes and Prize winners at the Museum Christmas Raffle Draw. Drawn by Deputy Mayor Lee Hitchings. Fun and laughter was the order of the festive day! ...
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It’s the Christmas Raffle day 🎉🎉🎉 ...
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Please let us know what you like to see and have seen at the Museum and your ideas for our 25th Anniversary in May. Are there any ex Cavalcade of Costumes models out there who would be willing to share their experiences with us? Gathering our history is what we are about for the coming momentous year. We look forward to hearing from you ...
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Don’t forget the Museum is open this week on Tuesday 8th; Thursday 10th and Saturday 12th December
We were hoping to be able to open for more days this week however circumstances have conspired against us.
That said there is still a warm welcome to be had in our traditional tea room and some opportunities for those last
minute stocking fillers. ...
Is anyone’s guilty pleasure the watching of Escape to the Country repeats?
If so, this week, you may have seen Anna McDowell of Henry’s Buttons demonstrating the art of Dorset button making. Not only is Anna a BFM Friend but our shop also stocks her Dorset button making sets - perhaps a Christmas present for someone?
Hopefully we will be able to persuade her to run one of her ever popular workshops for us next year too. ...
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Don’t forget the museum re-opens on Saturday
We will be open 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th and 12th December before closing for the season.
Our traditional tea room will also be open and, in line with Government regulations, we welcome one household per table or groups of no more than six in our courtyard garden tables. ...
Now we are re-opening on Saturday it gives you a chance to buy some raffle tickets for our Grand Christmas raffle. First prize is £100 of Marks and Spencer’s vouchers and with other fabulous prizes such as 12 bottles of wine; Christmas hampers; half a lamb; champagne and many more it is well worth buying a ticket if you haven’t already done so! ...
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The Fashion Museum is pleased to confirm that, following the government announcements of this week, it will re-open on Saturday 5th December.
The Museum will be open on 5th; 7th; 8th; 10th and 12th December 10.00 am - 4.00 pm (last entry 3.30 pm)
We look forward to welcoming our Friends and visitors back through the door. ...
We are very excited! Thanks to grants from Dorset Leisure Fund and our especial friends at The Pilgrim Trust the Museum can begin the refurbishment of the exterior of our home, Lime Tree House.
Working with our project managers, Jestyn Coke Surveyors of Blandford, the project planning is just about to begin.
You can see from these photos that the work is well overdue.
We are hoping to finish it all by the time of our 25th anniversary in May 2021.
Watch this space for updates on the work as we undertake the project.
Wish us luck! ...
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It is with great regret that Blandford Fashion Museum will close again from end of the day today (Monday 2nd November) in line with Government guidance.
We sincerely hope to re-open early December
Keep safe everyone ...
The Museum was absolutely delighted to be invited by Sir William Hanham of Deans Court in Wimborne to come and take a look at some costumes and accessories found tucked away in Deans Court’s cupboards and wardrobes to see if we would like anything for the Museum’s collection.
Stella, our curator, and Kathryn, our Administrator, spent a fascinating few hours looking at all the costumes whilst hearing stories of the Hanham family history from Sir William.
Hopefully some of these wonderful artefacts (and stories) will become part of our collection and be displayed at the museum in the future.
Can you spot the 1920’s Arctic explorers woollen felt balaclava? ...
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The Museum’s Costume and Display team had an unusual task to focus on this month.
Our large chest freezer (where we store all our furs) broke down. The team had to take urgent stock of the furs, closely inspect each one and then re-pack them in a new freezer.
The furs are stored in a freezer to protect them from bugs etc, don’t worry this is a well tried and tested Museum standard method for storing furs! ...
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Here's a teaser for a Sunday afternoon, what do you think this garment is?
A lady from Devon kindly donated it to the Museum this week and our Costume and Display team were very excited to receive it as its an unusual, not to mention rare example of this type of garment.
The first correct answer wins a cup of tea and a piece of cake in our traditional tea room! ...
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If you were interested in our previous post about the approach to us from the National Museum of Australia regarding an 18 c dress, you may find this article on their website of interest.
What a fascinating story of the Springfield Faithfull family
pateblog.nma.gov.au/2014/05/21/an-excessively-diverting-collection-2/ ...
An Excessively Diverting collection
pateblog.nma.gov.au
Giving a behind-the-scenes tour of the collection is one of the things I love most about being a curator at the National Museum of Australia. It’s even more enjoyable when the tour group arri... A short while ago the Museum was contacted by the National Museum of Australia in Canberra regarding a 1740s dress we hold in our collection, which came from the original Cavalcade of Costume.
Why was the NMA interested?
Well they have a 18th c dress constructed from very similar silk to ours. It has a fabulous story – having been made and worn by women from Devon; taken to Australia in the 1830s by a teacher who married a pastoralist; taken to a merino sheep station outside Goulburn NSW; cherished by a prominent colonial family and worn again in the 1920s by a descendant of the original owner to a fundraising ball in Sydney. In 2005 it was donated to the NMA and is one of their oldest dresses.
Having undertaken research on the construction and provenance of their dress fabric it is much like our dress - and is characteristic of the silk designs created by Spitalfields designer Anna Maria-Garthwaite.
NMA's curator wanted to know more about our costume believing the material could be from Garthwaite too.
Stella, our Curator, was happy to confirm that, although we dont know much about the dress, our conservator had a very strong belief that it is of Huguenot Spitalfields silk, and the designer was probably Anna Maria-Garthwaite
The first three photos are of our dress, the final two photos are the Australian dress.
Can you tell the difference?
Our dress, one of our earliest, is on display currently in our Creating the Shape exhibition ...
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Hello everyone - just to let you know the Fashion Museum won’t be open on Bank Holiday Monday 31st August), but we will be ready to welcome you back on the following Saturday ...
