The all new Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall hosts a whirl-wind whizz through history’s most iconic ages: from 17th century petticoats to Kate Moss at TOPSHOP!

Upon entering the 16th Century Georgian manor house on Platts Fields, I was immediately impressed. A sweeping staircase greets guests; embellished with gorgeous little hats from the design students at MMU, and a Gift Shop (always a must when on a cultural day out) offers a delicious selection of books on all fashionable topics from Haute Couture to Fashion Photography.

However, having grabbed a brochure and dived into the first room, I found my excitement had dwindled. Brushing past some tourists reading up on the history of Platts House I stumbled into an empty room where, in the corner, featured the infamous Givenchy dress as worn by Audrey Hepburn. The dress is plain, unappealing and, without having once been worn by a superstar, would undoubtedly be a piece you’d find on sale in Best Vintage on Oldham Street. Still, trying not to be further fazed by the uninspiring collection of buttons, I marched on in search of something worth my trek down the Curry Mile.

Luckily I found what I was looking for. A new permanent exhibit Suffragettes to Super Models at the Gallery hosts iconic looks from the decades 1910-present day. I spent hours gazing at the lifeless mannequins that were somehow being reanimated by the fabulous clothes they modelled. The Suffragettes were depicted in their usual mascotte full length, long sleeved, high necked pastel dresses; the one displayed by Horan, Smith of St. Ann’s Sq. Manchester. Whilst the 1920s offered cheekier, saucier little cocktail frocks, like stepping into a Evelyn Waugh novel.

Display cabinets featured old copies of historic fashion publications like VOGUE, ELLE and Vanity Fair whilst next to them stood the 1940s wartime costume exhibit and two sweet elderly ladies giggling about how they wore items just like those in the cabinet.
The 1960s cabinet featured an amazing YSL LBD from their A/W '67 collection that is still wearable today! A purple 1994 Gianni Versace ball gown and “AbFab” favourite 1980s Christian Lacroix number also represented. A mouth watering suit by Vivienne Westwood stood in for 1990s too. It, heart wrenchingly, originally retailed at just £500! I wonder if the Gift Shop sell replicas?

As I weaved through tourists and exhibits I came across the An Age of Accessories exhibit which included some incredible hats. Sadly most of the pieces were by unknown designers but those that were labelled boasted origin from some of Europe’s finest: Dior, Vivienne Westwood and Balenciaga. My favourite, however, was a small straw hat decorated with smaller straw hats by London’s Stephen Jones. Call me kitsch...

Stepping into our own age saw an inclusion of high street influence. A section devoted to Designer-High St. collaborations featured Kate Moss at TOPSHOP and those zebra print platforms by Jimmy Choo for H&M. However, more poignant and emotional was the tribute to Alexander McQueen and his contribution to British Fashion, represented by some of his work. His words “British Fashion is self confident and fearless” ended the exhibit.

Before departing I strutted upstairs to see what was on offer and after climbing the grand staircase was confronted with a dress fit for Gaga. Within the old Dining Room, observed on by a portrait of Thomas Carill-Worsely was a Susie MacMurray dress adorned with over 100,000 silver adamantine pins. Being somewhat scared I left and wandered into a room a world away the rest of the Gallery featuring what seemed like the wardrobe of BBC’s Cranford. The exhibit featured some of the looks that the Victorian’s answer to Gok Wan, Dr. Cunningham, liked most.

After my nonstop tour of fashion history from corsets and top hats to Audrey and Kate I left pleased, exhausted and with a bag full of Gift Shop goodies! 

 
The Gallery of Costume is a venue operated by Manchester Art Galleries and is open to the public from 1:30pm-4:30pm Wednesday to Saturday. Admission is free of charge. For more information, please visit their website.

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Words by Jordan McDowell. Images courtesy of The Gallery of Costume.

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