Fashion Museum doll on loan to V&A
Bath & North East Somerset’s Fashion Museum has lent a
charming and little-known piece of English fashion history to the
Victoria and Albert Museum’s major autumn show, The Golden Age of
Couture 1947 - 1957, which opened in London on 22 September.
This is Miss Virginia Lachasse, a fashion doll complete with a
wardrobe of miniature couture pieces from tailored suits and a
diamante-encrusted evening gown (with tiara, necklace and
ear-rings) to a small scale vanity case with tiny bottles of
cosmetics and a box of mini coloured cocktail cigarettes. The doll
and her clothes have been carefully conserved and photographed by
specialists at the V&A in preparation for display, alongside
the finest couture pieces of the 1950s.
Rosemary Harden, Manager of the Council-run Fashion Museum,
commented: “This has given the Fashion Museum a once in a lifetime
opportunity to conserve, photograph , publish, display, and
interpret this object of national importance in a fitting
context.”
The doll is included in the book accompanying the show, and the
V&A have made a postcard of her.
A review in the Observer by Rachel Cooke stated ‘The Miss
Lachasse Doll, a scale model that toured Britain with a perfect
miniature wardrobe, including a tiny Asprey handbag and a pair of
silk stockings; and, loveliest of all, the miniature mannequins on
which couturiers made perfect scale models of their designs for the
benefit of manufacturers of ready-to-wear.’
The Fashion Museum has also lent four ensembles to the V&A for
this exhibition: Two exquisite evening dresses and one New
Look coat by Christian Dior, along with a tailored suit by
Balenciaga - all part of the Fashion Museum’s world-renowned
collection.
The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London
1947-1957
22 September 2007 - 6 January 2008 at V&A South
Kensington
http://www.vam.ac.uk/couture
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Attached picture: Miss Virginia Lachasse, fashion doll and
wardrobe, London 1954. Fashion Museum, Bath. Photo © Victoria
and Albert Museum.
For images contact: Maggie Bone, Museums Publicity Officer, Bath
& North East Somerset Council, on 01225 477736, or e-mail
maggie_bone@bathnes.gov.uk
For comment:
Rosemary Harden, Manager, Fashion Museum, on 01225 477282 or email
rosemary_harden@bathnes.gov.uk
Fashion Museum
• The Fashion Museum was formerly known as the Museum of Costume,
it is owned and operated by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
A major redisplay and relaunch of the Museum began in January 2007
and was completed in July 2007.
• The Museum has an outstanding collection of more than 60,000
objects of fashionable dress- including dresses, shirts, skirts,
jumpers, and even underwear and nightgowns, plus shoes and
accessories from the late sixteenth century to the present day. The
Collection also includes works on paper (for example, fashion
drawings, photographs and dressmaking patterns) that relate to the
history of fashion.
• It is one of the largest and finest collections of original
fashionable dress in the world, and in 1999 it was awarded
Designated status by the UK government as a non-national museum
that holds a pre-eminent collection.