Every year since the Fashion Museum Bath opened in 1963, the Museum has invited a leading figure from the fashion industry to select a look that defines the cultural and stylistic mood of the past year, which is then added to the Museum’s collection. For 2024, Blanks selected two outfits - both a men’s and a women’s look.
The first look was famously worn by Paul Mescal on the front row of Gucci’s Spring/Summer 2025 show during Milan Fashion Week in June 2025, held inside Milan’s art and design museum: Triennale Milano. The menswear look consisted of a light blue cotton shirt, striped boxer-style shorts worn with white crew socks, classic black Horsebit loafers, and sunglasses.
With a relaxed energy and youthful proportions, the look offered a refined twist on Mescal’s signature short shorts, in homage to his Gaelic football roots, and a style he’s championed since his breakout role in Normal People. Speaking at the show, Mescal told GQ: “I’m a fan of the short inseam… it’s about proportion; a shorter short with maybe a longer top. I’m a big advocate for men wearing shorter shorts.”
The womenswear selection opened UNDERCOVER’s Autumn/Winter 2024–2025 show at Paris Fashion Week. The all-in-one camisole and jeans ensemble, paired with a soft cardigan and accompanied by an organza embroidered baguette bag by Brigitte Tanaka, embodies the theme of the collection: Watching a Working Woman. Crafted from silk and denim fused together using UNDERCOVER’s signature “adhesion” technique, the outfit reflects the dualities of feminine identity—softness and strength, elegance and practicality.
The show was soundtracked by acclaimed filmmaker Wim Wenders reading a specially commissioned poem that narrates the daily life of a single mother, highlighting how fashion can be both functional and deeply expressive.
Tim Blanks, recipient of the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Media Award and one of fashion’s most respected voices, explained his selections:
“My selections for women and men were a perfect synchronicity because they defined a moment when it felt to me like fashion was realising it had lost the battle with relevance. In the long tail of the pandemic, fashion's audience had found other preoccupations. Like Paul Mescal wearing O'Neill shorts in Normal People.
In its most recent history, Gucci has made an earnest effort to reconnect with a more contemporary, street-y vibe. So, brand ambassador Mescal obligingly Gucci-fied his shorts, paired them with a smart blue shirt, Gucci loafers and white socks, to create the consummate image of the sensitive, secure New Man. You could make a case for this being an instance of fashion trying to make the ordinary extraordinary.
That impulse was clearer with Jun Takahashi's A/W24 collection for Undercover. He was inspired by Wim Wender's film Perfect Days, which found profound poetry in the daily routine of a man cleaning public toilets in Tokyo. Jun approached Wim to write a story for him about a day in the life of a woman, and then Wenders offered to read it as the soundtrack of the show. You had to be there to experience the emotional impact, but the clothes were a remarkable carryover.
I chose the first outfit (in the show) because the model was barefoot, in jeans and a camisole, carrying a vintage cardigan. Couldn't be more casual, except for the fact that Takahashi is one of fashion's great illusionists. The whole outfit was one piece. This really was an instance of the ordinary alchemised into something extraordinary.”
The Dress of the Year initiative was established by Fashion Museum Bath founder Doris Langley Moore to create a year-by-year record of contemporary fashion. It captures pivotal moments in style and society, offering a visual timeline of cultural change from 1963 to the present day. The initiative also ensures the Fashion Museum’s Collection remains current, featuring work by leading designers selected by industry insiders.
Among the many past selections are designs by iconic names such as Jean Muir, Ossie Clark, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, Donatella Versace, Vivienne Westwood, Gareth Pugh, Simone Rocha, and Bianca Saunders. Over the decades, the Fashion Museum has invited some of the most influential voices in fashion to make the annual selection—ranging from senior editors and visionary stylists to trailblazers in fashion retail. These include Hamish Bowles (US Vogue), Susanna Lau (@susiebubble), Grace Coddington (Vogue), Suzy Menkes (The Times), Isabella Blow (The Sunday Times), Mrs Burstein (Browns), Katie Grand (LOVE), Kenya Hunt (ELLE UK), Ib Kamara and Gareth Wrighton (Dazed), Caroline Rush (British Fashion Council), and milliner extraordinaire Stephen Jones.
Elisabeth Murray, Senior Curator at Fashion Museum Bath, said:
“Fashion Museum Bath is internationally recognised for its unique collection. As we prepare for an exciting new chapter, Dress of the Year continues to showcase the creativity and relevance of contemporary fashion. These selections remind us that style is not just about spectacle—it’s about connection, culture, and storytelling. We’re delighted Tim Blanks agreed to be this year’s selector for Dress of the Year, and it’s a privilege to add these pieces by Gucci and UNDERCOVER into the Museum’s Collection.”
Councillor Paul Roper, Cabinet Member for Economic and Cultural Sustainable Development, said:
“Dress of the Year is a vital and unique part of Bath and North East Somerset Council’s commitment to investing in the cultural assets held on behalf of the people of Bath. The continued growth of the Fashion Museum Bath Collection with the most up-to-date contemporary fashion ensures that, when the new Museum opens in 2030, it will be able to pair the best historical fashion with the most contemporary.”
The 2024 Dress of the Year selections were announced at a public event at Bath Guildhall, celebrating more than 60 years of the collection.
