Dress to Impress!

Last week Nicola Townend, the manager of the Wakefield branch of Accessorize came to museum HQ (our stores) to help us put together a fashionable display of costume and accessories.

One of our new museum displays is called Dress to Impress and will use a piece of going out clothing to highlight Wakefield’s social scene at different times. The time periods will change over the coming years and to start it off Nicola picked out a nice frock from the 1820s – worn perhaps for a show at Wakefield Theatre, a dance at the new Music Saloon on Wood Street or maybe a wedding.

Nicola's chosen 1820s dress with padded hem

Nicola is very passionate about historic clothing, she makes her own Victorian style dresses and has a keen eye for historical detail.

Nicola choosing a butterfly hairpin
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Nicola looking at accessories
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Nicola said “I felt like I was putting a prom outfit together. It’s amazing that many of the accessories worn in the 1820s wouldn’t look out of place now.”

Matching shoes to the 1820s dress
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