Previous events: Feb 2006
Fashion and Fancy Dress

Fashion and Fancy Dress: The Messel Family Dress Collection,1870 — 2004
Study Day, Saturday 11th February 2006
Report by Grace Evans, Keeper of Costume, Chertsey Museum

Curated by Amy de Ia Haye, Eleanor Thompson and Lou Taylor Curated by Amy de Ia Haye, Eleanor Thompson and Lou Taylor

Saturday 11 February saw an extremely enjoyable and informative study day take place at the University of Brighton and Brighton Museum. Hosted by the three curators of the ‘Fashion and Fancy Dress’ exhibition at Brighton Museum, Lou Taylor, Eleanor-Thompson and Amy de Ia Haye, it was a particularly popular event with members.

The focus of the day was the Messel family dress collection, a rich and sumptuous group of costume and associated archives spanning six generations. The day began with a talk from Lou Taylor, Professor of Dress and History at the University of Brighton, entitled ‘Researching the Exhibition’. Lou told us how she had first come into contact with the collection in 1979, when Anne, Countess of Rosse had lent 20 boxes of costume to the Museum from her home at Nymans. We heard how one ensemble had been from the Countess’s mother’s honeymoon wardrobe — a beautiful straw hat with lilac tulle and floral trimmings, with a dress that had deteriorated too much to put on display. A common issue with lenders or donors to Museums arose. Since the Museum would not display the dress together with the hat, the Countess took back the entire outfit and Lou did not see it for another 20 years. Despite this hic-up, it was clear that this initial group was only a small part of a wealth of family costume items and in 2003 the Museum was awarded funding of £100,000 from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Regional Museums Initiative to research, conserve and display costume from all six generations of the family. The work culminated in the Fashion and Fancy Dress exhibition and catalogue.

What immediately became clear during the research phase was that in addition to the costume collection there was also a great deal of associated archive material. This enabled the curators to uncover the stories behind the clothes. Sources included letters, photographs, press cuttings and insurance inventories. It became obvious that the family were connoisseurs of high- quality decorative arts and costume, and were in touch with the experts in the fields of art and culture of the day. Anne’s brother was Oliver Messell, the famous theatrical impresario, and there was a thread of romanticism and fantasy running through the family, with a particular fondness for fancy dress. This was first shown in the wardrobe of Maud Messell, who was convinced that she was related to Elizabeth Linley, a society beauty of the 18 century who had eloped with Sheridan. Maud dressed as this distant ancestor on several occasions, and the archives contain photographs. Maud was an accomplished seamstress and embroiderer, and she set up an embroiderers’ guild at Nymans.

Maud’s daughter Anne was a society beauty of the 1920s and 30s. She was initially married to Ronald Armstrong Jones and the marriage produced a daughter, Susan, and a son, Anthony (who was later to marry Princess Margaret). The marriage of Anne and Ronald was foundering by the early 1930s, and in 1935 they were divorced. Anne married Michael, 6 Earl of Rosse three weeks later. A proportion of the collection was held in Ireland at the Rosse family seat, Birr Castle, and the curators of the exhibition spent time there researching the collection and photographing items. It was a great opportunity to uncover boxes and boxes of beautiful costumes and accessories. A further group of items was held at Walmersley House in Yorkshire.

Eleanor Thompson, Curator of Dress at Brighton Museum, gave a talk entitled interpreting the Exhibition’. She informed us about the practicalities of researching and displaying the collection. She told us that it consisted of around 500 items held on loan at Brighton Museum, and another 200 pieces held at Birr Castle. The curators were constrained by money (many of the items needing expensive conservation work) and space. They also had to deal with the pressure of family expectations as the collection represented a living family history, so diplomacy and discretion were required.

Eleanor discussed the debate that had arisen about items that were not in good condition. None of were in a perfect state as they had all been worn and had since been used for fancy dress. They all carried evidence of the lives that had been lived in them with stains, scent, and damage. Many were very fragile, but they were mementoes of the individuals who had worn them, and the ephemeral nature of the clothes and the memories they embodied made them even more special. It was therefore decided to do only minimal conservation, and to display key items even when damaged or stained. Two examples of this are a lipstick stain on the train of Anne’s Countess of Rosse’s wedding dress, and a stain on the front of Maud Messell’s wedding dress, both of which are visible on the garments displayed. Another 1930s evening gown with quite serious damage has been displayed flat so that it does not deteriorate further.

The curators wanted to breathe life into the garments. They were conscious that display mannequins can look static and stiff. Instead they developed the idea of hollow mannequins. A standard Stockman mannequin was modified so that it supported the dress alone with very limited sections being visible to the visitor.

There was also discussion about the tough decisions that had to be made in choosing items for the exhibition. A maximum of 60 mannequins could be accommodated, so some beautiful pieces could not be put on show. These can be seen in the catalogue. Eleanor also mentioned the reasons for choosing a chronological display as opposed to a thematic one. Displaying the costume in chronological order meant that it would be clearer for visitors to understand which garments were associated with each generation of Messell women. This was assisted by the use of large photographs of each woman and colour-coded labelling.

Not content with the fashion exhibition, the Museum has also complemented it with a separate exhibition of associated photographs and a fine art exhibition of paintings that evoke the eras covered by the fashion display. All work extremely well in harmony together.

The afternoon provided an opportunity for a handling session with Eleanor and a chance to have a proper look round the exhibition with Lou Taylor and Amy de Ia Haye on hand to answer any questions we had. The handling session was a great opportunity to investigate selected garments not chosen for display. We saw several items from Anne’s collection including items by Charles James, and from Maud’s wardrobe, a particularly beautiful tulle and lace dress from the Edwardian era made by Sarah Fullerton Monteith Young of Grosvenor Square.

The exhibition itself was extremely well rounded and visually appealing. The chronological approach and the use of photographs of the 6 generations of women, as well as careful colour coding of labels meant that there was no confusion as to who was who. The succinct labels offered discreet details about each garment, giving fascinating insights into the memories associated with the dresses. One particularly intriguing detail was a titbit of information linked to a Jacqmar dress belonging to Anne. She had put a note in with the box with the dress which read "Had a wonderful time in this dress am ashamed to say. 1941!" For those wanting more in-depth information, student volunteers had produced booklets on particular themes associated with the collection. Beautiful little dolls had been produced for children (or adults!) to dress with replicas of the garments on display, and visitors were able to search a computerised database to see images of further items not displayed. The carefully selected garments themselves looked sumptuous thanks to the hollow mannequins. The high-quality of the pieces chosen, with designs by Charles James, Norman Hartnell and Irfé were a treat in themselves, even without the fascinating stories so carefully recorded alongside them.

Grace Evans, Keeper of Costume, Chertsey Museum