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Bodice
unknown - Enlarge image
Bodice
- Place of origin:
Great Britain, United Kingdom (made)
- Date:
ca. 1910 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Linen, embroidered lawn, trimmed with embroidered net, lined with cotton, boned
- Museum number:
T.23&A-1960
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This stylish day dress was worn by Miss Heather Firbank (1888-1954). She was the daughter of the affluent Member of Parliament Sir Thomas Firbank and sister of the novelist Ronald Firbank. Miss Firbank was young, 'had beauty, and she adorned it with exquisite clothes of a heather colour to complement her name', according to Miriam J. Benkovitz in Ronald Firbank: A Biography (1970).
Heather Firbank bought her expensive clothes bought from leading couturier houses, such as Lucile, Redfern and Mascotte. In 1921 her wardrobe was packed into trunks and put into storage, where it remained for the next 35 years. In 1960 the Museum acquired well over 100 items from her wardrobe, which included dresses, costumes and a wide variety of accessories.
This collection forms an invaluable record of a stylish and wealthy woman's taste over a period of some 15 years, from about 1905 to 1920. In 1960 the bulk of the collection, supplemented by Ronald Firbank's manuscripts, bills and family photographs, was shown at the Museum. The exhibition was called 'Lady of Fashion: Heather Firbank and what she wore between 1908 and 1921'.
