Research Point - Museum of Costume

Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall, Manchester

The 18^th century, former textile merchant’s home, Platt Hall is the stylish, elegant venue for the Gallery of Costume.  Situated on the edge of Platt Fields, on the outskirts of Manchester city centre, it is a lovely building and ideal to display the costumes.

The collection contains men’s, women’s and children’s clothes - from the 17^th century right up to the present day.  There are high couture designer items as well as clogs and shawls which would have been worn by the working people of Manchester and Lancashire.  However, as the collection is quite extensive, only a small proportion is on display at any one time.  The remainder of the collection can be accessed via the internet. 

The clothes are displayed chronologically, behind glass and go from the present day; displayed downstairs on shop type mannequins, back to 17^th century costumes; displayed on tailors dummies upstairs.  There is work by many top designers - Chanel, YSL, as well as British designers such as Mary Quant, Zandra Rhodes and Vivien Westwood.  There are also displays showing the collaborations between high street retailers and celebrities/designers such as Sonia Rykiel for H&M and Kate Moss for Topshop.

The Museum of Costume gives an informative overview of British Costume over the last 400 years.  It is a beautiful building, in a lovely setting - the exhibits are well lit, labelled and informative.