Museum of Costume

Today, promising to be summery still, we took a trip down to Dumfriesshire to visit the Museum of Costume at Shambellie House, which was built in 1856 for the Stewart family. A superb example of a Victorian country house, it was designed by the Scottish architect David Bryce, who also designed Fettes College in Edinburgh.

It is a small museum, containing set pieces of a selection of C19 clothing from the collection gifted in 1977 to the National Museums Scotland by Charles Willliam Stewart, the great grandson of the original owner.

I did not care for the bustle style that was fashionable in the 1870s and 1880s,(how did the ladies sit comfortably?)but really liked these more elegant evening dresses of a slightly later period.

The light grey evening dress on the left is from the early 1890s and is made of satin brocade with a pattern of flowers and grasses in pink and yellow silk. It is trimmed with blonde net lace and has pearl and gilt decoration. The dress was made by Ellen Oliver of London.

On the right the dark red velvet dress was originally made with a day bodice featuring a high neck and long sleeves in around 1890-91. This evening bodice was made a little later in 1894-5. A pink ostrich feather fan completes the outfit.

In the nursery there is a display of samplers sewn by 11-year-olds whose talent for fine stitching betters anything I could produce.

After a wander round the grounds, which had living Willow exhibits (and a Monkey Puzzle tree of approximately 3 metres girth)we drove round the coast to Dalbeattie then pottered home.

I quite like being retired.