Fashion & Style
Uncover London’s evolving styles and trailblazing designers through these objects, stories and blogs.
Blogs-And-Stories
Mounting Queen Victoria’s mourning dress
How do you display a fragile costume that’s over 100 years old?
Wenceslaus Hollar’s etchings of fashion & fire
A 17th-century recorder of women’s clothes and London's skyline
Mapping London’s LGBTQ+ history in our collection
We look through our collection for symbols of the long struggle by LGBTQ+ Londoners for equal rights
How Moss Bros transformed with London’s fashion industry
Moss Bros is one of the longest-surviving Jewish-founded firms in London fashion
Why fashion manufacturing moved away from London
From the 1940s onwards, here’s why many London-based fashion makers struggled to retain their base in the capital
How Mary Quant revolutionised 1960s fashion
This champion of super short hemlines influenced how a generation dressed
Inside the Big Biba department store
Open for just two years, the 1970s flagship shop for this fashion label was a shopper’s paradise
Princess Diana: A London look
The 'people’s princess' was a 20th-century celebrity whose image was tightly linked to her hometown
These boots were made for Romans
What can we learn about the residents of Roman Londinium by studying their shoes?
Princess Margaret's iconic Dior Cinderella dress
How a fabulous ballgown helped turn a British princess into a fashion icon
Hardy Amies: London’s great tailor & couturier
The Savile Row-based designer had a long career spanning luxurious couture and casual menswear
Who are the pearly kings & queens?
Since the late 1800s, pearlies have donned their button-covered regalia to raise money for charity
Jewels of the Cheapside Hoard
An emerald watch, a salamander brooch and a cornelian squirrel
Teddy boys: Britain’s first youth subculture
Sporting long jackets and quiffs, the Teds were born in London
Meet the mods, a sharply dressed London subculture
Photographs from a stylish, scooter-riding 1960s scene
Music icons, Soho fashion streets & the Swinging 60s
Here’s how music and fashion were intrinsically linked in 1960s London
Conserving Anna Pavlova’s ‘Dying Swan’ costume
From treating a real feather skirt to conserving silk tulle, here are details of the conservation work