Wednesday, 21 March 2018 at 6:00 pm – Saturday, 24 March 2018 at 4:00 pm
DRESS: an exhibition exploring what we wear and why we wear it
In 2018, are women still told how to dress by others? How far have we moved on? Do young people feel the pressure to dress in a certain way?
In 1887, the Ancoats Art Museum put their Model Dress on display to the public. Made from silk and placed in a glass cabinet alongside example fabrics by William Morris, it was designed to inspire working women to wear more functional and beautiful clothing and to influence their behaviour and moral character. With this in mind, the museum even offered the dress pattern for sale for a tuppence.
10 years later, a group of women including Elizabeth Gaskell’s daughter Julia, approached the museum and asked to try out the dress for themselves. They very politely fed back one word; the dress was “inconvenient.”
DRESS documents this story and explores what we wear and why we wear it. An extraordinary reproduction of the original dress by Manchester Fashion Institute is surrounded by creative responses to the story from young women from Wythenshawe.
See the original dress, understand the perspectives of young women today and even take home the dress pattern for yourself.
A collaboration between The Horsfall, Manchester Fashion Institute, Stitched Up and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group
42nd Street
42nd Street is an innovative Greater Manchester mental health charity committed to supporting young people aged 11-25 years with their emotional well-being and mental health, promoting choice and creativity. With an excellent 35 year reputation, our unique holistic service model combines therapeutic psychological interventions with advocacy and social care. We reach 2000 young people each year via individual therapeutic support, projects and activities, leadership, peer research and a creative programme.
The Horsfall
The Horsfall is a new venue and creative programme for Manchester, dedicated to improving young people’s mental health and wellbeing and the first year’s programme of projects, workshops and events has seen artists, makers and heritage experts working with young people to reinterpret stories from the past, interrogate their own stories and to imagine new futures.
Manchester Fashion Institute
MFI is a multi-disciplinary partnership at Manchester Metropolitan University bringing together fashion expertise and talent from across the University, Manchester and the world. We are an international hub that connects education, research and enterprise to inspire the next generation of industry leaders.
Stitched Up
Stitched Up started in 2011, with the aim of encouraging individuality, pride and sustainability through fashion and style. A grassroots collective, it has grown from passion for the environment, human-rights, style & creativity and offers sewing and upcycling workshops, clothes swaps and sustainable fabric sales, as well as running educational events, talks and film screenings.