Costume and textiles
Dating from the 16th century to the present day, this collection represents the dress of the rural working poor and the well-to-do. It includes delicate lace, sunbonnets, Dorset featherstitch, smocks, quilts, Dorset buttons, shoes and gentlemen’s 18th-century dress.
Important Announcement
On Friday 2nd June 2023 the cafe TASTE at Dorset Museum cafe will be closed from 2pm
for a private function.
Costume and textiles
November 10, 2020
Rural worker’s shoe
Workers’ shoes rarely survive because they were often used until they wore out. This shoe was discovered in a barn and still has mud and…
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Costume and textiles
November 10, 2020
Sunbonnet
Cotton bonnets shielded women’s faces and necks from the sun and rain. They shared similar print patterns or colours with the dresses women wore. …
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Costume and textiles
November 2, 2020
Shepherd’s smock
Dorset shepherd Job Green owned this smock made from hardwearing cotton and gathered at the front to give it shape. The thick fabric, stains and…
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Costume and textiles
October 14, 2020
The Bond family raised-work box
Raised, or stump, work was a popular 17th-century embroidery technique. Its padded decoration often featured biblical motifs, plants and flowers, but the figures on this…
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Costume and textiles
October 14, 2020
Embroidered shoe
18th-century shoes often matched the colours of women’s luxurious silk gowns. Professional embroiderers would have decorated the fabric with floral designs ready for the shoemaker…
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