Secrets of the Museum, BBC documentary

I'm 2 episodes in to this fascinating documentary about conservation and curation at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I realise it probably isn't available in every country, but thought I'd just make you aware of it for as and when it comes to you, and you may be able to watch the clips on the BBC website, such as conserving this Mary Quant mini dress.

There's quite a lot of fashion, preparing for the Dior exhibition in Episode 1, and a House of Worth dress in episode 2

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000f1xt

 

these are fascinating! wouldn't it be fabulous to have one of those mechanical slant boards with built-in drainage to work with??? WOW!!

thanks for sharing, Ruth!

 

I know! I see that and can't help comparing to my efforts, leaning over my bath tub!

 

Oh, I will have to check this out! I can watch the BBC iPlayer via Mediahint, pretending I,'m in the UK ...

 

Yes, I know there are ways and means to watch BBC if you know how!

 

The Fashion History Museum posted a clip from this on their FB page showing a textile conservator and I just found it so soothing.

 

Yes, Mediahint is pretty good, you can pay monthly or a whole year ahead, it's not that much. For me it's worth it just to watch missed programs or some BBC3 stuff...

 

I have been catching up online so I can watch the rest on TV. So interesting!

Amanda, she washed the dress in one. Cotton lace over acrylic lining. It looked great in the end when it was put into the exhibition.

I am downsizing my wardrobe - I have too much stuff that I never wear, mostly because they're not really practical in a sense of every day wear. So I decided to offer two dresses for donation to the museum in Vienna - the fashion collection (Modesammlung Wien) of the city museum. I e-mailed the curator photos and descpritions, and she said they'd love to have them! A 1930s and a 1940s dress that are both in very good condition, and with labels from manufacturers or dress makers in Vienna. My two star finds from the same second hand shop in Vienna. I'd figured they might be of interest due to their labels, and I am very happy to see them go where I feel they will be appreciated . It's funny, I decided on this and got it going before watching this series, but I can absolutely relate to the ladies donating the dress / her grand mother's saris in this series - even though I had mine a lot less long and they're not heirlooms. They're kind of precious to me because they were such unexpected finds.

 

That's really lovely that your dresses will be in a Museum!

 

Didn't Daniel Milford-Cottam (Mabs1810 on the original eBay VCA board, and early member here) work at V&A? Does anyone know if he's still there?

 

I just saw there's a bit more about the programme on the V&A website here, including some short films : https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/projects/secrets-of-the-museum

@amandainvermont if you look at their article on episode three, there's a good photo of the washed Quant dress on a mannequin, AND this short film about Quant's "Wet Collection" using PVC,

 

Mediahint is $3.95 a month or $39.50 a year, works fine for me on the laptop, though not on the iPad. I pay per month - so I don't pay for the months I'm away or don't need to catch up on anything online. Added to that you just need a BBC iPlayer log-in with a UK postcode, but not a full address. I just used a correct postcode from one of my UK buyers, but the log-in is in my name and I always click "yes I have a TV licence" (which in fact I do, it's just a Swiss one)... I figured, I watch so much BBC and after all I pay for that on my normal TV, I don't see why I shouldn't be allowed to catch up on a missed program or episode here or there.