Designing for exhibitions
Exhibitions give the V&A the opportunity to stage the collection in new ways. The museum commissioned this dress for the 2021 exhibition 'Bags: Inside Out'. The dress was reproduced to reveal the inner structure of a mantua gown, a formal style popular in the 1720s and ’30s.
Pockets would have been attached to a tape tied around the waist and accessed through openings in the gown and petticoat seams. This dress reconstruction meant we could see and display a pair of internal tie-on pockets as they would have been worn at the time.
Written by: Kristian Volsing, Senior Curator, Contemporary Programme
Published: May 2025
Description: Mantua mannequin displayed in ‘Bags: Inside Out’ exhibition
Maker: V&A Textile Conservation studio
Working Museum
- Museum Number
- T.182-1996
- Description
- Hat
- Artist/Maker
- Treacy, Philip
- Location and Date
- Great Britain, 1995
- Materials/Techniques
- Feathers, Hand stitching
- Museum Number
- T.33-2003
- Description
- Coniston
- Artist/Maker
- Fox, Frederick
- Location and Date
- Great Britain, 2000
- Materials/Techniques
- Velvet, Feathers, Millinery
- Museum Number
- FE.100-2012
- Description
- Hat
- Artist/Maker
- Unknown
- Location and Date
- Japan, 20th century
- Materials/Techniques
- Straw
- Museum Number
- FE.179-1995
- Description
- Hat
- Artist/Maker
- Unknown
- Location and Date
- Hong Kong, 1950-1973
- Materials/Techniques
- Bamboo, Leaves, Tung oil, Rattan, Weaving
- Museum Number
- T.670-1913
- Description
- Hat
- Artist/Maker
- Unknown
- Location and Date
- England, 1780-1800
- Materials/Techniques
- Plush, Velvet, Metal
- Museum Number
- T.208-1984
- Description
- Top hat
- Artist/Maker
- Thomas Townend & Co.
- Location and Date
- London, ca. 1950
- Museum Number
- T.207-1974
- Description
- Jockey cap
- Artist/Maker
- Saunders, Diane
- Location and Date
- England, 1970
- Materials/Techniques
- Nylon satin, Machine sewing
- Museum Number
- T.1026-1994
- Description
- Baseball hat
- Artist/Maker
- Four Star General
- Location and Date
- United States, 1988
- Materials/Techniques
- Cotton, Plastic, Machine sewing
- Museum Number
- T.52-1994
- Description
- Cap
- Location and Date
- United States, 1970s
- Materials/Techniques
- Leather
- Museum Number
- 0343(IS)
- Description
- Cap (headgear)
- Location and Date
- Madras, 1855
- Materials/Techniques
- Cotton (textile)
- Museum Number
- 0282(IS)
- Description
- Hat
- Artist/Maker
- Unknown
- Location and Date
- Kashmir, ca. 1860-ca. 1870
- Materials/Techniques
- Wool, Embroidering
- Museum Number
- T.249-1966
- Description
- Cap
- Artist/Maker
- Unknown
- Location and Date
- Nigeria, ca. 1900
- Materials/Techniques
- Cotton (textile), Silk (textile), Embroidering
- Museum Number
- T.168-1930
- Description
- Cap (headgear)
- Artist/Maker
- Unknown
- Location and Date
- Nigeria, ca. 1900
- Materials/Techniques
- Cotton (textile), Sewing, Quilting
- Museum Number
- 0349(IS)
- Description
- Cap
- Location and Date
- Kashmir, c.1855
- Materials/Techniques
- Wool, Metal-wrapped thread, Embroidery
- Museum Number
- 0371(IS)
- Description
- Skull cap
- Location and Date
- Kangra, c.1855
- Materials/Techniques
- Cotton (textile), Quilting, Quilting