The idea for the Fashion Museum and research library was born from my vintage clothing business Clifton Hill Vintage. I have owned the business since August 2017, but it was started in Bristol in the late 1970's. During the last 50 years, the costume collections have grown to a vast number and were sitting lonely in boxes. I decided to hold exhibitions within Malvern to share the clothes with people. I found that visitors loved seeing the clothes and hearing the stories associated with them.
I started collecting pieces from fashion houses which are no longer trading in Malvern; Warwick House and Brays, to name just two. I found people had so many stories to tell me about working or visiting the shops that it became a private research projec, to record these memories. This is a project which will continue. I have been very lucky to have recived some incredible donations from many of my shop customers. These items were donated to the museum not only as a way to preserve them for future generations, but to stop them being given to charity shops or going to landfill.
The exhibitions became more of a passion rather than the shop, so with the help of a couple of friends we started brain storming how we could open these collections in the form of fashion museum and research library. Many visitors to the exhibitions I held were very complimentary and said we needed a museum like this in Malvern, which could be accessable to everyone.
I am lucky enough to have four volunteers of various ages (17-82) helping me planning and running previous exhibitions and talks and they will still be volunteering for me when the museum opens.
I strongly believe that physical museums are needed in this digital age. To be able to see clothes and artifacts that are 20-200+ years old right infront of you and to see how they are constructed is a wonderful thing to behold and often lost on a computer screen. However, we want everyone to be able to access our museum in person or online, so we will provide visual examples of our collections online or via our website, along with online talks, giving national and international access to all.
