100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the collections of the National Trust

Join National Trust co-authors and curators Helen Antrobus and Emma Slocombe and Terri Dewhurst, textile conservator, as they introduce their new publication - 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the collections of the National Trust - scheduled for publication in Autumn 2025.

The National Trust looks after more than 40,000 items of dress and accessories, spanning the histories of England, Northern Ireland and Wales – from attire of extraordinary luxury to practical, everyday working clothes.

The talk will explore the making of the book, which included a year-long conservation, mounting and photography project, and will showcase new research exploring themes of global consumption and trade and rich social histories, spotlighting previously hidden gems from the collection.

The new book is part of the National Trust collections series. Recent titles include: 100 Photographs from the Collections of the National Trust by Anna Sparham and Robin Muir (2024) and 60 Remarkable Buildings of the National Trust by George Clarke and Liz Green (2023).

**If you are unable to make the live talk, Helen, Emma and Terri have kindly agreed that we can record their talk and send you a link afterwards. Sign up to Eventbrite to be on the list for the recording.**

Speakers: Helen Antrobus, Emma Slocombe & Terri Dewhurst

Helen Antrobus and Emma Slocombe are co-authors of 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the National Trust collections, part of the collections series produced by National Trust Cultural Heritage Publishing and scheduled for publication in Autumn 2025. Terri Dewhurst is textile curator at the National Trust Textile Conservation Centre, Blickling, Norfolk

Helen Antrobus is Assistant National Curator at the National Trust. She was co-curator of ‘Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum, and previously curated Represent! Voices 100 Years On at the People’s History Museum (2018). Her first book, First in the Fight: Twenty Women Who Made Manchester was published in Autumn 2019.

Emma Slocombe is Senior National Curator (Dress and Textiles) at the National Trust. She is currently leading a diverse range of projects that explore the manufacture, exchange and repurposing of a broad range of dress and textiles including medieval church vestments and recently published ‘Textile Transmissions: Repurposing church vestments in the Reformation’ (National Trust Cultural Heritage Magazine, Autumn 2023) with Professor James Clarke (Exeter University). She also co-leads research into ‘Histories of Childhood’ with Professor Sian Pooley (Oxford University) and authored ‘Fashion at Play: An 18th century doll at Dudmaston Hall’, (National Trust Cultural Heritage Magazine, Spring 2024).

Terri Dewhurst, Textile Conservator on '100 Things to Wear project'. Terri initially studied fashion design before pursuing further studies in object conservation at The University of Lincoln, graduating with a first-class Masters in the Conservation of Historic Objects in 2013. She then went on to form an objects conservation business with fellow Lincoln graduate Leah Warriner-Wood; together they worked on many conservation projects until 2015, when Terri took a year’s contract at the National Trust’s Textile Conservation Studio on the Blickling Estate in Norfolk. This is where she has remained, 10 years later, having worked on many important and nationally significant textiles that form part of the National Trust’s extensive collection. Recent career highlights include the conservation of Ellen Terry’s Beetle Wing cloak, which she accompanied, along with the renowned Beetle Wing dress overseas to America, where it was mounted for display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, before returning to the Tate Britain in London as part of the 'Sargent & Fashion' exhibition (2023-24). From 2024-2025 Terri has worked with Emma & Helen on the '100 Things to Wear'project, where she has been tasked with conserving and mounting all the pieces which feature in the book.

Image: Details of late-18th century embroidered man's waistcoat and jacket (1770-1800), satin, bead, metal & silver thread, NT 292107, Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, ©️National Trust

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FULL C&TA MEMBERSHIP 2025

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For Full Membership, please click on the link in blue. Full individual membership is £25.00 per annum (see the C&TA website for other membership types): www.ctacostume.org.uk

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ON LINE PROGRAMME 2025

Follow the Costume & Textile Association's Eventbrite page to receive notifications when new events are posted. Talks are held monthly on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings at 7pm.

Spring & Summer 2025

Weds 22 January Briefly: Men's Underwear and Swimwear 1940s - 2020s with Dr Shaun Cole, Associate Professor in Fashion at Winchester School of Art

Tues 11 February Recording Historical Costume Pattern Drafts with Anna Deacon, GSMB award winner

Wed 12 March Recycled Denim Art, 'The Secret Garden' and other Artworks with Ian Berry, Visual Artist

Tues 8 April Stitching like it's 1066: a Bayeux-style 'Tapestry' for Norwich Castle Keep with Nik Ravenscroft, Project Co-ordinator

Tues 6 May Lorina Bulwer's Embroidered Letters with Ruth Battersby, Senior Curator, Costume and Textiles, NMS

Tues 24 June The Vogue Fashion Photography of Lee Miller during WW2 with Ami Bouhassane, Trustee of the Lee Miller Archives (**Please note this talk is not being recorded)

Tues 15 July Japanese Textile Techniques on Historic Kimono with Dr Rosanna Rios, Textile Artist

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