Meet the You Choosers! In celebration of our #YouChoose exhibition, we’re taking a close up look at one of our fabulous Choosers and the objects they have selected for the new displays 👏 This week, we’re delighted to spotlight Bath resident Louise (she/her), who has spent her career working in the fashion industry, focusing on sustainability and collaborative action for big brands, such as @asos. Louise’s choice for the ‘You Choose’ show is a beautiful 1830s white muslin evening dress with gold metal thread embroidery and ‘pancake’ sleeves of cream silk satin. On display for the very first time, this stunning dress is made of a finely woven muslin fabric with metallic embroidery that was once possibly a sari or other Indian garment. Odd seam placements and alterations including sleeves added at a later date all suggest a history of recycling, repair and ‘making over’ – a long-standing tradition in dressmaking to make costly textiles like this one last 🪡 Louise says, “It’s good to remember the maker, as well as the wearer, because they are the unsung heroes of fashion...I think we take fabric and clothing for granted now, but it is important that we appreciate what’s involved in making them - to extend the ‘emotional durability’ of the clothes in our wardrobes by valuing the story that lies behind what we see.” See Louise’s choice on display in ‘You Choose’ until 30 October 2022.