The Washerwoman

Thursday 14 June 2012

Antique Costume and Textiles Auction


Once again, life has been keeping me very busy! Earlier in the year I was working on a Vintage Fashion Auction for Dreweatts and Bloomsbury. Following the sale, life was fairly quiet for a couple of weeks until the phone started ringing again.


One of the calls led me to visit a beautiful old house in Somerset where time had stood still for a very long time. I was asked to assess the value of the contents of dozens of old cardboard shop boxes from the late 19th and early 20th century.


Inside the boxes were sumptuous dresses, coats, skirts, shoes, parasols, oriental costumes, fans, hats, lace and textiles. There was even a photograph of a lady wearing one of the costumes in the early part of last century. The family had an interest in amateur dramatics, so the costumes had been used for plays and of course dressing up over the years at house parties.


Above is an amazing 1920s gold dress which came from the house and was worn at Court. It is now destined for the Collectors Sale at Dreweatts saleroom in Apsley road, Bristol on Tuesday 17th July. The catalogue is available on-line here




As with the previous auction I have been involved in promoting the sale. These are some of the images from the photo shoot we did a few weeks ago. What better place to choose than Heartfelt, the prettiest shop in Clifton!


Please note that some of the accessories belong to Heartfelt and are not for sale at auction.


Photography is by Evie from Karezona and Phil of Maclean photography who can be contacted via these links.





Make up was by the lovely and talented  Louise Mackintosh (07890 407 901) and the styling was by the fabulous Mandy Hawkins at Heartfelt (0117 904 2898) 32 Alma Vale Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2HY



 The models gave their time, and were rewarded with tea and cake which is served daily at the shop. They can be contacted via Mandy should you need the ideal gals for a vintage photo shoot!


As well as the "Country House collection" the auction will include items from other private vendors and collections. Below is a hat box believed to have belonged to the famous and extraordinary Duchess of Argyll


Another vendor has consigned her late mother's collection of Hermes accessories, a Chanel suit along with another by Balenciaga. The sale will also include vintage children's costume, lingerie, evening bags and compacts. Do email me at lhasselt@dnfa.com with any questions regarding the sale.

13 comments:

Hesta Nesta said...

Absolutely gorgeous things Lizzie, and the photographs are beautiful. It must be so exciting to go through all those wonderful boxes of treasure. I want the 1920's gold dress it is so stunning.
Jo xx

Unknown said...

Oh My goodness Liz to open up those boxs and find all that history inside must have been a wonderful feeling i would love to have been able to see and touch them. Gorgeous photo's to you have an amazing job, dee xx

The fabric of my life said...

Ohhhhhhhh how utterly utterly beautiful!!! You have THE best job Lizzie Lou!

ted and bunny said...

cor- I'd have given up an hour or two to model that lot in return for tea and cakes...and worn my best (clean) wellies as at no extra cake cost!!
x

ALISON said...

What a very interesting job you have...all those lovely treasures...it must of been a fantastic opportunity.....lucky you....ciao Alison

Purrfect Haven said...

... wow.. what to say? A stunning tour of some most beautiful dresses and pictured so breathtakingly. Thank you for posting such a glorious and uplifting post! I swoon over those gorgeous pieces! Lovely post. Love Helen, Darcy and Bingley xxx

The Vintage Knitter said...

Oh wow, you lucky thing being able to catalogue all those items at that house! Total envy!

Lovely photos of those models too and the Duchess of Argyll rings a bell - wasn't she the one the Polaroids scandal?

louise said...

What a dream job you have!

gillyflower said...

What an exciting time you must have had opening up all those boxes! The dresses shown look amazing!

nilly said...

Oh how lucky you are - what super treasures and fabulous clothes.
But really - do models actually eat CAKE?

BusyLizzie said...

Thank you all very much for your comments! I will reply properly in the next day or so.. just returned from an exciting weekend in France! xx

Bodkin said...

Good to see you .I LOVE my house quilt. thanks.ya blog looks fab and fun things happening. see soon hx

Sue said...

What a wonderful job you have!
So many beautiful things, I would want to keep all of them if I could!
Hope the sale was a success, did you buy anything?
Take care,
Sue xxx