Exciting News in the World of Antique and Vintage Textiles and Trimmings.

The forthcoming auction at Dreweatts Apsley Road sale room in Bristol will include lots sourced from the famous BBC Costume Department. The collection was originally sold in 2008, and most of the garments were purchased by Angels in London. Marigold Costumes bought the trimmings and other workroom items, and it is some of this that will be included in the sale.

The collection to be included in the sale includes lengths of metallic lace from France, Victorian beaded trimmings, ribbon woven with metallic thread, tassels and trimmings with intricate patterns and designs woven with tiny beads and sequins.

There is also a good selection of lace from the same source. The reason that the BBC collection is so highly sought after is due to the fact that it had been amassed over so many years. Some of the items in our sale have old shop labels from Hopkins (a supplier in London) and also from Paris. The quality of the collection reflects the high standard of costume making undertaken by the BBC costume designers over the past 40 to 50 years.

These items are now highly sought after by fashion designers and costume designers for the theatre, Opera and film industry.

It seems often the case that when interesting items come to an auction they attract similarly rare items to the same saleroom and this has certainly been the case with this auction. As well as the wonderful items with the BBC provenance we have delicious boxes of old lace and trimmings from private homes and other collections.

One example of this came in an old Marshell and Snelgrove hat box which when opened revealed a huge quantity of lace, embroidery and passmenterie.

Liberty is a long established name in the world of textiles and there will be a good selection of vintage Liberty fabric in the sale. At the moment there is a huge resurgence and enthusiasm for dressmaking, patchwork and sewing in general which will make these lots very popular. Once again the designers from film and theatre will be keen to purchase lengths of unused dress fabric from the past 60 years.

For day to day wear, there are several gorgeous vintage Liberty dresses, skirts and jackets - some with original labels.
The catalogue for the sale will be available to view on-line in a few weeks time.