Fashion from the Collections of the National Trust – Zoom Rental

Zoom Recording – video will be emailed and available to watch for three weeks.

The National Trust looks after more than 40,000 pieces of dress or costume, including objects of national significance. Some pieces belonged to people who lived or worked in the Trust’s historic houses, while others belonged to unknown individuals. From luxurious attire to practical everyday working clothes, the NT’s assemblage contains examples of women and men’s fashions, children’s clothing, and accessories. While the collection represents 500 years of fashion trends and innovation, it also offers something more intimate than just evidence of material survival; it is a repository of the life traces of tens of thousands of people. Emma Slocomb, Senior National Curator of Dress and Textiles at the National Trust, will introduce her new co-authored book 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the National Trust Collections (Fall 2025). Informed by new research and photography, she will share a selection of the most significant collection items—from the opulence of the Tudor period to the tailoring of the Windrush generation. She will explain how the way people dressed reflected their social power, political tastes, and personality. Finally, she will delve behind the scenes, illustrating the work of the Textile Conservation Studio team.

Emma Slocombe is the National Trust’s Senior National Curator for Dress and Textiles and has been a curator at the National Trust since 2006. Her principal interests lie in early modern textiles, furnished interiors, and histories of textile recycling and repurposing – subjects on which she has published widely. She is currently leading projects that explore the manufacture, exchange and repurposing of a broad range of dress and textiles. Recent publications include ‘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).