I spent about 6 hours in the museum. The building itself is stunning. Huge domes, lots of mosaics where I had a scone and clotted cream (couldn't resist).
They were having a special exhibition of Grace Kelly's clothes and you had to pay £6 for that. Other than special shows like this, the rest of the museum is completely free. I don't know what it costs to keep it open but it costs £14,000 a day to keep Dover Castle open! Anyway I enjoyed the exhibit immensely. Of course, the clothes were beautifully constructed and most of them had pictures next to them of Ms. Kelly wearing them. Next to this exhibit was one called "Fashions" and had clothes from the 1700s to the present time.
I also love watching the people and one of the most fascinating group I noticed was a group of about a dozen female students dressed in burkas with nothing but their eyes showing. What astounded me was that they were doing schoolwork with a question and answer sheet about the exhibit so they were discussing fashions and being led by a young woman about maybe 23 in western clothing. I said to John that they looked like a flock of magpies. I'm sure that's not nice but it really was the first time I have ever seen that many burkas all in one place and it was an immediate reaction especially since they were all talking at once! Anyway, it was just so ironic.
There was something very amusing in the underwear department - yes, they even showed bras and matching panties for the present day - and there was a bustle and beneath it a sign that said that bustles could be made custom and for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, one was made that had a music box in it that played "God Save the Queen" when the wearer sat down!
I spent the rest of the day in the European 1500 - 1900 section that included clothing, furnishings, glassware, china and silver and gold utensils. Also watched a couple of short movies on country houses that are in the Biltmore Castle size. Nice little weekend getaways!
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