ROTHE HOUSE
(click to enlarge)
Erected in 1594 by John Rothe, a wealthy
city merchant, and his wife, Rose Archer.
200 YEARS OF FASHION
1800s - 1990s.
AN EXHIBITION IN THE SOCIETY'S HEAD
QUARTERS AT ROTHE HOUSE.
Click to enlarge
Old Clothes get an airing!
From 2003 to 2005 the Costume Gallery, at Rothe House, in Kilkenny’s Parliament Street, featured an exhibition of 200 years of fashion. Each exhibit representing at least one decade during the two centuries.
Highlights included the crinoline, in its various widths, the
bustle dress of the 1870s. Evening wear and a coloured ballet length dress from
the 1950s.
Celebrity exhibits included a spectacular diamonte encrusted stage
dress worn by actress Molly Woolestenhulme, in the 1880s and the formal gown
worn by Irish author of the Great Hunger, Cecil Woodham Smith, at a presentation
in Buckingham Palace in the 1970s.
Designers included John Cavanagh, Ib Jorgensen and John Rocha.
The display was part of a donation made to the Kilkenny Archaeological Society by Mairead M. Johnston, textile and costume historian and author. The collection comprises over 200 items and is an interesting addendum to the Society’s existing collection of costumes and related items. The collection has been in storage over the past 15 years, and has not been seen since the late 1970s.
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Page updated 22 March 2005