OUR CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

FIBRE TO FASHION

Opening 2021                            Entrance Hall

A new addition to the museum is an orientation exhibition that tells the story behind the seams. Follow the history behind the manufacturing process of fibre to fabric to fashion.

FASHION IN TRANSITION

Open dates tba                       Gallery 1929

This gallery, restored to look much like it did when it was Hespeler's new post office in 1929, is now our reception hall and print gallery. Our first exhibition for 2021 will feature two Mali photographers, Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibe, as they captured the people and their clothing between 1949 and 1972, as the country transitioned from its colonial past as the French Sudan.

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THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF FASHION: 1720 - 2020

Opening 2021                         Decades Gallery

This semi-permanent installation, with a rotation of garments, features a history of the changing silhouette from 1720 to 2020.
Within this gallery is Centre Stage - a showcase that features changing themes of fashion history.

FROCK ON!

Opening 2021                      Centre Stage

As radio broadcasts increased in the 1920s, popular music soon found an enthusiastic young audience. Over the next century, from flappers to rappers, clothes and music became entwined as certain fashionable looks became uniquely associated with musical genres.

SPECS APPEAL

Opening 2021                    The McGill Cases

These c. 1912 mahogany cases feature accessories from our collection. This year's exhibition of eyewear was originally called 20/20 and was scheduled to open last year, but we don't like that exhibition title anymore...

PROGRAMS

We regularly schedule lectures, workshops, and curator-led behind-the-scenes tours and talks. In past years we have held workshops in tambour beading and Regency bonnet-making, as well as lectures by visiting academics, fashion professionals and historians, like Zack Pinsent.

EVENTS

The museum creates a period event every year as a friend & fundraiser. Past events have included a Regency country ball and a Tango Tea. Our plans for a Victory party to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII was kiboshed by Covid, but we hope to revive our annual events in 2022