Vintage Fashion & Textiles

Marilyn Monroe’s record-breaking ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress, which sold for $1.2m in 1999; Olivier Coutau-Begarie’s two-day sale of 5000 pieces of antique silks tapestries and embroideries from the House of Hamot; the lively vintage fashion fairs held around the country every month – each has its own place in the world of fashion and textile collecting.

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Splendour of Plender: robes and coronets

17 April 2026

Robes and coronets worn by notable dignitaries invited to coronations are not uncommon sights at auctions but often prove popular.

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Mollie of Sydenham became a valued member of Hartnell’s team making sumptuous royal fashion

17 April 2026

Royal costumes and fashion have long been a source of fascination.

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Chinese cushion cover came from British military source

10 April 2026

The March 3-4 sale at Chorley’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Prinknash Abbey, Gloucestershire, was topped by a good example of Qing imperial needlework: a yellow ground silk and metal thread cushion cover.

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The collection of dealer Paul Fitzsimmons: a life in oak told across 700 lots in a Salisbury saleroom

27 March 2026

Specialist dealer sells items from his collection in two-day auction as he heads towards semi-retirement

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Bidders see the point of needlework

20 March 2026

A diminutive but rare mid-17th century needlework picture sold for £11,000 in Tennants’ (24% buyer’s premium) latest Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale.

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‘Dora's’ sampler brings demand in Bath auction

13 March 2026

The New Orphan Houses in the Ashley Down district in the north of Bristol were once the largest orphanages in the UK.

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Furnished in the grand manner: Corby Castle brought grandeur to Cumbria

27 February 2026

Extensive contents of Cumbrian castle take three days to sell in North Yorkshire auction

Two traders at a vintage fair

‘The quality is wonderful… you can’t get this at a charity shop’

20 February 2026

Vintage clothes, accessories, furniture and more sell well at specialist fair in Saltaire

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School more successful at drawing in artists than teaching German

06 February 2026

When north German pastor Johannes Jacobsen founded a school of weaving in the then German-Danish border town of Scherrebek in 1896, his intention was driven by nationalism.

John Galliano painted silk evening gown

Christian Dior Haute Couture collection takes €6m at auction

04 February 2026

The white glove sale of a collection of modern Christian Dior Haute Couture from a wealthy fashion fan has set four world records.

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Maybe not in Greenland, but American visitors are very welcome in Battersea

23 January 2026

American decorators and buyers were in abundance on the first day of the winter edition of The Decorative Fair in Battersea Park this week.

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Kashmiri shawl was given by Victoria as a present

09 January 2026

As ruler of an empire on which the sun never set, Queen Victoria adopted the Indian practice of giving Kashmiri shawls as gifts to visiting dignitaries and coming-of-age and wedding presents to her friends at court.

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Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham dressed to impress

05 January 2026

When a pinstripe suit came up for auction at West Midlands firm Fieldings (26% buyer’s premium inc VAT) it had an interesting consequence.

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Welsh icon Richard Burton's coat features in Welsh Sale

05 January 2026

The Autumn Welsh Sale (Part II) held by Rogers Jones (24% buyer’s premium) on December 2 included an item of clothing once owned by a Welsh icon: Richard Burton (1925-84).

Antique lace

Plea to recover antique lace stolen from Portobello Road Market

23 December 2025

Veteran Portobello Road Market dealer Anne Swift and her son Phil were the victims of a theft from their market stall.

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Two exhibitions and charity delivery for very busy gallery

01 December 2025

Gray MCA has a couple of busy months in store. From January, the fashion illustration, design and textiles gallery stages Drawing on Style: Original Fashion Illustration at Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios.

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Rare zoot suit swings into Vermont saleroom

13 October 2025

Influenced by the English drape suits favoured by the Duke of Windsor, the zoot suit was all the rage among disfavoured youths in Second World War-era USA.

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Textiles can ‘make a room’, says dealer ahead of big annual specialist London event

15 September 2025

Launched in 2009, the annual 'London Antique & Vintage Textile Fair' run by the Textile Society will welcome 60-plus dealers to Chelsea Old Town Hall on Sunday, October 12, where the room will be crammed with textiles from the sedate 18th century to the swinging 1960s.

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Westwood sale brings seventies punk spirit to rural Yorkshire

08 September 2025

What was thought to be the largest private collection of Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022) garments to be sold outside London went under the hammer at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) in North Yorkshire on August 15.

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Egyptian sculptural fragments are big hitters in a wide-ranging worldwide selection of lots

25 August 2025

Biannual sale at Gloucestershire firm once again provides eclectic range of lots from across the globe

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