Dressing the Women from 'Poldark' Review

Who doesn't love the costumes in a period drama? I know I do, so I just couldn't resist a visit to the Dressing the Women from Poldark exhibition at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery.

The exhibition consists of nine outfits worn by Demelza, Elizabeth, Verity and Caroline in Poldark series two, with the exception of one of Demelza's dresses from series one. There's Elizabeth's wedding dress from her marriage to George Warleggan and Caroline's red riding outfit, but the dress which caught my attention most was Demelza's ball gown from Hugh Bodrugan's ball.  Had the seawater stains come out from her walk along the shore in it?  Handily, the museum supplies magnifiers so I was able to inspect it very closely and amazingly, yes, it seems they have! I could see no sign of salt water stains. There was a tiny white mark about a foot from the hem at the front of the dress, but whether that was mark from the sea water, I can't say.

The dresses are all given plenty of display space: many you can see from the side as well as front and, wonderfully, very close up. Understandably, you cannot touch them or take photos. Each outfit has a bit of information about the character, the fabrics, the scene it was worn in and the designer, which I particularly liked as there were two designers on series two (Susannah Buxton and Ros Little) and I had long wondered who had designed which costume.

Dressing the Women from Poldark is at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery until 10 September, 2017. Entrance to the museum and the exhibition is free.
Opening times: Tuesday - Saturday: 10.30am - 4.30pm
Sunday: 2.00pm - 4.30pm
Closed Mondays except Bank Holiday Monday open 10.30am - 4.30pm

There is car parking close by and the museum is about a ten minute walk from the railway station.

Here's a little taste of what you can see:

Demelza's  luxurious red and black floral ball gown from Poldark series two.

Elizabeth's wedding outfit from her marriage to George.

The dress worn by Caroline when she visits Dwight the night before he leaves for the Navy.

The yellow striped dress which was one of Demelza's main outfits in Poldark series one.

Caroline's riding suit which she wears when Dwight thanks her for the oranges for the villagers.







Dressing the Women from Poldark is specially put together by the costumers Cosprop for Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery and, sadly, is not a touring exhibition.