The School of Historical Dress

The School of Historical Dress occupies a Victorian building that began its life in eighteen forty-one as a medical dispensary for the Royal Bethlem Psychiatric Hospital. This site, now better known as the home of the Imperial War Museum across the street, has served many different purposes over the years. Following its time as a dispensary, the building functioned as a hostel for veterans suffering from shell shock after the First World War, later becoming a canteen for hospital staff and eventually a residential home for adolescents. Today, the quiet, gray-toned rooms house a vast, specialized archive dedicated to the meticulous study of how clothing was actually constructed throughout history.