Jean Muir Exhibition

I visited the Jean Muir Exhibition which is on at the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers St Edinburgh until March this year. The collection is stunning and well worth a visit for anyone with an interest in clothing. There are about 40 outfits on display, for me the most outstanding were the dark crepe dresses which unfortunately do not photograph well, but standing next to one the quality of the fabric and the drape and purity of line are breath-taking. My favourite pieces are a navy dress from 1972, with buttons at the front and pin-tucks which was just lovely. I was also very taken by a floor-length belted dress with contrast stiching at the neck.
It was poignant to see records of requisitions for fabric from mills in Scotland, long since gone and samples of the fabric dyes used in her clothes.
Miss Muir also was highly influential as knitwear designer and although some of the examples in the exhibition are 80's intarsia and thus on the far horizon of what is currently popular the quality of the workmanship is still admirable. I also loved the small selection of designs she produced for the Jane and Jane label in the 1960s including a Paisley Print dress trimmed with feather boa which is a design I've actually dreamed about before,pure B-52s glamour.
I'm happy to report that the exhibition also features something for us aliens too. A navy crepe cape tied with a pussy bow is captioned with the info that "Miss Muir designed for all shapes and sizes" I'd be very happy to wear this or just about anything else from the collection.