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.
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.
