How did Queen Victoria's underwear wind up in Cambridge, Ont.?

On a summer weekend in Cambridge, Ont., the Hespeler neighbourhood looks and feels like any small town. The roads are quiet and the sidewalks are empty, save for a few brunchers exiting a local cafe. Still, down the block, there's a grand old post office that might draw your attention. It's a charming corner building with an old-fashioned clock tower, but unless you're in the know, you wouldn't think it attracts visitors from all over: a mix of fashion researchers and ordinary tourists — curious to see the treasures hiding inside.

As featured in Destination Art: The CBC Arts Guide to Canada's Hidden Gems and Secret Spots, the Fashion History Museum is probably the only place in Canada where you might find one of Cher's Bob Mackie get-ups, a wedding dress from the 1880s and a pair of the prime minister's old socks — though maybe not at the same time. Gallery space is tight, you see. In a room of approximately 2,000 square feet, FHM hosts exhibitions on subjects ranging from the House of Dior to the history of teen togs (Frock On!). And while the intimate environs get you close enough to see every stitch, the 'fits on display are barely a hint of what's stashed away in storage: a collection of more than 9,000 wearable bits and bobs that are housed in multiple locations, both on-site and off. 

"We are trying to represent the history of dress, and it's a kind of social history," says Jonathan Walford, FHM's curatorial director and co-founder. "If you know what you're looking at, if you know how to read it, you can tell everything about the society of a time — what wars were going on and what manufacturing was happening — all these sorts of things just by looking at the clothes. And that's been our focus: to learn how to read fashion history like a book."

"Canada doesn't really have a fashion museum," says Walford, so when he and his partner, Kenn Norman, launched FHM in 2004, they saw an opportunity to change things. To get the project started, Walford loaned his personal archive to the museum: 3,500 fashion artifacts that he's willed to the permanent collection. 

That's been our focus: to learn how to read fashion history like a book.- Jonathan Walford, curatorial director and co-founder of the Fashion History Museum

In the '80s and '90s, Walford worked as the founding curator of Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum, and in addition to his work as a curator, he's a fashion historian. For decades, he would bring antique garments to his lectures. "Rather than using slides, I had my friends dress up as different periods," he says, and in the '90s, his working wardrobe began growing in quantity and quality — so much so, that he couldn't possibly put it all to use.

Today, FHM acquires new items directly from the community. Regular folks offer the museum heirlooms of special provenance. (One donated item, for example, was previously owned by Lauren Bacall). Still more donations are given to the museum for resale. It runs a seasonal pop-up shop (Encore Vintage) out of the museum building, selling mod minidresses, costume jewelry, framed prints, etc., with proceeds funding the growth and care of the collection.

What are the most remarkable items, though — the things that truly jump off the rack? It's impossible to pick favourites, says Walford. "The last thing in is often the most interesting," he says. But more often than not, the greatest treasures are accompanied by even greater stories. Here are just a few examples.

A dramatic flaw reveals the danger of 19th century life

When this simple cotton dress, dated to the 1880s, was first offered to the FHM, Walford nearly passed it over. "I wasn't sure if I wanted it," he says. "It was missing all the buttons. It needed conservation here and there." But as it turns out, the flaws are the most interesting thing about it.

Along the hem of the dress, there's a burnmark: an inch of tattered fabric that's rusty-brown around the edges.

It reveals "an interesting hazard of 19th century living," says Walford, who imagines the original owner would have worn the dress around the house. Every day, she would have cooked her family meals and tended to the fireplace. "There were a lot of women who burned to death from their skirts catching fire. Think of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations," he says. "So it's interesting to see an example of this in reality. She repaired the dress; a piece of fabric fills in the back. But that tiny little burnmark says an awful lot."

The oldest thing in the collection

Technically, the oldest artifact at FHM is a sample of woven linen from 3,500 years ago. But if you want to see something a little more prêt-à-porter in nature, fast forward to the 17th century. This shoe, which is made of deer hide and cow leather, would have been worn in New York "before it was New York," and according to Walford, it can be traced to 1660s New Amsterdam. "It could be the earliest extant American clothing in existence," he says, but there might be another surviving artifact that's equally ancient. The shoe's match is missing, but Walford has a hunch where it's hiding. "I think another museum has it," he says. "It's one of the things to do on my bucket list."

The latest acquisition

The museum relies on private donations to grow its collection, and according to Walford, that's how "a lot of the good Canadian stuff has come in." Their newest acquisition is a good example: a selection of hand-woven ties by Karen Bulow. In the 1950s and '60s, the Karen Bulow label was a household name, and the Danish-born weaver was especially renowned for her woolen ties, which were distributed in stores across the country. "It was a huge thing in Canada," says Walford, "and she was kind of the leader of that whole fashion."

Which designer does the museum collect more than any other?

According to Walford, there's no clear winner, but the FHM has received many items by French designers including Lanvin, Dior, Givenchy and Balmain: haute-couture heirlooms that have been donated to the museum. Cocktail dresses from the 1950s and '60s are especially well represented. "The clothing that often comes to us — the couture, the really good stuff — comes from a lifestyle that no longer exists," says Walford. "It's from the wives of well-to-do middle-class men who were working as lawyers and doctors and that sort of thing, who lived in Rosedale or Forest Hill. They did cocktail parties and bridge parties, and they did lunch with the girls. It was a lifestyle that really doesn't exist anymore. And for that, you had to have a wardrobe."

Power dressers

FHM doesn't go out of its way to acquire Hollywood hand-me-downs, and yet, several items in the collection were previously owned by bold-faced names, from Ginger Rogers to Eva Peron. As of this writing, the museum's 300 Years of Fashion exhibit includes a Liberty of London silk dress and cape (donated by Veronica Tennant). Plus, a micro exhibition — Justin Time — features a pair of Justin Bieber's Air Jordans (on loan from TheMuseum in Kitchener, Ont.) and a pair of printed novelty socks, donated by Justin Trudeau.

Somewhere in storage, however, the museum has preserved the presumed contents of a monarch's underwear drawer. The FHM owns an eclectic assortment of Queen Victoria memorabilia, including a nightgown, two pairs of stockings and a used napkin from a royal yacht. "These are things she would have worn. They were out of her wardrobe," Walford explains, and the lot was donated to the museum by a private collector from Maine.

"Can you imagine Queen Elizabeth's underwear being out there? I don't think that's going to happen," laughs Walford. "But a lot of Queen Victoria's underwear is out there. A lot of museums have one or two pieces of it. I don't know if servants had light fingers or what, but it does seem to have survived in fairly large quantities."

For more information about the Fashion History Museum, visit www.fashionhistorymuseum.com.