Show dates: 9 - 23 April 2010

Claire Armitage specialises in designing and making bespoke dresses. She works as a freelance costume designer and is a lecturer in both fashion and textiles at University College Falmouth. She holds a degree in Textiles from Goldsmithhs and an MA in Textile Design.

Claire’s feminine and elegant dresses are designed and made in Cornwall, a county with a strong artistic lineage. Her birthplace has been a source of great inspiration for her exquisite designs. Each dress is unique; the silk and cotton gabrics are hand screen-printed by Claire.

The feel of The History Dress Collection is light and fresh with a vintage twist. The cut and subtle colours have been inspired by 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s dresses in Helston Folk Museum, Cornwall; where Claire spent much time drawing and researching before designing her collection. The delicate prints are based on her illustrations of the Cornish landscape, people and streets, alongside print designs based on the garments she researched. The dresses in this collection can be layered together, echoing the layers of trace and history in the museum dresses.

Claire begins her design process by working from her sketchbook. She then designs her dresses to scale onto A0 cartridge paper. Claire screen prints or digitally prints her fabric to fit the panels and cut of each dress, before carefully constructing them using French seams, fine pin tucks and hand embroidery. Anique buttons and delicate ties are used as fasteners.

The sense of time and history embodied with the beautiful setting of Trereife House provided the perfect location for a photo shoot in the summer of 2009 of The History Dress Collection