VA South Kensington

From camisoles to corsets, basques to boudoir caps and girdles to garters, Underwear: Fashion in Detail gets up close to some of the most intimate items in the VA. The book traces the evolution of underwear, from rare examples dating from the sixteenth century and the exaggerated shapes of eighteenth-century courtly undergarments, to Dior's...

This beautifully illustrated book celebrates some of the best-loved dolls' houses from the VA Museum of Childhood. Published to accompany a new exhibition, Dolls' Houses presents specially commissioned photography detaling the astonishing skill and craftsmanship required to create these homes in miniature scale. The book invites you to take a...

Yes, flower bells rang right merry that day,When there was a marriage of flowers, they say. First published in 1905, Walter Crane's beautifully illustrated poem tells the delightful story of a wedding day. This beautiful facsimile edition, makes a perfect wedding, engagement or Valentine's gift. Accompanies the VA exhibition, The Wedding Dress:...

For millennia pearls have been associated with royalty, glamour and status, treasured for their exquisite beauty. Pearls traces the history of these coveted gems over the centuries and across cultures from East to West, from the Roman Empire right up to the present day. Historical portraits and contextual material explain the social and cultural...