The museum focuses on fashionable dress for men, women and children from the late 16th century to the present day, and has more than 100,000 objects.

[1] Every year from its creation in 1963, an independent fashion expert has been asked to select a dress for entry into this part of the collection.

The designers whose work is represented include: Mary Quant, John Bates, Ossie Clark, Jean Muir, Bill Gibb, Giorgio Armani, John Galliano, Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen, Donatella Versace and Alber Elbaz.

[3] The museum announced that it would leave the Assembly Rooms in March 2023 and look for a new building.

[4] The new site chosen was the Old Post Office in Bath; whilst work was undertaken to ready the new location, the collection was temporarily housed and displayed at the headquarters of luxury glovemakers, Dents in Warminster.