Bookham exhibition explores the power and passion in fashion

A STUNNING exhibition exploring fashion and power has opened at Polesden Lacey - and will be on until November.

- By JENNY SEYMOUR

Dress to Impress explores how fashion in art has reflected power and personality throughout history and is inspiring a new generation.

Visitors to the National Trust gem in Bookham, the former home of Edwardian society hostess Margaret Greville, are invited on a “captivating” journey.

The exhibition is presented throughout the house. It delves into how people dressed and explores the coded messages about power, politics and personality.

It looks at dress and social influence and includes historic fashion displays, new designs, photographs, films and talks.

Paintings in the exhibition include four recently conserved at the National Trust’s Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio at Knole, in Sevenoak. One is a glamorous portrait by Johann Zoffany of Eva Maria Garrick, an 18th-century dancer and wife of acclaimed actor David Garrick, dressed in shimmering silk for a masquerade ball.