LONDON.- A display of rare, nationally significant outfits is at the heart of Out shopping: The dresses of Marion and Maud Sambourne (1880-1910), a major new exhibition which shines a spotlight on the intimate story of a middle-class mother and her affluent daughter at a moment in history that shaped the way fashion is consumed today.

Several of the outfits have never been publicly displayed before and others have not been seen for more than two decades. A number are rare surviving examples by leading – often female – designers of the era. All have been conserved especially for the exhibition.

Marion Sambourne (1851-1914) was the wife of Victorian illustrator and Punch cartoonist Linley Sambourne (1844-1910). Their daughter, Maud (1875-1960), shared an artistic flair which she abandoned in pursuit of a prosperous marriage with Leonard Messel (1872-1953).

The Sambourne family home at 18 Stafford Terrace has been preserved intact as a unique surviving example of an artistic middle-class home of the period including many of the family's papers, diaries, and correspondence. For the first time this exhibition looks at the lives of Marion and Maud Sambourne and their interest in fashion.

The exhibition includes more than 40 exhibits which marked important moments in both Marion and Maud’s lives, offering a detailed picture of their ‘mother and daughter’ relationship and how fashion informed their distinct personalities. Alongside the 10 dresses, there are photographs, letters, drawings and receipts (from fabrics and accessories to the all-important corsets) from the Sambourne archive. By placing these objects in the context of their wearers’ lives and relationship - both with fashion and each other –visitors will be able to explore their shopping habits and distinct tastes, along with the important role shopping and dressmaking played in the lives of women in this period.

Highlights include the exquisite blue skirt and jacket with lace cuffs made by eminent court and society dressmaker Sarah Fullerton Monteith Young which Marion wore to her daughter’s wedding (1898); Maud’s brown velvet embellished chiffon day dress by Mascotte (1906), and the crepe silk lilac tea gown (c.1899-1904) which she wore during her pregnancy, the only maternity piece that survived in the collection.

To go on display, all of the dresses were conserved by leading textile conservator Janie Lightfoot in her London studio. Encompassing extensive research and painstaking work, this part of the project has been funded with the help of The Friends of Leighton House, grants from the Pilgrim Trust and the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation and an Elizabeth Hammond grant from The Costume Society.

For the first time in the history of the museums, the exhibitions spans across three spaces offering an immersive experience for visitors into the worlds of dress making, the early 20th century shopping experience and Kensington as a fashion district in the late Victorian era.

At Leighton House, the collection of dresses and unseen archive treasures is on display in the Verey Exhibition Gallery. In the Tavolozza Drawings Gallery, Out in Paris presents a selection of street style photography by Marion’s husband, Linley Sambourne taken during a weekend in Paris in 1906.

The exhibition journey continues at nearby Sambourne House, with a small display plus a documentary film on the conservation process, providing additional insights into the family life of the Sambournes and the opportunity to explore their ‘house beautiful’ designed in the so-called Aesthetic style.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication that emulates the design and format of late 19th-century fashion magazines. Along with articles exploring the women of the Sambourne family and the history of the main dresses, there are also be recipes of the period and arts and crafts patterns which readers can follow to create their own tote bag.

Daniel Robbins, Senior Curator at Leighton House and Sambourne House, says: “The collections associated with Sambourne House are astonishingly rich and varied. Through this exhibition we are able to reveal these exceptional examples of Marion and Maud’s dresses and for the first time draw on the extensive archive that accompanies the house to tell the story of the place of fashion in their lives in an immediate and engaging way.”