A dress to impress

One of the items in a very special “Buy My Dress” auction in the Berkeley Costume Toy Museum in New Ross tomorrow will be a full…

One of the items in a very special “Buy My Dress” auction in the Berkeley Costume Toy Museum in New Ross tomorrow will be a full-length beaded black evening dress worn by Liz McManus when she greeted Bill Clinton at Dublin Castle.

The event is a fundraiser for the extraordinary Ros Tapestry project, “a tale told in thread”, a series of 15 hand-stitched embroidered panels begun in 1998 and which will be completed next year. The artist Countess Ann Griffin Bernstorff is not only the creator of the designs for the tapestries, but is also the founder of the Costume Toy Museum, with its unique collection of Irish and European garments and toys. A collection of dresses and accessories will be on sale on the day and the event will also include a gymkhana, a dog show and a miniature horse class. For details, tel: 051-445396.

The photograph shows Ruth Thorpe modelling the black evening dress in front of one of the Ros Tapestries.

Deirdre McQuillan

Deirdre McQuillan

Deirdre McQuillan is Irish Times Fashion Editor, a freelance feature writer and an author