In this week’s blog post, Costume Society member Roisin Semple takes us behind the scenes of her latest exhibition, Tailoring an Image.
Tailoring an Image at Anglesey Abbey shines a spotlight on one of the most fascinating menswear collections in the UK: a rare survival of bespoke 20th century clothing, belonging to just one man – the last owner of Anglesey Abbey, Urban Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896–1966). A wide range of garments are on public display for the first time including day, evening and nightwear.
Fairhaven was known as a stylish dresser, regularly featuring in society magazines in the 1930s. Family wealth enabled him to enjoy the finer things in life, from collecting art to shopping at the world’s most prestigious tailors and makers. His maternal grandfather, Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840–1909), was one of the richest men in the history of the USA, making his fortune through oil refining, gas, copper and railroads. Rogers’ ruthless approach to business earned him the nickname ‘Hell Hound’ Rogers. Fairhaven left the property and its collections to the National Trust on his death in 1966.
Lord Fairhaven's suits in Tailoring an Image at Anglesey Abbey, credit National Trust Images Mike Selby
Anglesey Abbey is an accredited museum containing over 10,000 objects, including over 1,000 items of clothing which were donated to the Trust by Fairhaven’s nephew, the 3rd Lord Fairhaven, in 2005. Fairhaven’s extensive wardrobe is a rare example of a 20th-century menswear collection that remains in the original setting of its owner’s home. The clothing collection is usually displayed in situ, hanging in in Fairhaven’s wardrobe. Tailoring an Image is the first time most of the items have been on open public display or mounted on mannequins.
The exhibition showcases a range of styles with eight outfits mounted on mannequins, a flat-mounted bathing costume and a flat-mounted pair of cropped leather riding breeches on display. The conservation and mounting was undertaken by conservators from the National Trust Textile Conservation Studio and took over 160 hours. One of the challenges of working with a menswear collection was selecting the right combination, size and condition of shirt, collar and tie to match the appropriate suit. Some of the mannequins are displayed in situ, in the rooms Fairhaven may have originally worn them, and others are displayed as part of a group display.
When I started working at Anglesey Abbey in 2016, I knew instinctively that the menswear collection had huge potential. The journey towards this exhibition started about two and a half years’ ago, when I was contemplating my final exhibition project for my Masters & Apprenticeship in Curating- and I knew it had to be around the menswear collection.
2025 felt like the perfect moment to showcase the menswear collection. Historically, most fashion and dress collections in museums have been dominated by women’s clothing and have often become disassociated from the original wearers’ identities. Women’s fashion can be perceived as more prone to change over time, contributing to the opinion that it is more worthy of preserving. At the same time, the versatility of male garments means they are often worn until they wear out and don’t therefore survive long enough to enter public collections. A growing interest in menswear in fashion and dress history, however, is challenging this notion by valuing the often-subtler nuances of men’s fashion and male self-expression. I was influenced by a series of fashion exhibitions which beautifully demonstrate this shift: Fashioning Masculinities (V&A, 2022), Dandy Style (Manchester art Gallery, 2022) and Fashion City (Museum of London, 2024).
Several of the items in the exhibition were made bespoke for Fairhaven by Huntsman & Son (1849–present), including his bright red leather cropped riding breeches, of which there are no comparable examples in museum collections or riding dress history literature, and his wine-coloured velvet smoking suit. It has been a privilege to work with the team at Huntsman to unravel the threads that connect people, places and objects across time.
I gained unique insights into the collection through the Huntsman archive and by viewing the collection with tailors and cutters who continue the same bespoke tailoring practices today. Huntsman’s support has been invaluable for unlocking the collection and uncovering the more hidden histories of the individuals who made Fairhaven’s clothes. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a short film we produced with Huntsman, which is also available to watch on YouTube.
There are 16 pairs of different coloured cropped riding breeches in the collection, most of which were made in the 1950s. This extraordinary collection has fascinated me ever since I started working at the property. The length, colour and material make the style unique to Fairhaven. It is unclear where the idea came from, but the choice was presumably motivated by the durability, comfort and control they gave him in the saddle. We now believe these were probably made by a breeches maker called Sybil, who worked at Huntsman in the 1960s. Two pairs of riding breeches are on display. One pair has been mounted as part of an ensemble based on a historic photograph, and another has been flat mounted with annotations to highlight significant details. The collection was originally incorrectly catalogued as ‘lederhosen’, and I am delighted to have now corrected their catalogue entries.
Lord Fairhaven’s wine-coloured velvet smoking suit was made bespoke for him by the Head Cutter of Huntsman in 1962, Colin Hammick (1928–2008). The smoking suit style originates from a smoking jacket, which men changed into to preserve their dinner jackets from smelling of after-dinner cigar smoke. In contrast to black dinner jackets, smoking jackets are traditionally made from coloured velvet. However, it is very unusual to find a whole suit made of velvet from the early 1960s. It is a style we now more commonly associate with the ‘peacocks’ of the late 1960s and 70s. Fairhaven ordered the jacket first, with a note in the company ledger recording that he might order the trousers later, perhaps suggesting he was wondering whether a whole suit in velvet was the right choice. The suit has become the ‘hero item’ of the exhibition, featuring on posters and a souvenir pin badge. It also features in the National Trust publication, 100 Things to Wear: Fashion from the Collections of the National Trust, for which I was a contributing author. The book has inspired many properties across the country to display the items which have been featured.
Tailoring an Image runs until 31st October 2025. My research was published in the Spring/Summer 2025 edition of the National Trust’s Cultural Heritage Magazine.
Roisin Semple is Property Curator at Anglesey Abbey, National Trust.
The Costume Society visited Manchester in honour of its Year of Menswear in 2022, including visiting the aforementioned 'Dandy Style' exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery. Revisit the day through our previous blog post.
Roisin Semple checks the lapel of Lord Fairhaven's suit in Tailoring an Image at Anglesey Abbey, credit National Trust Images Mike Selby
