Costume Society Annual Conference 2026

Saturday, 17 October 2026 – Wednesday, 28 October 2026

Marriage À La Mode: Dressing for Weddings, Civil Partnerships & Conscious Couplings

For the first time in its history the Society will be inviting presentations on the theme of marriage ceremonies, whether they are religious, civil or personal commitments.

Taking The Society’s ethos of encouraging the study of the history of dress from around the world and throughout history we hope to explore the traditions and innovation in clothing for the diverse occasions where people mark their commitment to each other. With thousands of years of history, the scope of the whole world and all the diversity of human relationships we hope that this will be a conference full of rich visual content, aspects of new research, the practice of makers and the experience of wearers.

We will announce the formal Call for Papers on the 6th April 2026, and this will close on the 31st of May.

The conference selection panel will meet in June, and we will confirm our speakers in time for the Society’s Annual General Meeting and celebration day in July.

The Costume Society’s annual conference will be held online between Saturday 17th October – Wednesday 28th October 2026. 

Conference session dates are Saturday 17 October, Wednesday 21 October, Saturday 24 October and Wednesday 28 October.

Image caption: Marriage à la Mode, opening case, © Olive Matthews Collection, Chertsey Museum.