Museum uncovers Victorian smalls

On display will be various Victorian costumes as well as the sometimes weird and wonderful underclothes which shaped them. The exhibition, which opened yesterday, covers the Regency period, when underclothes were largely conspicuous by their absence, through the age of the crinoline when people wore no less than eight separate layers, and rather more in winter.

By the end of the 19th century underclothing requirements – apart from the corsets – had relaxed a little.

Curator Janet Tierney said: "The whole costume of the 19th century was dictated by what was put on underneath. It was a classic reaction to what they perceived as their louche Regency parents."

The exhibition is open until April 30.