The Dress of the Year is an annual fashion award run by the Fashion Museum, Bath since 1963. Each year since 1963, the Museum has asked a fashion journalist to select a dress or outfit that best represents the most important new ideas in contemporary fashion.[1] For 2010 the Museum broke with tradition by asking the milliner Stephen Jones, rather than a journalist, to choose an outfit;[2] and again in 2014 when the fashion blogger, Susanna Lau of Style Bubble, was asked to choose an outfit for 2013.[3] The outfit is then donated to the Fashion Museum along with an Adel Rootstein mannequin to represent that year's total look.[1]
| Year | Designer(s) | Brief description | Selected by: | Associated publication | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 |
Reed Crawford (hat) Anello & Davide (boots) | Grey wool 'Rex Harrison' pinafore dress & cream blouse.[4] | Members of The Fashion Writers' Association | ||
| 1964 | Jean Muir for Jane & Jane Charles Jourdan for Dior (shoes) | Dress in printed Liberty silk. | Members of The Fashion Writers' Association | ||
| 1965 | John Bates for Jean Varon Anello & Davide (shoes) | Printed linen dress with mesh midriff. | Members of The Fashion Writers' Association | ||
| 1966 | Michèle Rosier of V de V (coat) Young Jaeger (dress) Simone Mirman (hat) Elliott (boots) John Bates for Echo (tights) | Clear plastic raincoat and boots worn with black & white rayon linen dress, white tights and white hat with red plastic visor.[5] | |||
| 1967 | David Bond for Slimma Edward Mann (hat) Saxone (shoes) | Woman's trouser suit, hat & blouse in striped cotton. | |||
| 1968 | Jean Muir Bally (shoes) | Black-spotted white cotton voile dress. | Fashion | ||
| 1969 | Ossie Clark for Quorum Rayne (shoes) | Woman's silk chiffon and satin trouser suit in Celia Birtwell print. | |||
| 1970 | Bill Gibb for Baccarat Kaffe Fassett (knitwear) The Chelsea Cobbler (boots) | Plaid wool skirt and blue and white blouse, knitted waistcoat, blue suede boots. | |||
| 1971 | Female: Graziella Fontana for Judith Hornby Ravel (sandals) Male: Rupert Lycett Green for Blades | Female: Hot pants suit in checked Liberty cotton. Male: Black velvet evening suit & boots. | |||
| 1972 | Teenage girl:Biba Young girl: Bobby Hillson Young boy: Orange Hand for Montague Burton | Teenage girl: Dress, hat & boots, red & white spotted cotton. Young girl: Checked cotton dress & pinafore. Young boy: Trousers, jumper and tank top. | The Sunday Times | ||
| 1973 | Female: Marc Bohan for Christian Dior London | Female: White wool coat & hat. Male: Wool jacket, trousers & sweater. | |||
| 1974 |
Pasquali (shoes) | Male & female ensembles in knitted wool & rayon. | Harper's Bazaar and Queen | ||
| 1975 | Female: Gina Fratini Male: Tommy Nutter The Chelsea Cobbler (shoes) | Female: Wedding dress, veil & posy basket, cream silk organza with mimosa print. Male: Bridegroom's frock coat suit, eau de nil wool. | |||
| 1976 | Female: Kenzo Takada of Jungle Jap Male: Fiorucci | Female: Two printed cotton ensembles with wooden jewellery. Male: Hand-knitted sweater, two shirts and jeans. | The Daily Express | ||
| 1977 | Kenzo Takada of Jungle Jap | Shirt-dress in khaki cotton, straw hat & plimsolls. | Ann Boyd | ||
| 1978 | Female: Gordon Luke Clarke Male: Cerruti | Female: Printed cotton & polyester jersey tunic, skirt and trousers worn with black leather skirt and coat. Male: Coat, jacket, waistcoat & trousers, knitted wool and wool tweed. | Barbara Griggs | The Daily Mail | |
| 1979 | Jean Muir Manolo Blahnik for Zapata (shoes) | Black rayon jersey dress & beret with black leather jacket. | Geraldine Ranson | ||
| 1980 | Calvin Klein Diego della Valle (sandals) | Red & brown striped silk dress with leather belt & wooden jewellery. | The Sunday Times | ||
| 1981 | Karl Lagerfeld for Chloé Walter Steiger (shoes) Ugo Correani (necklace) | Printed white silk dress. | Harper's & Queen | ||
| 1982 |
Nigel Preston of Maxfield Parrish (leather wear) Mulberry (belt) Manolo Blahnik for Zapata (shoes) | Two women's ensembles, a linen skirt, shirt and waistcoat and a blue suede and fawn chamois leather skirt & jacket with cotton shirt. | British Vogue | ||
| 1983 |
Manolo Blahnik (shoes) | Linen dress and coat. | The Observer | ||
| 1984 | Female: BodyMap Female: Betty Jackson Brian Bolger: (scarf) Male: Katharine Hamnett | Female: Ensemble comprising skirt, jumper, stockings, hat, waxed jacket & earrings (BodyMap). Female: Dress, cardigan & hat and scarf (Jackson & Bolger). Male: T-shirt, shirt and cotton trousers. | Brenda Polan | The Guardian | |
| 1985 | Female: Bruce Oldfield Charles Jourdan (shoes) Maria Buck (jewellery) Male: Scott Crolla | Female: Black silk & gold lamé evening dress. Male: Shirt, crushed velvet trousers and ikat mules. | The Times | ||
| 1986 | Female: Checked wool jacket, skirt, and black suede shoes. Male: Jacket, trousers, shirt and brogues. | ||||
| 1987 | John Galliano Patrick Cox (shoes) | Checked cotton coat, skirt, shirt & hat. | Debbi Mason | ||
| 1988 | Jean-Paul Gaultier for Junior Gaultier | Black denim dress, mesh T-shirt, hat, tights & shoes. | |||
| 1989 | Woman's embroidered velvet evening ensemble. | Kathryn Samuel | The Daily Telegraph | ||
| 1990 | Woman's dark blue velvet trouser suit with organza blouse. | Joan Burstein | |||
| 1991 | Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel | Pink lurex & wool tweed jacket & shoes, denim skirt & hat, belt & costume jewellery. | Vogue | ||
| 1992 | Woman's black and white pinstripe trouser suit & shirt. | Liz Smith | The Times | ||
| 1993 | Purple wool & stretch velvet dress, hat & boots. | ||||
| 1994 | John Galliano | Black silk strapless evening dress. | Harper's & Queen | ||
| 1995 | Female: Catherine Rayner Emma Hope (shoes) Male: Tom Gilbey | Female: Beaded ivory silk satin wedding dress. Male: Ivory silk frock coat, cream wool trousers and embroidered waistcoat. | Brides | ||
| 1996 | Female: Alexander McQueen Male: Paul Smith | Female: Floral brocade top with red 'bumster' trousers. Male: Bright blue two-piece suit and shirt | |||
| 1997 | Female: Hussein Chalayan Female: Julien MacDonald Female: Lainey Keogh Female: Deborah Milner Philip Treacy (bonnet) Mr Pearl (corset) Shaun Leane (mouthpiece) | Female: Purple evening dress with sunburst bead embroidery (Chalayan). Female: 'Mermaid' evening dress, gold knitted rayon & horsehair (MacDonald). Female: Evening dress and coat, black knit with beading (Keogh). Female: Evening coat, purple velvet, with fur collar (Milner). Sculptural black bonnet Black satin corset Silver sculptural mouthpiece[6] | The Sunday Times | ||
| 1998 | Female: Sonia Rykiel Male: Chris Bailey for Jigsaw Menswear | Female: Black knitted sweater & combat trousers, with pink marabou stole. Male: Silver-grey suit, white T-shirt and ankle-length puffa jacket. | |||
| 1999 | Alexander McQueen | Cream lace dress with brown leather collar and sandals.[7] | The Independent | ||
| 2000 | Bamboo-print silk chiffon evening dress and jeweled mules.[8] | The Times | |||
| 2001 | Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche | 'Peasant' ensemble of gauze top and velvet & satin skirt, with boots and velvet scarf. | Vogue | ||
| 2002 | Dress, pieced together knit & jersey fabrics, with distressed cow-hide shoes.[9] | The Daily Telegraph | |||
| 2003 | Colorful printed dress.[10] | Vogue | |||
| 2004 | Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche | Evening dress in Chinese dragon print satin. | Vanity Fair | ||
| 2005 | Female: Alber Elbaz for Lanvin Male: Thom Browne | Female: Blue silk faille dress with full skirt. Male: Suit with covered buttons and seersucker lining.[11] | GQ; The Guardian | ||
| 2006 | Woman's olive green coat with fur patch pockets. | Sarah Mower | |||
| 2007 | Orange 'Troubadour' dress with accompanying orange scarf. | ||||
| 2008 | Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel (trouser ensemble) Kate Moss for Topshop (dress) | Gold star and navy blue trouser ensemble. Long sleeved black dress with heart-print. | Paula Reed | ||
| 2009 | White and black trompe l'oeil corset dress.[12] | Harper's Bazaar | |||
| 2010 | Vivienne Westwood | Green ribbed shot-silk deconstructed dress.[13] | |||
| 2011 | Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen | White embroidered ivory tulle and organza ballgown.[14] | Vogue | ||
| 2012 | Raf Simons for Christian Dior | Embroidered and appliquéd silk cut-off ballgown and black cigarette pants. | |||
| 2013 | Christopher Kane (dress) Nasir Mazhar (hat) Sophia Webster (shoes) | Sugar-pink silk organza dress trimmed with white lace, diamanté and black duct tape. Pink canvas cap with cartoon character motif. Pink and black sandals with striped stiletto heel. | |||
| 2014 | 'Look 41' ensemble in plastic sheeting and calico.[15] | ||||
| 2015 | Two menswear/gender-neutral ensembles shown on male and female mannequins.[16] | Gordon Richardson, design director of Topman. | |||
| 2016 | Female: JW Anderson for LOEWE Male: JW Anderson | Female: Cream mohair tweed dress with gilded Nappa leather bustier, tan leather bag and wire and coin jewellery. Male: Cream oversized cardigan, trousers, white shirt and red trainer-boots. Perspex choker.[17] | British Vogue | ||
| 2017 | Maria Grazia Chiuri for Christian Dior | "We Should All be Feminists" T-shirt.[18] | Sarah Bailey | Red | |
| 2018 | Female: Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton Male: Kim Jones for Dior Homme | Female: Ensemble comprising an embroidered pink silk coat, white silk cropped long-sleeve blouse and blue jersey shorts, with 'Archlight' sneakers. Male: "Look 27," a pink cashmere double-breasted suit, canvas and calfskin duffle bag, pink calfskin and mesh sneakers, and chunky metal and rhodonite necklace.[19] | Alexander Fury | Another Magazine and Financial Times | |
| 2019 | Giambattista Valli for H&M | Evening dress in pink pleated tulle.[20] | Donna Wallace | British Vogue | |
| 2020 | Female: Riccardo Tisci for Burberry & PPE Neutral: Ian Jeffries for Marine GARMENT Neutral: Black Lives Matter T-shirt Male: Francesco Colucci Female: Daisy Robbins for Daisy Sunshine Female: Gareth Wrighton & Ib Kamara Female: Iain R. Webb Documentary film: Nick Knight | Female: "Apocalypse Outfit" as worn by Naomi Campbell: Burberry cashmere cape with Tyvek overall; latex gloves, face mask. Neutral: Gender-neutral khaki T-shirt and trousers with fishing cap, mask, and cotton bag inscribed "BLACK LIVES MATTER". Neutral: Unisex T-shirt with Black Lives Matter slogan. Male: Ensemble from Colucci's "Isolation Portraits" series, assembled from an orange down jacket, PVC trousers, a jumpsuit and a sculptural mask. Female: Patchwork cotton and cashmere kimono, embroidered sweater and painted cotton shorts. Female: "A Dress of Hope" designed by Wrighton & styled by Kamara, using found table linens. Female: Dress from Iain R. Webb's graduate collection of 1980. Documentary film: "SWALK", about John Galliano at Martin Margiela.[21] | |||
| 2021 | Black silk georgette dress with lotus flower embroidery.[22] | Ib Kamara and Gareth Wrighton | |||
| 2022 | Miuccia Prada for Miu Miu | Brown cotton twill micro-miniskirt, blue slashed cotton shirt and grey cashmere cable knit cropped sweater.[23] [24] |