Charles Dickens... "dandy" fashion icon? Rare items go on display in London this week

Did you know there’s a museum dedicated to Charles Dickens in London? Well there is, and it’s about to display a new selection of the author’s clothes and other rarities.

One eye-opening oddity is the collar Dickens is believed to have been wearing when he suffered the stroke that killed him in 1870. After his death the collar then went to British actor Bransby Williams, who starred in a couple of early film adaptations of Dickens works.

What else? You can check out a pair of Dickens’s black stockings, his shaving gear and a locket containing a snippet of his son Henry’s hair. And more.

It may all sound a bit ordinary, but such artefacts of Dickens’s are apparently a real rarity.

“Among all of the many qualities, passions and character quirks of Charles Dickens, we know that he was a real dandy,” says museum deputy director Emma Harper.

“This makes it all the more frustrating that so few items of his clothing survive but renders our collection of clothing and accessories especially precious.”

These pieces of personal attire will go on show at the Charles Dickens Museum from Wednesday, March 11th.

Fine and dandy

The site of the museum itself is dripping in history too. It’s at 48 Doughty Street, nearby Russell Square tube station. This is where Dickens lived from 1837 to 1839.

It has been open to the public as a museum for more than a hundred years now, since 1925.

Adult tickets cost £13.58 including fees, or it's £8.33 for children, while those under the age of six get in for free. Or you can become a museum member for £40 a year.

It’s open Wednesday to Sunday, from 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm each day.

The site is decked out largely as it would have been when Dickens lived there. And when you’re done you’ll also be just a short stroll from the Foundling Museum and The Postal Museum, should you want to have a truly museum-packed day.

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