Rare items of Charles Dickens’ clothing to go on display in London

Rare surviving items of Charles Dickens’ clothing, including the linen shirt collar worn by the writer when he suffered his fatal stroke in 1870, are to go on display.

Other items being exhibited include Dickens’ black silk stockings – part of his only surviving suit – as well as personal effects and items related to his personal grooming, including a set of six silver razors used for his daily shave, a perfume bottle, silver candle snuffers and a gold locket, containing photos and locks of hair from Dickens and his son, Henry.

Locket containing locks of hair of Charles and Henry Dickens. Photograph: Charles Dickens Museum

The rare showing is a window on to the personal style of Dickens, who suffered a stroke while sitting down for dinner at home at Gad’s Hill Place on 8 June 1870. He died the following day.

After Dickens’ death, the collar was owned by actor and music hall performer Bransby Williams, famed for his portrayals of characters from Dickens’ novels.

The display will run at the Charles Dickens Museum at 48 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, the only surviving London house in which Charles Dickens lived and the place where he wrote many of the stories that made his name.

In 1837, when Dickens moved into the home with his growing family, he was a budding author; by the time the family left he was world famous, on the back of a trio of successful novels written there: The Pickwick Papers (1837), Oliver Twist (1838) and Nicholas Nickleby (1839).

The machine-made black stockings on display were worn by Dickens, along with dark jacket, trousers and white waistcoat, as well as a sword, to a formal reception at St James’s Palace on 6 April 1870, at which Dickens met Edward, Prince of Wales. Dickens described the suit as “fancy dress”.

Six silver razors with ivory handles from the exhibition. Photograph: Charles Dickens Museum

The museum said the material paints a picture of Dickens as a snappily dressed, flamboyant dandy.

This image is supported by a colourised photographic portrait of Dickens, which will join the new display. The image, originally made by (George) Herbert Watkins in June 1858 and restored and colourised in 2020 by Oliver Clyde, shows Dickens standing at a desk, right hand on hip, in an eye-catching ensemble, with a gold watch and chain.

This outfit matches descriptions of clothes he wore on his 1842 American tour. Elizabeth Wormeley, who met Dickens in Boston, later described his “conspicuous” dress, which included “two velvet waistcoats, one of vivid green, the other brilliant crimson”, which were “further ornamented by a profusion of gold watch-chain”.

A second portrait, by William P Frith, shows Dickens sporting a velvet jacket, which he had made especially for the occasion.

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

“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. When paired with the many eyewitness reports of his flamboyance, those items that do remain can give us a real insight into his snappy style.”

• The items go on display to the public at the Charles Dickens Museum in London from Wednesday 11 March