The National Museum of Costume (Museu Nacional do Traje), created in 1976, presents to the public a collection of historical costumes, garments and accessories, dating from the XVIII century to the present day, either in permanent or temporary exhibitions. The collection is housed in the Angeja-Palmela Palace with, on its grounds, the Monteiro-Mor Botanic Park.

The museum is located in a vast property acquired by the Portuguese State in 1975. This property – a former farmhouse of eighteenth-century recreation – has an extensive green area now open to the public and known as – Botanical Monteiro-Mor park, and its headquarters are urged in an 18th century building – thePalace Angeja-Palmela.

Its purpose is to establish a strategy for the research, conservation and public exhibition of costumes and textiles. Furthermore, it has a policy of safeguarding and promoting the Monteiro-Mor Botanic Park and supporting this heritage among the community.

Preserving Green (“Conservar Verde”) is a concept that integrates the values of responsibility and sustainability, as well as the management of the cultural and natural heritage entrusted to the National Museum of Costume.

History
The Palácio Angeja-Palmela was erected in the XVIII century by D. Pedro José de Noronha, 3rd Marquess of Angeja, near the place where there was the palace of D. Afonso Sanches, natural son of Dinis I of Portugal (1279-1325).

With an unknown authorship, the palace is influenced by the architecture of Pombal, developing in two façades, one of which ends with the chapel. Of the primitive palace there remains only a sixteenth-century abutment in a residence adjoining the palace, and some 17th-century architectural structures.

The main entrance of the palace develops like a galilee and the articulation between the floors is made by a staircase of four straight stretches. In its rooms stand out the masseira ceilings, the stucco, the ornamental paintings and diverse panels of tiles setecentistas.

In 1840, the property was acquired by D. Pedro de Sousa Holstein, Marquis of Palmela and later 1st Duke of Palmela, who undertook works to improve the palace, including the reconstruction of the neo-Gothic pavilion, now occupied by museum restaurant.

From the Second World War (1939-1945), the palace became a religious college for refugee Belgians, until, in 1975, the Portuguese State acquired Quinta do Monteiro-Mor, which, in addition to the Angeja-Palmela Palace, comprises the Monteiro-Mor Palace, an 18th-century residence, the Botanical Garden and a green area of eleven hectares.

The National Costume Museum resulted from a project born in 1969, presented in 1973 and consolidated with the exhibition O Traje Civil em Portugal presented at the National Museum of Ancient Art in 1974. The head of this whole process was Natália Correia Guedes, who came to be the first director of the Museum.

The 23 of December of 1976 was passed a Decree / Law instituted the National Museum of the Costume and the Botanical Park of Monteiro-Mor.

On July 26, 1977, the museum was inaugurated by the then Secretary of State for Culture, David Mourão-Ferreira, the director of the museum Natália Correia Guedes, and the presence of the then Prime Minister, Mário Soares, with the opening of five exhibitions: History of civil and urban costume (from antiquity to 1925), complemented by the exhibition Trajo Popular (a partnership with the National Museum of Ethnology) and which was also added Opera costume, collection of Tomás Alcaide. Spinning, weaving and stamping techniques were also explored and toys from the 18th and 20th centuries were exhibited.

The private library of the museologist Maria José de Mendonça is deposited here.

Architecture
The Palace owes its current design to the 3rd Marquis of Angeja, D. Pedro de Noronha, who here designed his natural history collections, complemented by a botanical garden. In 1840, the property is acquired by the 2nd Duke of Palmela, D. Domingos de Sousa Holstein Beck.

The main façade is facing the courtyard or inner courtyard, delimited by buildings that are annexes: old stables (today – ticket office \ shop), and collections (today – workshops).

At the entrance of the Palace we can see the coats of the Marquises of Faial and 2nd Dukes of Palmela. Placed in the main axis, the two coats are surmounted by a crown of marquis finished off by a Cross of Christ, because the Marquis of Faial had been awarded with a commendation of this order.

The ground floor of the palace was originally intended for kitchen and other service outbuildings as well as various areas for family use. The main link between the ground floor and the 1st floor is made by a marble staircase and in the ceiling, features a central medallion with an eagle holding three rays in the legs.
The first floor, called the “noble floor”, was intended for social interaction, and here is the noble hall, which highlights the vaulted ceiling and the profuse rocaille decoration of stucco with themes related to natural history and, in the four songs, allegories to the four seasons. Ornamental paintings of the oriental room with its chinoiseries, the frescoes of the music room and the flags’ hall, as well as the various tiles of the Rato factory are mentioned.

The old chapel of the palace dedicated to Santa Rita is an interesting example of the contemporary hinge of D. Maria I, since it establishes the transition between the ” rocaille ” and neoclassical tastes.

The neogothic tea pavilion, built by the Marquis of Angeja to be the House of the Birds, integrated in the surroundings of the palace is currently the Monteiro-Mor restaurant.

Botanical Park of Monteiro-Mor
The Botanical Park of Monteiro-Mor covers an area of approximately 11ha where stands out the garden, for its originality and botanical and landscape richness. The garden was designed by the Italian Domenico Vandelli, to be the botanical garden of the 3rd Marquis of Angeja. This was the third botanical garden to be built in Portugal, from the 60’s of the XVIII century. From this time only the structure was built, steps, staircases or walls, lakes with formal design and some interesting decorative elements, such as the curved stone and a set of niches for statuary. The park started by the Marquis of Angeja, continued in the 19th century, already owned by the Dukes of Palmela, which introduces new species, such as Araucaria heterophylla or Araucaria de Norfolk, the first planted in Portugal. A cameleira, two monumental plantains, a beech, a taxod, a sequoia and two rubber trees, all with more than 150 years of existence, stand out in the park.

In 1975, with the acquisition of property by the Portuguese State, it was the silvicultural engineer Luís Filipe Sousa Lara who led his recovery and reconversion that has been without maintenance since the 60s of the 20th century. In addition to other works, the rose garden was recovered in a set of boxes with hedges of boxwood, with a design in the baroque style of the XVIII century, under the guidance of arch. landscape artist Edgar Fontes.

We find in Monteiro-Mor Botanical Park a genuine example of traditional Portuguese recreation farms, associated with the house or palace (now the National Costume Museum), a garden with lakes and waterfalls, orchards, orchards and woods. The Park is crossed by a water line of torrential regime, that enters in conduit buried until it arrives at a camarador collector. The various springs that flow into the garden make it possible to fully supply the water needs of lakes and watering during the summer.

Flora
The Botanical Park of Monteiro-Mor has a varied collection with more than 250 botanical species represented, with special emphasis on ornamental and for forestry, but also where vegetables, fruit, aromatic and medicinal are developed.

Fauna
The fauna present in the Park stands out above all the birds and a colony of bats in the underground (caves and galleries) of the palace Angeja-Palmela. During the spring, the underground of the Costume Museum can house about 200 teddy bats (Miniopterus schreibersii), a species with the status of “vulnerable” in Portugal.

Sculptures
In 1995, the Garden of Sculptures project was inaugurated in the Botanical Park, whose main objective was its enrichment, thus adding to the landscape heritage a museological aspect. Scattered in the park we have sculptures by Minoru Nizuma, Catarina Baleiras, João Cutileiro, José Lucas, Moreira Rato, Soares Franco and Leopoldo de Almeida.

Collections
The collections of the institution include collections of civilian clothing – women, men and children, national and international – and their accessories, fragments of fabrics and bragal pieces, materials and equipment that testify to the textile, costume and accessory production processes.

The first offerings of pieces date from 1974 in the registries of the National Museum of the Costume, all of them of individuals. The public collection that integrated its collection came from the National Museum of the Cars that, since 1904, collected an important collection of costumes of the Royal House.

18th century costume (Baroque and Rocaille styles, 1700 to 1789)
In the Baroque period, the female costume was generally composed of three main pieces, the bodice fitted to the bust, the skirt and the protrusion. The women dressed sumptuously, with the lace and loops on their clothing. Between 1740 and 1770, in the middle of the Rocaille period, a gentler dress appeared, with a bodice, skirt and the famous ” Plis Watteau “, made up of folds of fabric that fell loose on the back, suggesting a false mantle. By the middle of the century, the “French” dress used in the grand ceremonies had ample lateral volumes, a girded bodice, and a protrusion open at the front, forming a triangular opening that showed the skirt.

The basic form of the masculine costume appeared in France at the end of century XVII, during the reign of Louis XIV, being composed by coat, vest and shorts. This group remained in the Rocaille period although the jackets were less wide and presented richly embroidered. The shorts were tight and ended below the knees. The embroideries formed floral and vegetal patterns and were made in the pieces of fabric before the cuts were made either of the jackets or of the vests.

Imperial costume (1796 to 1820)
With the French Revolution, which took place in 1789, the revolutionary ideals of ” Liberty, Equality and Fraternity ” combined with a taste for Greco-Roman antiquity radically transformed women’s clothing. In women’s attire, women abandoned their corsets and little tights, as well as their heavy, rich fabrics, their dresses were straight, waist-high, and short balloon sleeves accompanied by high gloves. The skirts reached the ankles and the tails were worn only at court.

On the eve of the Revolution, there was a great enthusiasm for the male parts of the English costume, both for the quality of their dress and for their functional appearance. But the big news this time was the introduction of trousers in the wardrobe male, from the costume of the men of the people and sailors, pants begin to be used as a symbol of the revolution, as the shorts were synonymous with the aristocratic costume.

Romantic costume (1825 to 1865)
In the nineteenth century, the era of industrialization, rapid technological advances arose in several areas of production, to which the fashion industry was no stranger. In the 50’s the female costume reached its maximum expression with the introduction of crinoline. This inner frame gave a large volume symmetrical to the skirts without adding weight. The corset reshaped the female bust. The preferred fabrics were silk and cotton muslin with pattern patterns, flowers, stripes and stripes. The colors were simple and discreet, predominantly blue and green.

The men’s fashion of 1850 kept the trends of the previous decades. The coats of black color or of sober tones were also used with trousers to the squares. For the night he wore a black coat with trousers and a vest of the same fabric, a shirt with a starched bib and a bow.

Costume Belle Époque (1870 to 1914)
The ladies wore two-piece dresses, composed of body and skirt, which were made with heavy fabrics and the corset remained in vogue. The skirt was worn long, accumulating draperies, trimmings, trinkets, ribbons, bows, pompons and fringes. However, the characteristic silhouette of this period was given by a voluminous interior, called tournure, applied at the back of the skirt.

In 1890, women saw the emergence of the so-called “healthy” corsets that produced a wavy S-shaped bearing. In this way the bust of the woman was erected and so highlighted that it was denominated “chest of rolls”. The long, bell-shaped skirts usually had a small tail. The day dresses had a waist-high waistband and a lace bib or tulle. At night the dresses had wide necklines and the arms were protected with long gloves.

In the male costume, the frock coats and tailcoats continued to be used in most situations ceremony with top hat. For everyday life the three-piece sets – jacket, waistcoat and trousers – were worn with a bowler hat.

Costume of the 20th century
The Republic implanted in Portugal on October 5, 1910 puts an end to the monarchy and transforms the social dynamics of Portuguese life. Many formalisms and social constraints have disappeared and the arts, as well as fashion, have been the scene of several changes. Sports and outdoor activities promoted a new lifestyle, and ladies preferred men’s cut-out suits, such as the tailleur. Of English origin, the tailleur formed by skirt and jacket adapted well to the walks and was especially appreciated by the young people who increasingly integrated the labor market.

1910-1918
Portuguese women quickly joined a new slim silhouette proposed in Paris by Paul Poiret. Inspired by the costume of the Napoleonic period, this couturier proposed the use of dresses to replace the two-piece womens suits used up. Her dresses showed straight lines and high waist, which allowed the woman to free herself from the corset. In Paris, the Ballets Russes de Diaghilev inspired fashion, bringing orientalizing influences for clothing through new forms, bright colors and luxurious fabrics.

The masculine costume kept the forms of the end of the last century. On solemn occasions, the coat and coat was worn, in everyday life the frock coat began to be replaced by the short coat with a vest and trousers.

1920-1930
Women’s clothing has given this decade the definitive step to functionality, following the Art Deco style, characterized by a decorative and elegant geometry. The straight-line dresses with a slack waist showed her legs from her knees. The dresses for dancing were short with round or square necklines, usually with a skirt in it and sometimes covered with beads, sequins and beads. The stockings and shoes became pieces of relief, filling with colors. The colors were vivid, although black was also chosen.

In the men’s costume of the 1920s, the use of coats of tweed, spined or chess-tiled coats of sober tones, accompanied by wide trousers with pleats and folds at the lower end, in plain or fancy fabric were generalized in the cities. The tuxedo has definitely become the preferred male costume for semi-informal events such as public or private dinners, dances and parties. Black in color with silk satin lapels, it was accompanied by a tie of the same tone.

1930-1946
In the 1930 ‘s, women’s dress returned to more curvaceous lines, the length of the skirt came down and the waist returned to its natural position. The evening dresses were long, with bare backs. The most appreciated fabrics were crepes and satins. The movie actresses, with their glamor, inspired women and became role models. Madeleine Vionnet created the cut in bias, a technique that gave the pieces a much appreciated elasticity and fluidity, molding the female bodies in a sensual way.

The Second World War (1939-1945) caused enormous material constraints. The rationing imposed tight and short dress pieces. The women wore tailleurs with a tight waistline, a straight-line skirt, plucked shoulders, and wide pockets that gave their silhouette a masculine, almost military-inspired stance.

1947 to 1950
With the end of World War II, Christian Dior responded to women’s longings by creating a feminine and luxurious silhouette. The style proposed by the French couturier was called New-Look, as it emerged as a reaction to the functional fashion of the 1940s. Presented in Paris in 1947, he intended to restore to women the sensual aspect. This new image was characterized by the use of straight or broad skirts, very round and arched, narrow and delicate waist, small shoulders and round, and body corseted with well defined chest.

At the same time as the New Look appearance was in place, a restless, middle-class generation emerged, rejecting the materialism in force. In the United States the t-shirts were transformed into outer parts, especially after Marlon Brando have appeared with a t-shirt White in the movie ” On the Waterfront ” in 1954. The jeans, known as jeans, began to be adopted by young people as an expression of their rebellion.

1960 to 1970
The Sixties represented a new change in costume. Youth became a model to follow, conveying an attitude of nonconformity and contestation to the politics and mentality in force. The fashion moves left the street and began to influence the Haute Couture. Clothing manufacturers saw young potential customers and started to create parts especially for them. At the base of the feminine fashion of this decade the miniskirt, presented by André Courrèges, in 1965, and popularized by Mary Quant.

At the end of this decade appeared in San Francisco, California, the hippie movement that was before a movement of mentalities and spread through pop music. Their clothing was inspired by the international ethnic dresses: the boys wore robes of raw cotton and jeans, they had long hair and beards; the girls wore long robes, wore their hair loose with flowers, and their faces without makeup.

1980 to 2000
Ready-to-wear brands began to gain importance with the emergence of designers who, along with Haute Couture, helped to balance the massification of the fashion industry. The relative stability and prosperity of the 1980s favored, once again, the revival of traditional values and tastes. However, the 1990s were international, giving a fair share to the global village. The television, fashion magazines, the tourism and the internet undid the borders, enabling the dissemination of creations have not only French but Italian, English, Japanese and American.

Ready-to-wear brands have developed at an ever-increasing pace to respond to those who wish to convey a contested appearance. On the other hand, fashion designers emerge and what came to be called “fashion author”, which attributes to create an alternative of quality and style to the massification that the development of the textile and confection industry were operating.