WEYMOUTH Museum has found itself dressed to thrill thanks to an important donation of Victorian women's clothing.

Items range from a skirt to hats, a blouse, capes and a drawstring petticoat as well as an evening bag and gloves.

And just to ensure that the clothes got an authentic welcome, museum marketing manager Susan Foot donned several of the items and posed on the site's Victorian railway station platform display.

She said: "The clothing was very warm. There was no danger of women in those days getting cold!

"It is quite striking clothing and I think it is a shame that people don't dress up more in modern times."

The collection of clothing was originally owned by Charlotte Russell from the Radipole area of Weymouth and it has been donated to the museum by her great-granddaughter, Mrs Janice Lucas, of Broadmayne.

She said: "The clothing is more than 110 years old and it had been stored for years in a suitcase on the stairs.

"I inherited it last year when my aunt Miss Vera White died and I didn't know what to do with it.

"The museum seemed to be the perfect answer, particularly as my aunt always wanted it to go to a museum."

Museum curator Rodney Alcock said he was delighted to get such an important clothing donation which was in such good condition.

He added: "It was wonderful to get such a large amount of Victorian clothing. We are going through it very carefully and we hope to put it together for a display next year.

"We were able to see just what it looked like at the time because we actually have a photograph of it being worn nearly a hundred years ago.

"Mrs Lucas is also kindly letting us copy a suitcase full of photographs from the period and from between the two World Wars."

Mrs Foot said the museum was always keen to get clothing donations of this sort. She said: "The museum is always happy to accept donations of artefacts or clothing relating to the Weymouth area and anyone wishing to do so can contact us on (01305) 777622."