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Reframing Vivien Leigh
Reframing Vivien Leigh

From Dorothy to Freda

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Freda Wills and her sister Lady Phoebe Spencer were amateur dress history collectors who donated a variety of dress items to RAMM in the 1950s.

Freda Wills contributed significantly to building and publicizing the costume collections at RAMM. She forged an important link to Topsham Museum through her interactions with Dorothy Holman. This relationship created a pathway for the Vivien Leigh materials to move from Topsham Museum to RAMM, where greater storage facilities and resources would have been available. Staff at RAMM suggest that Dorothy Holman and Freda Wills may have loaned each other dress items between their respective collections.