Nationalmuseet (National Museum)
Copenhagen
The National Museum in Copenhagen is excellent at including fashion and textiles in their extensive historical displays, from their important Bronze Age Egtved Girl through modern day. They have a nice selection of both men’s and women’s dress incorporated very naturally into displays on a variety of time periods and social issues, and include components of textile production and fashionable display as an important component to the country’s economic and cultural identity. A great example of how dress can make history seem more personal and immediate, and could be used as a model for other history museums in successful presentations of their fashion & textile collections.
Brede Værk (Brede Works)
Brede
This branch of the National Museum is located in an old textile mill just north of Copenhagen. They have a substantial dress collection with a generous exhibition space, but sadly their fashion exhibition is currently closed to visitors. Hopefully they will reopen it to the public, as it would be the best place in the country to study historical dress!
Tøjhusmuseet (Royal Danish Arsenal Museum)
Copenhagen
This is one of the best Armoury museums I’ve seen. They have a beautiful exhibition space with a wide collection of military uniforms (with each piece nicely described and with translations into English). They also have a wonderfully immersive exhibition on contemporary war. The museum strikes a good balance of pride in military history while also questioning the place of war in contemporary society.
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While they don’t have a display of costume, I wanted to mention Frederiksborg Slott (Frederiksborg Castle) in Hillerød (north of Copenhagen) because of their incredible collection of male portraits. Walking through their halls is like a journey through fashion history, in the all-too-frequently-overlooked category of menswear. Definitely worth the trip!