This was sheer luck. I had no idea when I arrived in Liverpool that there would be an exhibition of Vivienne Westwood clothes on at the city museum. The clothes actually belonged to Romilly McAlpine whose husband, Lord McAlpine, was Treasurer of the Conservative Party throughout much of Margaret Thatcher's reign. Romilly needed stunning clothes to stand out at various political functions, and against expectation she proved that Westwood's designs are eminently wearable. What Mrs. Thatcher thought of having one of her chief henchmen's wife dressed in outfits designed by a notorious ex-punk is not recorded. Probably she didn't even notice.
The Westwood exhibition is a temporary thing, lasting only until September 30th. Get there if you can. And if you can't, the Liverpool Museum is still well worth a visit.
As I said in the overview, you have to pay to get in. But it is only £3 ($4.50) and that price actually gets you a 6-month ticket to most of Liverpool's museums, including the Maritime Museum, Customs & Excise Museum and Museum of Liverpool Life at Albert Dock. That's good value in anyone's book. You can find out more about the various museums involved at their communal web site.
The Liverpool Museum is currently being renovated and enlarged. Several parts of it, including the aquarium, parts of the historical exhibits, and the geology section are currently closed. However, when the work is finished the museum will be greatly enlarged. Despite the closures, I was still able to see exhibits on ancient history, dinosaurs, British wildlife and space exploration. Compare it to London and it isn't much, but then very few places in the world come close to London. Liverpool's museum was much better than I expected it to be.