AN art exhibition depicting women's fashion through the ages is taking place at a Teesside college today.

A giant female form suspended from the ceiling is one of the more unusual exhibits in a display of work by students at Stockton sixth form college. The exhibition illustrates how women through the ages have suffered in the name of fashion.

The exhibition, is open to the public from 6.30pm to 8pm, and will feature A-level work, and includes a dress in the shape of a lily, and a flower-strewn embroidered and bead bedecked lily screen.

Tiny beaded and embroidered handbags inspired by the artist Gustav Klimt, and a floaty dress made of whisper thin fabric, which has been put under the grill to give it a bubbly texture, are all part of the impressive collection, which also includes paintings and sculpture.

Ann Gill, head of art at the college, said: "There is some very high quality and thought provoking art work in this year's A-Level art exhibition."