Spring Newsletter 2015

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Contents Page

Papers from the DATS conference 2014 3-33 News 34-35 Exhibitions and Events 35-54 Books 54-59 DATS Constitution 59-60

Front cover image: Detail of embroidery on green silk satin dress 1925 ©National Trust Arlington Court

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Papers from the DATS conference 2014

From ancient craft to domestic art: Anne Maile Tie-dye Archive at the London College of Fashion: Jane Holt. Senior Research Fellow Archives, London College of Fashion. [email protected]

The London College of Fashion Archive holds a collection of materials created by textile designer Anne Maile recording how she developed increasingly sophisticated and innovative techniques for tie-dye from the 1950s to her death in 1976. In the late 1940s Maile attended classes at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts as a part-time mature student and became interested in methods of resist textile dyeing. She began researching the history of the ancient technique of tie-dye, locating examples in the V&A and British Museum, and created a very detailed archive of notes, diagrams and samples recording her designs and her experiments with dyes, fabrics and papers, and tying techniques.

Figure 1: Examples of tie-dye paper from Anne Maile Archive ©London College of Fashion Archives Maile recognised the potential of tie-dying as a creative medium to inspire young people in their artistic development. Her autobiographical notes show the domestic nature of tie-dye enabled her to practice and develop her craft at home in the kitchen while looking after her children. She recognised the pedagogic potential of the craft and from the late 1950s through the 1960s Maile taught and delivered workshops for other teachers on tie-dye. She appears to have been a natural teacher, keen to find out how to do things and then share that knowledge. From the mid-1960s Maile’s work became more widely known after she began collaborating with Dylon dye manufacturers. She wrote and illustrated three well received books on tie-dye, as well as numerous articles in education and women’s magazines, and appeared on television and in a Central Office of Information film. Maile took an ancient craft and turned it into an art form, exhibiting, and being commissioned to create, wall hangings for private and public spaces. She was a Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen, a member of the Embroiders Guild, and of the British Crafts Centre, and was part of Vera Sherman’s group ‘Contemporary Hangings’. She also saw tie-dye as a way of self-expression, creating a method of working that she was able to control and exploit. She wore her own creations and encouraged using tie-dye to embellish clothing and accessories. How far her work influenced fashion is hard to gauge but she was producing tie-dyed garments from the 1950s

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before it became fashionable, and her work did get exposure through her teaching, books, films, TV and exhibitions, and her collaboration with Dylon.

Figure 2: Notebooks from the Anne Maile Archive © London College of Fashion Archives The collection London Collection of Fashion holds consists of fabric and paper tie-dyed samples; notebooks containing drawings and textile swatches; 16 mm film; slides, photographs and transparencies; and various letters and cuttings. The archive will form the basis of a project to create an online learning resource on tie-dye, and research is being carried out to make Anne Maile’s life, creative work and innovative methods known to a new and wider audience.

Straw Cloth – its development and place in fashion. Veronica Main, Significant Collections Curator, Luton Culture. [email protected]

Introduction The purpose of this short paper is to raise awareness of this interesting form of cloth and to make an appeal to locate more examples. I intend to define the types of straw cloth which are known, to share an outline of the information that I have collected, and show examples of the currently known examples. I will not have time to include more in depth information and statistics.

Firstly I must define what I mean by the term straw when used in connection with the hat industry. In addition to a range of cereal crop straws by the 1700s wood chip and various types of palm leaf were prominently used. Paper also played a part. Hemp fibres were introduced in the mid-1820s and horse hair in the 1830s. Horsehair was used in hat trimmings in the 1700s. As the century continued the industry thrived with the introduction of a wide range of materials sourced from around the world. In the 1890s the introduction of manmade fibres resulted in a growth of machine-made products and their incorporation into hand-made products. When you look for these products, although the basic production technique is the same, the appearance will be different.

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Left: Straw Cloth, early 1800s. Strohmuseum im Park, Wohlen, Switzerland.

I am discussing two types of straw fabric, one that was produced as a sheet of cloth and one produced as a wide tape. Both were manufactured on looms. The currently identified examples of straw cloth incorporate cereal crop straw. The wide straw tapes known in Switzerland as Bordures incorporate a wide range of types of straw. The Bordures are most commonly found.

History and examples Let me first talk about straw cloth which seems to be the earliest product perhaps dating to the late 1700s. Straw forms the weft threads and silk the warp. The amount of straw incorporated varies according to the design. You may consider straw fabric would be stiff and difficult to use. To the contrary, the methods implemented to prepare the straw and the skills of the weaver in creating a workable ratio between the warp and weft threads results in soft, flexible and strong fabric.

In 1809 Mary Dixon Kies received the first U. S. patent issued to a Connecticut woman. She developed a process for weaving straw with silk or thread. Unfortunately, the original patent and samples were destroyed in the Patent Office fire in 1836. Two institutions in Connecticut claim to hold examples of hats or samples made by Mary Dixon Kies, however I have not yet seen these. I am cautious as other early examples said to have been made by prominent women in the history of the New England industry have not, despite their provenance, proved to accurately represent the contemporary written accounts.

Left: Straw Cloth, early 1800s. Strohmuseum im Park, Wohlen, Switzerland.

Examples of straw cloth exist in Switzerland and the United States. Within the archive of Strohmuseum im Park in Wohlen, Switzerland there is a dealer’s sample book, undated and untitled containing many pages of straw cloth samples. The book is thought to have come to the Isler Company archives as a result of trading with France. It is believed to date to the early part of the 1800s.

In the collections at the Art Institute of Chicago there are eight examples of straw and silk cloth. Four are said to be from the period 1835-40 and three, which came in as a separate donation

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from another person are said to date from the 19th century. All are different sizes and the respective donor’s did not indicate where they came from. Were they taken from sample books or from costume? (Accession numbers: 1988.119.1-5 & 1988.120.1-3)

There is one piece which was an earlier donation. It is made with a different type of straw and the warp threads are cotton rather than silk as in the other examples. The museum records state it is possibly of Spanish origin. (Accession number: 1946.90) (http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork-search/results/straw/+AND+has_image%3Atrue)

You will note the samples include warp patterns created with a Jacquard loom attachment. Documentation in Switzerland claims that one of the Swiss traders developed a close association with Joseph Jacquard which resulted in one of the first loom attachments being brought to Wohlen. No known examples produced as a result of this collaboration exist neither has contemporary documentation been found. Whilst I do not know or any examples of dress made from these fabrics I do know of hats made from a straw cloth.

Excitingly in the collections at Boston Museum of Fine Arts there is a wonderful example of a hat made from the patterned silk and straw fabric. It is in wonderful condition and they date it at 1830. Accession number 63.2751) (http://www.mfa.org/collections/search?search_api_views_fulltext=straw+hat+1830)

Left: Extract from Strohzeiten, page 33.

Reproduced with kind permission of Strohmuseum

The next, said to be from 1820, is in the collection of Strohmuseum im Park in Switzerland and appears in the book, Strohzeiten. This is very interesting as it is patterned with two colours of straw and this is the only example that I know of.

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The second example in Boston Museum of Fine Arts is made from a similar straw cloth. Do note how the straw cloth has been gathered and pleated without compromising its integrity. They say this example is from the period 1815. (Accession number: 44.189) (http://www.mfa.org/collections/search?search_api_views_fulltext=straw+bonnet+1815)

A very similar hat, sadly in poor condition is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. They give this a date of 1831. Accession number: 11.60.237) (http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search?ft=11.60.237)

Do you know or do you have any of these amazing hats in your collections? Can you help locate any examples of garments made from these amazing products? I cannot prove, have no evidence, but feel some of these cloths may have been used in men’s waistcoats. Initial evidence indicates large scale production in the early 1800s and so there must have been market demand.

The second type of straw fabric, straw bordures are found more widely in museum collections around the world both made into hats and more rarely as a trimming to garments.

Left: Reproduced with kind permission of Strohmuseum im Park, Wohlen, Switzerland.

In Switzerland looms were introduced in the 1820s. An 1826 Swiss company inventory lists 19 ‘patent’ weaving looms and 20 bordure looms that have been supplied to the company’s outworkers. I will briefly mention the patent weaving at the end of this presentation. You can see the two types of loom in the background of this room scene painted in 1830. Since there were dozens of companies operating in the town of Wohlen this number of looms can be reasonably multiplied by 20 or 30, indicating high levels of production.

As demand outstripped production, and with the opening of manufacturing branches in and around Florence, production began in Italy. Gradually during the 1800s the number of workers in Italy exceeded the numbers in Switzerland.

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Top row: Bordures made in Switzerland, mid 1800s. Private Collection.

The variety of products showed great invention by incorporating new materials as they became available. Cotton, whilst already a well-known material, became a fashionable material in the hat industry during the 1860s.

The industry of making straw bordures was not confined to Switzerland and Italy. There was a large, factory-based industry in many New England towns where in Boston in 1835, 150-200 looms were producing what is described in the accounts as Tuscan braid and in Hertford, Connecticut another factory worked 100 looms. I believe these looms were producing Bordures. There was also an industry in St Albans, Hertfordshire during the first half of the 1800s. All of this offers wonderful research possibilities!

There are other forms of woven straw fabric that I have not had time to include in this presentation.

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Top row: Left - Bordure of hemp and silk with straw decoration. Switzerland, mid 1800s.

Right: Wheel braid (Rädligefleche), of hemp with straw decoration, mid 1800s.

Bottom row: Detail of the wheel braid showing the “hemp patent” product. The two-ply threads (Schnürli) are also made from hemp.

Private collection.

A product made in Switzerland where hemp threads are used as the weft and silk as the warp. The woven sheets were passed through a bath of gelatine, dried and then sliced to be used in a range of straw products. Many of the hats in your collections will contain this amazing product. Another large and important industry that I have not included is the weaving of chip as used in the manufacture of Quaker bonnets. The wood chip was woven as a cloth then cut into pattern pieces and assembled.

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Above: Component shoe parts, mid 1700s.

There are other straw products such as these mid-1700s shoe parts which should not be confused with woven straw, which would be easy at first glance. These are produced by using a needlework technique.

I hope this paper will lead to new discoveries of examples in museum and private collections, and development of knowledge of these little known products. I look forward to hearing from you.

References and Bibliography ANON. 1891. The history of the St Albans hat trade. Hatter’s Gazette. 1 November. BRUGGISSER, M. 1912. M. Bruggisser & Co. n.p, n.p. BRUCKMAN, J. 1987. la Paglia di Fiesole. Florence: Regione Toscana – Giunta regional. DONY, J.G. 1942. A History of the Straw Hat Industry. Luton: Leagrave Press. FREEMAN, C. 1953. Luton and the Hat Industry. Luton: Luton Museum & Art Gallery. KUHN, D & WOHLER, A. & HOHL, M. & LITTMANN, B. & ISLER, R. 1991. Strohzeiten (Straw Times). Aargau: AT Verlag, 19, 20, 30, 41, 47, 54, 98, 105. INWARDS, H. 1922. Straw Hats: Their history and manufacture. London: Pitman LEHMANN, H. 1896. Die Aargauische strohindustrie (The Straw Industry of the Aargau). Aarau, Switzerland: Karl Bührer. LINARI, A.G. 1897. Italy: Straw hat industry of Tuscany. Foreign Office, Command Paper: No. 8278-2- 424. MAIN, V. 2003. Swiss Straw Work: Techniques of a Fashion Industry. London: Main Collins. RODEL, G. 1949. (tr. ANON. n.p.). Die Technik in der Freiämter, Seetaler und Obwaldner Strohflechterei. (The Techniques in the Freiamt, Seetal and Obwaldner Straw Plait Centres). Bern: Büchler. RODEL, G. 1960. Von der alten Freiämter Stroh-Handflechterei zur modern Hutgeflechtindustrie. (From the old Freiämter Straw Hand Plaiting comes a modern Hat Plaiting Industry). n.p.

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Museums Europe Luton Culture, Wardown Park Museum, UK Museo della Pagla e dell’Intriccio, Signa, Italy Strohmuseum im Park, Wohlen, Switzerland USA Art Institute of Chicago Boston Museum of Fine Arts Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Leghorn hats and bonnets – a guide to reconstruction. Veronica Main, Significant Collections Curator, Luton Culture

Images courtesy of Luton Culture ©

The reconstruction of hats, if it is to be done well, is a complex project since many of the materials used in the basic construction and trimming of 18th, 19th and 20th century hats are not available. Today the hat world seems to be dominated by sinamay whilst in the past the straw used to construct hats, such as wood chip, paper, rushes, palm or cereal crop straws, were only a few of the available materials up until the early second half of the 20th century.

Leghorn is perhaps the most familiar term used in relation to hats and covers the period from the 1800s to 20th century. In Victorian Costume, Anne Buck writes,

The straw bonnets may be Leghorn bonnets, that is, of straw grown in Tuscany and plaited in the Italian fashion.

This description perhaps begins to indicate the breadth of meaning encompassed within this one word.

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To enable a greater understanding of this iconic fashion accessory this short presentation briefly examines terminology, the materials and then the finished hat to enable appreciation what is necessary to successfully recreate a Leghorn hat or bonnet.

Where does a Leghorn come from?

The Italian port of Livorno or Leghorn was the point of export for hats made in villages around Florence, and these villages were the main but not only Italian production areas for the growing of plaiting straw, plaiting of the straw, sewing of the plait and finishing of the hat form.

Leghorn was the shipping port for straw products, not their point of production. From the start of the straw trade in the late 1500s a wide range of products were shipped from this location not only the hats but also the products used to make hats. The packing containers for these products were marked with the word, Livorno, or Leghorn, a mark which indicated the point of departure rather than the type of product within the bale or crate. However, this became the term used to describe the cargo be it Leghorn straw, Leghorn plait (and other straw products) or Leghorn hats.

There were several centres of straw production in Italy the largest being in the villages around Florence. Products from these villages either purchased by the many Italian, Swiss and English hat manufacturing companies located in the area or were brought into the straw markets of Florence, sold and then shipped down the river Arno to Livorno for despatch to countries around the world. What is Leghorn?

Within the hat trade the term Leghorn has been used, over the years to denote a range of products.

Leghorn straw – also referred to as Tuscan straw, and sometimes as ‘bents’

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

In 1718 Domenico Michelacci developed a new regime for the sewing of cereal crop seeds which encouraged the growth of a long fine stem rather than a robust seed head. This is the first documented example of growing straw specifically for the making of hats. The term straw encompassed the harvesting, preparation and use of many types of wheat, oats and wild grasses, all selected for their fineness.

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Leghorn plait – also referred to as Tuscan or Florentine plait

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

Image taken from The Pictorial Gallery of Arts. Volume 1, page 137

This fine straw enabled the hand plaiting of very fine plait which was often only 5mm wide despite being plaited with 11 or 13 ends of straw. Unlike most other plaits made in Europe this plait was made with a long stitch on each edge, that is to say the outside straw passes over the next two straws before passing under the next and continuing the pattern sequence. New straws are joined into the middle of the plait. This allowed the length of plait to be joined together, edge to edge to form a flat surface, with characteristic ridges.

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Sewing the plait

Image taken from The Pictorial Gallery of Arts. Volume 1, page 137

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

The method of joining or stitching was known in Italy as ‘a maglia’ and in England as ‘remaille’. A thread passed under the outside stitches on one side of plait then across to the adjacent plait where it passed under stitches. The thread was then tightened causing the plait to ‘knit’ together. The plait could either be stitched together as a flat, or as a cone, or cornetto and in the 19th century hat trade were referred to as knitted straws.

Shaping

Images courtesy of Luton Culture ©

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Cunnington, writing in English Women’s Clothing in the nineteenth century, begins to describe various shapes of women’s hats as Leghorn from 1819. In the 1820s there was another development to create a different form of flat described as a ‘sheet’. In the 1840s the plait was stitched together to form a ‘cornetto’ or ‘cappotto’. One ‘cornetto’ could be made of more than 100 giros, or circuits of stitching.

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

The ‘cornetto’ was then cut and shaped over a wooden block to form the crown. The remainder of the ‘cornetto’, and sometimes a second one or a sheet were cut to form the brim and then stitched to the crown. The trimmings were then applied.

The Leghorn Hat or Bonnet

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

The characteristics of the Leghorn were the even colour and lightweight. The finished hat appeared to be made of one piece of straw fabric giving it a delicacy not achieved by stitching plait together in an overlapping pattern.

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Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

In the 20th century the diameter of straws used to make the plait were thicker meaning that the plait was wider. The ‘flat’ or ‘cornetto’ produced in this era, whilst still of good quality, did not represent the fine work, lightweight and delicacy of those produced in the 1800s.

The technique of joining the plait edge to edge is not confined just to plait made from cereal crop straw. From the end of the 1800s manmade products were also stitched together in this way.

The Shape of a Leghorn hat or bonnet

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

There is one important fact to appreciate, the Leghorn hat or Bonnet was not one shape. Its shape varied according to fashion of the time. Now for my contentious statement! I believe it is misleading to use the term as a definition of style. A Leghorn of the 1700s will appear entirely different from the Leghorn of the 1800s, and both are a world apart from the Leghorn of the 20th century. So when cataloguing a hat or bonnet as Leghorn what exactly do you mean?

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Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

Whilst my illustrations of Leghorn have all shown natural coloured straw there was a fashion for black Leghorn in 1820s. I have not carried out extensive research into this type of hat, but I believe the dye was applied to the ‘flat’ or ‘cornetto’ following its construction into a flat or cornetto and before the final shaping.

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

Having thus far talked about the plait being joined together edge to edge, I do need to return to one of my first statements. Over the centuries many types of straw product have been exported through the port of Leghorn and have been described as Leghorn. The Italian workers did also produce hats from Tuscan straw made into Tuscan plait and sewed it together by overlapping the plait in the more common English and Continental method of construction.

I have demonstrated that the term Leghorn has been used in the trade and by costume historians to represent a number of products and techniques. I therefore advise the addition of a definition to the use of Leghorn to define what is meant.

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Making a reconstruction

Modern plait

Image courtesy of Luton Culture ©

Today the majority of plait is made in China from whole coarse straws. The whole length of straw is used meaning that reflects light in an entirely different way and has a characteristic mottled appearance when made up rather than the matt even colour of Italian straw. Although Chinese plait is usually joined in the centre it is made of only seven ends and the outside stitch only passes over one straw. This technique and the general stiffness of the straw make it difficult to stitch together edge to edge. Perhaps most significantly the weight of the plait creates a stiff form which does not accurately reflect the delicacy of hats in the early 1800s.

Straw capelines or hoods

Image courtesy of private collection ©

A more effective solution can be achieved by using a capeline or straw hood which is still available from warehouses in Tuscany, or from some millinery suppliers in the UK. They survive as stock from the early part of the 20th century but are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. Whilst they are of good quality they are still more coarse and stiff than the ‘flat’ and ‘cornetto’ of the 1800s, but a closer representation than Chinese plait.

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Image courtesy of private collection ©

Depending upon the pattern of weave it is possible to use a Sisal or para-sisal hood or capeline, but the type needs to be chosen with care. Buntal, para-buntal, sisal or para-sisal hoods are lighter weight than cereal crop straws and will therefore need support from millinery wire or stiffening to provide the characteristic shape of the period hat being recreated. These hoods do not provide the same sheen or texture as the Italian straw but are more realistic than Chinese straw plait.

Summary None of these modern materials can entirely successfully substitute the Italian straws or the narrow and delicate plaits and method of construction employed by the amazing Italian plaiters. By remembering and understanding the materials and techniques one can hope to come close to representing the fabric-like nature of these Italian products.

Bibliography Buck, A. 1961 Victorian Costume (1984 ed.) Bedford: Ruth Bean Knight, C. 1851 The Pictorial Gallery of Arts London: The London Printing and Publishing Company Ltd Cunnington, C.W. 1937. English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century (1990 ed.) New York: Dover Dony, J.G. 1942. A History of the Straw Hat Industry Luton: Gibbs Bamforth & Co Main, V. 2007 Women’s Straw Hats 1800-1900 Dissertation University of Glasgow

Places to visit Wardown Park Museum, Luton Museo della Paglia e dell’intreccio Domenico Michelacci, Via degli Alberti 1, SIGNA (Florence)

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SHOWCASING WOOL: The Woolmark Company and the Woolmark after 50 years.

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Celebrating 50 years of Woolmark

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Targeted campaigns

We undertake targeted campaigns across several market segments – each inspired by Merino’s natural benefits. • Cool wool • Contemporary • Sport & Outdoor • Mother & Baby • Apparel care • Campaign for wool

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The Wool Lab and Wool Lab Interiors

www.merino.com www.woolmark.com [email protected]

The Mockingbird Exhibition Inspired By Cloth, Trowbridge Museum. Sarah Jane Kenyon AMA, Exhibitions & Arts Officer

© Sarah Jane Kenyon / Trowbridge Museum / Jan Lane Left - drawing made during a craft activity, middle – cloth in Trowbridge Museum’s collection, right – drawing by Jan Lane

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Background About The Museum

© Trowbridge Museum Left - inside Home Mills, right - Home Mills before the shires shopping centre opened

Trowbridge Museum & Art Gallery is housed in Salter’s Home Mills. It is a Grade II listed building, constructed c1850 which was incorporated into Shires Shopping Centre 1990.

© Trowbridge Museum Hand loom

Trowbridge Museum & Art Gallery is the only museum in the West Country with comprehensive displays telling the unique story of the production of West of England woollen cloth. An industry once dominant, but now vanished. Trowbridge’s success in textile production was such that it became known as the ‘Manchester of the West’.

Inspired By Cloth

© Jan Lane

Where do artists find inspiration? Can cloth inspire contemporary art? Can you display woven and decorative cloth creatively?

Mockingbird Project

The project involved working with a Cloth Road Artist by offering them a creative space and providing them with access to the museum archive collections. The overall aim of the project was to see the collection as a resourceful ‘inspiration’. This resulted in showcasing a new body of

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2014 was the 3rd year of a partnership with Cloth Road Artists and Trowbridge Museum. The exhibition was a debut solo exhibition for Jan Lane, Holt based artist which ran from 3rd May to 27th September 2014.

Jan Lane

© Trowbridge Museum Jan Lane in the temporary exhibition gallery

Jan studied photography and visual arts at university, she makes ceramics and needle-felt. She works at home, in a small shed in her garden. She has recently returned to printmaking and drawing.

Inspired By Cloth

© Trowbridge Museum The bodice of a wedding dress, Trowbridge Museum collection

The partnership with the museum took place from May 2013 to May 2014. Jan explored some of the hidden gems in the collection -woven West of England woollen cloth and cloth with decorative aesthetic finishes.

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Mockingbird

© Sarah Jane Kenyon / Trowbridge Museum / Jan Lane left and right - work by Jan Lane middle - cloth in Trowbridge Museum’s collection

Jan produced aesthetically decorative art -small flocks of Papier Mâché birds, ceramic birds and needle-felt birds. The exhibition presented a blend of historic objects with contemporary art.

Inspired By Cloth

© Sarah Jane Kenyon / Trowbridge Museum / Jan Lane Left to right - Jan Lane’s work and cloth in Trowbridge Museum’s collection, cloth in Trowbridge Museum’s collection, Jan Lane’s work.

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Inspired By Cloth

© Sarah Jane Kenyon / Trowbridge Museum / Jan Lane Top left – wool samples in Trowbridge Museum’s collection and Jan Lane’s work, bottom left – Jan lane’s work and bottom right, - wool samples in Trowbridge Museum’s collection Inspired By Cloth

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© Sarah Jane Kenyon / Trowbridge Museum / Jan Lane Top left, middle right and bottom left – Jan Lane’s work, top right, middle left and bottom right –cloth in Trowbridge Museum’s collection Inspired By Cloth

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© Sarah Jane Kenyon / Trowbridge Museum / Jan Lane Top left and bottom left- flapper dress in Trowbridge Museum’s collection, top middle, right and bottom middle and right – Jan Lane’s work Craft Activities

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© Sarah Jane Kenyon / Trowbridge Museum

Jan Lane

I would say that working with (and in) the museum has been a very positive and enjoyable experience for me. I liked the challenge of finding inspiration from within the collection – though I have to say, that was not at all difficult. I felt privileged to get closer to objects which interested me, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I actually felt a thrill when we opened boxes from the archived collections!

My work – both textiles and ceramic – is very textural, often very detailed. I can – and did! – find beauty in the smallest of details, in fragments. Maybe the most pleasing thing for me, however, was to hear and see the many stories told by the objects I looked at. To know the provenance of a piece of china, to admire a smooth wooden shuttle polished by the touch of decades of busy fingers.

Trowbridge Museum & Art Gallery

© Trowbridge Museum

Encourage participants to see a museum collection beyond a resource for learning about the past. To see a museum collection as surfaces with a display of construction, decoration, shape and design. To be inspired by cloth!

Sarah Jane Kenyon AMA [email protected] 01225 751 339

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Identifying Kashmir and European woven shawls 1780-1880 – a very brief guide to follow up a handling session at the DATS conference, 26 September 2014 Jenny Lister and Sonia Ashmore, February 2015

These are suggested starting points for distinguishing Kashmir from European shawls. Of course it is misleading to suggest that a subject covering such a vast range of textiles can be simplified and reduced to a few sides of A4. Please refer to other sources of information listed at the end of this sheet. All images courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Basic differences: Fibres Goat fleece or cashmere (light, smooth, a natural sheen) = Kashmir (nearly always) Wool, silk or cotton (often a combination of all three) = European Weave Twill tapestry weave (similar to weaving a European tapestry) = Kashmir Here the weft threads do not run right across the width but are woven by hand back and forth around the warp threads, where each colour is needed. The backs of Kashmir shawls look similar to the front and each woven block of colour has a distinctive outline where one warp thread meets and takes over from another.

Shawl, twill tapestry woven pashmina goat hair, Kashmir, c.1780. V&A: IM.17-1915

Drawloom-woven, or after c.1830, complex designs are jacquard-woven = European The pattern wefts are passed across the entire width from selvedge to selvedge. After weaving wefts across the back are often cropped to reduce the weight of the shawl, leaving a fuzzy texture and appearance.

Shawl, jacquard woven wool and silk, designed by A. Brownlie, woven by John Morgan, Paisley, 1845. V&A: T.188-1979 (identified by Wendy Hefford from the John Morgan pattern book, Paisley Museum.)

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• Other production techniques: Printed wool or silk – European shawls were printed in many places, including the well-known shawl centres Norwich and Paisley but also Crayford in Kent for instance. Printers were sometimes commissioned by shawl manufacturers in Norwich or Paisley. Without documentary evidence such as registered designs, a place of production is harder to pin point. The designs follow a similar development as woven shawls. Embroidered – The first shawls in Norwich (late 18th century) were embroidered or darned with patterns. In India, after 1850 embroidery was used to speed up the production process. Other factors: • Size – narrow shawls (about 70cm) tend to be earlier. Many are huge (over 150 cm wide) from the 1840s • Design - later examples are more complex, with more colours and more extravagant designs. Later Kashmir shawls were designed to follow European taste, just to complicate matters. Sometimes shawls can be identified by comparison with other known or certain examples previously matched with registered designs, or pattern books. • Feel/hang/drape – if bulky, hangs unevenly, indicates later Indian technique of joined sections. Early European shawls were panels and borders pieced together. As technology progressed, they were made all in one piece. The opposite is true for Kashmir shawls.

Shawl, twill tapestry-woven pashmina goat hair, Kashmir, c.1870. V&A: IS.80-1957

• Provenance – if information about the donor is available, this can help to confirm a place of production, particularly if relevant to Edinburgh, Norwich, or Paisley. • Marks and inscriptions – not often present. Some are hard to find, others deliberately deceptive, for instance some Paris makers imitated marks found on Kashmir shawls. Kashmir shawls sometimes have embroidered marks which are standard formulas saying ‘blessings’ or similar and sometimes a stock number, rather than being anything helpful like the name of the maker.

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Shawl, jacquard-woven wool, David Speirs & Co. Paisley, c.1865 V&A: T.223-1984 (note woven ‘D. Speirs’, in yellow on green crown in corner of right side)

Woven and embroidered inscriptions, Kashmir shawls V&A: 0227 (IS) and 0276 (IS)

Further reading Meg Andrews, ‘Kashmir and Shawls of Paisley Design’ www.meg- andrews.com/articles/article.php?p_n=1&art_id=2 Pamela Clabburn, Shawls, (Shire Books, 1981 and 2002) and The Norwich Shawl (HMSO 1995) Steven Cohen, Rosemary Crill, Monique Levi-Strauss, Jeffrey B Spurr, Kashmir Shawls: The Tapi Collection (Mumbai, 2012) Alice Mackrell, Shawls, Stoles and Scarves (Batsford, 1986) Monique Levi-Strauss, Cashmere a French Passion 1800-1880 (Thames and Hudson, 2013) especially ‘Anatomy of a shawl and Dating nineteenth century shawls’ pages 314 and 315 Valerie Reilly, The Illustrated History of The Paisley Shawl (Richard Drew, Glasgow, 1987 and 1996)

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News

The Textile Society Museum, Archive and Conservation Award 2015 Deadline for applications 1 June 2015

The Textile Society offers an annual bursary award of up to £5,000 for a textile related project within the museum, archive or conservation sector in the UK. The Award is designed to support textile related projects within a museum, archive, or conservation studio for exhibition, publication or conservation that will help achieve greater awareness and access for the public. To apply or for more information visit http://www.textilesociety.org.uk/bursaries-awards/museum-award.php

The Textile Society is a charity which promotes the history, culture and study of textiles, and was established in 1982.

In 2013 £3,000 was awarded to Bexley Heritage Trust for David Evans Remembered a project to document and digitise an archive of pattern books and printed samples from David Evans Company, silk printers.

£1409 was also awarded to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for the conservation of a Second World War ensign from HMS Nairana, an escort carrier which saw convoy duty in the Arctic Ocean.

Please see the website for other past winners, www.textilesociety.org.uk/bursaries- awards/museum-award-winners.php

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THE TEXTILE SOCIETY CRITICAL WRITING AWARD 2015

A Critical Writing Award of £500 is for an outstanding piece of critical writing relating to textiles or dress. This award is aimed at individuals writing within the broad area of textile and dress history. See website for more details: www.textilesociety.org.uk Closing date for applications 10th April 2015

THE COSTUME SOCIETY MUSEUM PLACEMENT AWARD

The purpose of this award is to fund a student volunteer working on a dress-related project in a public museum collection in the United Kingdom. It is intended to support students seeking museum work experience with a dress collection and to help UK museums accomplish projects essential to the care, knowledge and interpretation of collections. The museum project/work experience should include at least one of the following activities: documentation, numbering objects, preparing mannequins, mounting garments for display or photography, improving storage, research in support of collections, developing educational or interpretive programmes. Other appropriate, object-related museum activities will be considered. The placement must be for a minimum of two months, either full or part-time. In each year an award of up to £1000 will be offered to the student volunteer applying jointly with an appropriate museum. For the Costume Society Jubilee Award of 2015 only, up to £2000 may be requested.

For further information please contact Jenny Lister, Co-ordinator of the Museum Placement Award at [email protected]

E-mail to: [email protected]. Deadline for applications: 30 April 2015

Notification of the winner will be on 31 May or before.

Exhibitions and events

Dress and Textile Specialists Conference 12th-13th November 2015, Manchester More information coming soon

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London

The Medieval Dress and Textile Specialists MEDATS Spring Conference & AGM Occupational Dress Saturday 30th May 2015 The Hall, The Art Workers' Guild, 6 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AT See www.medats.org.uk for booking details

The Costume Society The Power of Gold Conference and Gala Dinner 2015 Friday 3rd July – Sunday 5th July 2015

The 2015 Conference returns to the V&A, the world’s leading museum of art and design. Lectures will take place in the refurbished Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre and your visit will coincide with the two exhibitions: ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ and ‘Shoes: Pleasure and Pain’. On Friday exclusive access will be given to the V&A’s Clothworkers’ Centre for the Study and Conservation of Textiles and Fashion at Blythe House, Kensington Olympia. On Saturday night all members of the Costume Society plus a guest will be invited to join Conference weekend delegates to celebrate the Golden Jubilee at a Gala dinner to be held in the magnificent Queen’s Tower Rooms at Imperial College. Presentations will celebrate the theme of ‘The Power of Gold’, to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the founding of the Costume Society. Keynote speakers will include – • NATASHA AWAIS-DEAN, Independent Scholar, Men and Jewellery in Tudor and Jacobean England • CLAIRE WILCOX, Senior Curator, Fashion and Textiles, V&A, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty

For more information or to book online contact http://costumesociety.org.uk/conference

Museum of London The Look of Austerity conference: 11-12 September 2015

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Recognising the recent surge of interest in austerity aesthetics across contemporary culture, this two-day conference will explore the effect of post-war austerity on the appearance of people and cities. The Look of Austerity seeks to challenge myths surrounding the immediate post-war period, not least those that have grown up around Dior's New Look. A number of separate speakers consider developments that anticipated this new opulence, or trace the complex ways in which the New Look was represented, disseminated, copied and understood. Other contributions focus on the relationship between European fashion culture and the increasingly significant influence of American glamour and style, particularly in the images of affluence and optimism projected by Hollywood. The conference also investigates the everyday experience of making, buying and wearing clothes in post-war austerity, examining everyday cultures of repair, recycling and second-hand clothing in different European contexts. More information on the dress illustrated can be found in the Collections Online pages of our website. Speakers include

• Dr Rebecca Arnold, Oak Foundation Lecturer in History of Dress & Textiles, Courtauld Institute of Art; • Dr Geraldine Biddle-Perry, Associate Lecturer Cultural Studies, Central Saint Martins; • Prof Amy de la Haye, Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Dress History and Curatorship, London College of Fashion; • Dr Irene Guenther, Professor of History, The Honors College, University of Houston; • Prof Lynda Nead, Department of History of Art, Birkbeck; University of London; • Dr Dominique Veillon, Directeur de Recherche CNRS, Paris; • Elizabeth Wilson

If you prefer to book by phone please call the Box Office on 020 7001 9844 (Mon-Fri 9.15am- 6pm; Sat 10am-6pm)

The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN tel +44 207 848 2785/2909 web www.courtauld.ac.uk/researchforum/index.shtml

Women Make Fashion / Fashion Makes Women A Conference Celebrating 50 Years of Dress History at The Courtauld

10.00 – 18.00, Saturday 16 May 2015 (with registration from 09.30)

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Fashion Show, Barrett Street School, 1958. (Courtesy of the London College of Fashion Archives © (1958) The London College of Fashion.)

As part of our celebration of fifty years of History of Dress at The Courtauld, this one-day conference explores the relationship and significance of women in designing, wearing, promoting, curating and writing about dress and fashion. Speakers will consider this both from the perspective of those working professionally in the field, and those who consume, wear and document fashion. The conference will provide the opportunity to question how changes in dress, and its representation and exploration through the media, academia, and exhibiting have impacted upon relationships between women and fashion, since 1965. Women, including Stella Mary Newton, who set up the first Courtauld course in the History of Dress, have been central to developing the discipline and exploring dress' multifaceted meanings. They have also been important in the design and dissemination of fashion as a product and as an idea. This conference celebrates and critiques the role women have taken in making fashion, and, by extension, the role fashion plays in making women - by defining and constructing notions of gender, sexuality, beauty and ethnicity. We will take a global, interdisciplinary perspective to seek an overview of women's significance to fashion and dress and vice versa. Organised by Dr Rebecca Arnold (Oak Foundation Lecturer in History of Dress & Textiles, The Courtauld), and Elizabeth Kutesko and Lucy Moyse (PhD candidates, The Courtauld) Ticket/entry details: £16 (£11 students, Courtauld staff/students and concessions) BOOK ONLINE: http://courtauld-institute.digitalmuseum.co.uk Or send a cheque made payable to ‘The Courtauld Institute of Art’ to: Research Forum Events Co-ordinator, Research Forum, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN, stating ‘women make fashion conference’. For further information, email [email protected].

Royal School of Needlework, Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 9AU www.royal-needlework.org.uk Or Contact Belinda Egginton T: +44(0)20 3166 6941

Whitework - May to December 2015

Whitework incorporates many different stitches, named techniques and uses from wedding veils to christening gowns, collars to cuffs, shawls to handkerchiefs, but all usually worked in white or cream thread on a white or cream ground. This exhibition, co curated by Dr Clare Rose, Contextual Studies Lecturer on the RSN Degree programme and Dr Susan Kay-Williams, Chief Executive will include some exquisite and varied examples of whitework from its Collection including collars, cuffs and sleeves, christening robes and dresses, handkerchiefs, caps and bonnets, table cloths and bed linens as well as a few more unusual items.

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William Morris Gallery, Lloyd Park, Forest Road, London, E17 4PP 020 8496 4390 www.wmgallery.org.uk The Gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am - 5pm; admission is free.

Lucille Junkere All Blues

8 April to 14 June 2015

The result of textile artist Lucille Junkere’s residency at the Gallery, All Blues examines the complex, often painful, history of indigo dye. On display is a sample book documenting Junkere's artistic journey into this complex and culturally significant colour.

An exhibition in the Discovery Lounge

Victoria & Albert Museum, Cromwell Street, London SW7 http://www.vam.ac.uk/ Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty 14 March – 2 August 2015

“London’s where I was brought up. It’s where my heart is and where I get my inspiration.” - Alexander McQueen, January 2000

The first and largest retrospective of the late designer’s work to be presented in Europe, Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty showcases McQueen’s visionary body of work. Spanning his 1992 MA graduate collection to his unfinished A/W 2010 collection, McQueen’s designs are presented with the dramatic staging and sense of spectacle synonymous with his runway shows.

The original version of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in 2011 was organised by the Costume Institute and became one of the museum's top 10 most visited exhibitions.

Shoes: Pleasure and Pain 13 June 2015 – 31 January 2016

This exhibition will look at the extremes of footwear from around the globe, presenting around 200 pairs of shoes ranging from a sandal decorated in pure gold leaf originating from ancient Egypt to the most elaborate designs by contemporary makers. It will consider the cultural significance and transformative capacity of shoes and will examine the latest developments in footwear technology creating the possibility of ever higher heels and dramatic shapes. Examples from famous shoe wearers and collectors will be shown alongside a dazzling range of historic shoes, many of which have not been displayed before.

V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA 020 8983 5200 www.vam.ac.uk

Alice & Fashion. A one-day conference exploring Lewis Carroll’s Alice as trend-setter and follower of fashion. 9th May 2015

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Few literary characters have shaped the way we dress as much as Alice – still today, almost 150 years after the first publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. Nor have many been as frequently and diversely restyled. This one-day conference explores Alice as both follower of fashion and trend-setter, with papers spanning the century and half since the publication of Wonderland. It looks closely at what Alice wears and what this can tell us about her, and at some of the diverse practices of dressing as Alice in different parts of the world. We will also explore the extent of and reasons for the profound influence of the Alice books on the world of fashion. In addition to the papers and discussion, there will also be opportunities to inspect and handle a range of texts, fabrics and other items from the holdings of the Museum of Childhood and from collections of Lewis Carroll Society members. A private evening reception will take place following the conference in the Museum of Childhood alongside the newly opened ‘Alice Look’ exhibition (2 May to 1 November 2015) to which all members attending the conference are invited. Confirmed speakers include Will Brooker, Aneesh Barai, Shahidha Bari, Ellen Kirkpatrick, Emma Mawston, Clare Rose, Mark Richards, Josephine Rout and Kiera Vaclavik. Presentations commence at 10:00 and end around 17:45. Evening reception: 18:00 to 19:30. For all enquiries email: [email protected]

Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XF T: 020 7407 8664 | E: [email protected]

THEA PORTER 70s Bohemian Chic

Main Gallery: 6 February – 3 May 2015

From Syria to Soho, Thea Porter’s (1927–2000) glamorous designs introduced ‘Bohemian chic’ to 1960s London. Her shop in Greek Street Soho opened in 1966 and instantly drew a rock and film star crowd of clients from the Beatles to Barbra Streisand. Thea Porter’s fashion story encompasses the turbulent events of the Middle East in the first half of the 20th century and the artistic scene in London from the 1960s to 1980s. This is the first exhibition of her work.

MIRROR MAN Andrew Logan Portraits

Museum Foyer: 6 February – 3 May 2015

This display of mirror portraits features Derek Jarman, Anita Roddick, Maria Callas and Marlene Dietrich. Andrew Logan belongs to a unique school of English eccentrics. His work crosses many areas including sculpture, performance art, jewellery, portraiture and painting. Logan likes to challenge convention and play with artistic values. Andrew has an obsession with one material in particular: Mirror. For Andrew mirror ‘has energy like no other material. The humble grain of sands transform to glamorous glass.’

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RIVIERA STYLE Resort & Swimwear since 1900 Main Gallery: 22 May – 29 August 2015

From the English Riviera to the Côte d’Azur and California, Riviera Style celebrates fashion at its most fun. With swimsuits and sarongs, brightly patterned cover-ups, boat neck Bretons and beach pyjamas, playsuits, bikinis and burkinis, Riviera Style brings together over 100 years of clothing worn in and by the sea. See how clothing design, fabric and attitudes have changed over many years, in combination with a social history of holidays.

RAYNE Shoes for Stars

Ground Floor Gallery: 22 May – 29 August 2015 Explore a century of sensational British shoes made from extraordinary materials and worn by the world’s most glamorous women, including Vivien Leigh, Marlene Dietrich and Brigitte Bardot. Awarded three Royal Warrants, Rayne made the shoes of Queen Elizabeth II including her wedding shoes. Over 100 examples also reveal the talent of designers ranging from Norman Hartnell to Bruce Oldfield and Mary Quant, as well as Roger Vivier and current designer Laurence Dacade.

ART TEXTILES Marian Clayden A Dyer’s Journey Main Gallery: September 2015

A retrospective of luxurious art textiles in silk, velvet, cotton and felted wool by internationally collected designer Marian Clayden. The exhibition celebrates the influence of a British-born artist (1937–) who transformed psychedelic tie-dyed fabrics into a million-dollar fashion business in the United States. Curated by Mary Schoeser, the globally respected historian, Art Textiles takes a close look at the shibori dyeing techniques used by Clayden, revealing how simple methods can create complex, sumptuous effects.

The South East.

Design and Manufacture at Warner & Sons Silks Way, Braintree CM7 3GB 01376 557741 Morris & Co.

In 2015 the Warner Textile Archive is celebrating the relationship between celebrated designer William Morris and Warner & Sons, marking the 120th year since Warner & Sons came to Braintree, and exploring the Company's important role in developing and supporting British design and manufacture throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

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Selected items are now on display in the Archive Gallery, and in June, Archivist Kate Wigley will be joined by textile historian Mary Schoeser, for a talk and light luncheon exploring the Morris-Warner connection in greater detail.

Southend Museums, [email protected] 01702 212511

Beauty and the beach. Swimwear from 1940-1969. From itsy-bitsy bikinis to sexy one-pieces, this touring exhibition explores the style, design and inspiration of women’s swimwear during the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

Chertsey Museum, 33 Windsor Street, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 8AT Tel. 01932 565764. www.chertseymuseum.org

FASHION STATEMENTS, Romantic, Outrageous and Classic fashion. 20th September 2014 to the 5th September 2015

A themed exhibition which draws on the rich resources of the Olive Matthews Collection to bring you garments which epitomise romantic, outrageous and classic style. A wonderfully diverse and inspiring range of pieces, dating from the 18th century to the late 1980s, will be on show.

Admission to the above displays is FREE

Fashion Accessories Gallery featuring shoes, fans, hats, bags, parasols, lace, shoe buckles and jewellery with items from the 17th century to the present day. Look out for a beautiful linen cap featuring exquisite black work embroidery and dating from 1700 – 1720.

Publication

Fashion in Focus, 1600 – 2009, Treasures from the Olive Matthews Collection by Grace Evans. A beautifully illustrated 152 page book featuring in-depth information about the very best pieces from the Olive Matthews Collection of dress at Chertsey Museum. Price - £11.99. Call 01932 565764 for details of how to order. For further information on any of the above contact Grace Evans, Keeper of Costume on 01932 575373 or email: [email protected]

Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 0JH Wednesday to Sunday, 10-5pm (grounds), 12-4pm (house weekdays), 11-4pm (house weekends) www.waddesdon.org.uk Telephone: 01296 653226

JANE WILDGOOSE: BEYOND ALL PRICE 25 March - 25 October 2015

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‘Old works of art are not…desirable only for their rarity or beauty, but for their associations, for the memories they evoke, the trains of thought to which they lead, and the many ways they stimulate the imagination and realise our ideals.’ Ferdinand de Rothschild, Bric-à-Brac, 1897

This installation by artist Jane Wildgoose will reflect upon Ferdinand’s words about the associations, memories and stimulus to the imagination that old objects may evoke.

Although Waddesdon was celebrated in Baron Ferdinand’s day for the luxury of its house-parties and entertainments, at the heart of his own life was the shadow of the death of his stillborn child, and his wife Evelina, in childbirth, in 1866, just eighteen months after they married.

At the centre of the installation will be a small photograph of Evelina, cut as though to fit within a locket and accompanied by a lock of her hair tied with cotton. Archival material from Waddesdon and mourning jewellery and costume from other public and private collections will be set against the wider context of the cult of mourning during the 19th century, and complemented by new works by Jane Wildgoose using hair as an enduring symbol of loss and mourning, memory and bequest.

For more information about Jane’s work see http://www.janewildgoose.co.uk/index.html

Hair-work flowers, © Jane Wildgoose

BARON FERDINAND DE ROTHSCHILD’S ‘RENAISSANCE MUSEUM’ Treasures from the Smoking Room at Waddesdon

In the late 1880s Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild ordered the creation of a ‘New Smoking Room’ in the Bachelors’ Wing at Waddesdon. The room would contain the ‘Renaissance Museum’, Ferdinand’s collection of objects made of precious materials in the manner of princely collections of the 16th and 17th centuries. The Smoking Room, Billiard Room and corridor in between were decorated in the French Renaissance style, in contrast to the 18th-century French character of the rest of the house. The

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glass cases containing the ‘Renaissance Museum’ were surrounded by textiles, furniture, and other fixtures and furnishings which complemented the richness of Ferdinand’s collection of treasures. Many of these objects are still at Waddesdon, although they have been in store for a long time because of the fragility of the textiles, and changes in display and use of the rooms.

On Ferdinand’s death in 1898 he bequeathed the bulk of his ‘Renaissance Museum’ to the British Museum where it remains as the Waddesdon Bequest. To celebrate a new display of the Bequest at the British Museum opening in June, this exhibition at Waddesdon will examine the furnishings that surrounded the precious objects in the 1890s and Ferdinand’s very conscious decision to decorate this part of the Bachelors’ Wing in Renaissance style. The exhibition includes some of the embroidered textiles and furniture featured in Sacred Stitches: Ecclesiastical Textiles in the Rothschild Collection in 2013.

Sofa covered in red velvet with coloured silk and metal thread embroidery with a pair of heraldic lions in the centre of the back, Italian or French (sofa frame English), 1675-1700 (embroidery), c. 1880 (frame); Waddesdon, The Rothschild Collection (The National Trust) Bequest of Dorothy de Rothschild, 1988; acc. no. 4415. Photo: Mike Fear © The National Trust, Waddesdon Manor

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The South West

The Fashion Museum, Bath Assembly Rooms, Bennett St, Bath, BA1 2QH Tel: +44 (0) 1225 477789 www.fashionmuseum.co.uk

Great Names of Fashion On display until 3 January 2016 Dior and Balenciaga, Vionnet and Yves Saint Laurent – the history of modern fashion is signposted by a handful of major designers whose work shaped the look of a generation. This new display at the Fashion Museum showcases beautiful evening dresses by a number of these great names of fashion history from the early 20th century to the present day.

From the jewelled key motifs on Elsa Schiaparelli’s (1890 – 1973) powder blue evening dress, to the strapless gown with a skirt made of metres of knife-pleated white silk organdie by Christian Dior (1905 - 1957), this display is a must-see for all those who are fascinated by the history of 20th century fashion. Prepare to be wowed!

Great Names of Fashion 1: Elsa Schiaparelli – Hyacinth blue silk evening dress decorated with pearl latticework and embroidered crossed key motifs in pearls, diamantes and gold beads, about 1936.

©Fashion Museum, Bath & North East Somerset Council

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Great Names of Fashion 2: Great Names of Fashion display case at the Fashion Museum, Bath

©Fashion Museum, Bath & North East Somerset Council

Great Names of Fashion 3: Yellow silk chiffon evening dress embroidered with yellow floss silk, sequins, bugle beads and yellow brilliants, about 1926. Worn by Molly Tondaiman, The Rani of Pudukkottai

© Fashion Museum, Bath & North East Somerset Council

Behind the Scenes

This special display has been refreshed for 2015 and showcases one hundred years of fashion, from snowy white embroidered muslins from the time of Jane Austen through to the new column-like shape of dresses from the time of the First World War. The display includes an original dress worn by Queen Victoria, along with other Victorian fashions, such as a grey silk taffeta dress, worn over a cage crinoline.

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'Behind the Scenes' blurs the traditional museum boundaries between collections on display and those held in store. The gallery is, in fact, the museum store, and the original fashions are presented against a backdrop of collection storage boxes.

Behind the Scenes: Dress and train of fine cream silk decorated with diamantes and gold and silver metal thread embroidery, 1903. Worn by Lady Curzon, Vicereine of India

©Fashion Museum, Bath & North East Somerset Council

Killerton House, Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, EX5 3LE Telephone: 01392 881345 http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton

From a 150-year-old crinoline to a 60s mini, garments have shaped not only their owners but also the face of fashion. Our latest costume exhibition ‘The F-Word: the changing language of fashion’ opens on Saturday 14 February and explores how fashion has responded to the latest innovations and made its mark across the centuries.

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Zips, buttons, elastic – items now taken for granted were revolutionary in their day. They changed what could be worn and also helped people dress faster and with ease. The language of fashion is often bound to the technology and materials used to produce it and we explore how elements of clothing were named in the past. Whalebone and then steel hoops, elastic, rubber and plastics transformed the way clothing works, and created fortunes for inventors and manufacturers.

‘The F-word’ draws on the wealth of the costume collection at Killerton, and uses special items to tell the story of how and why fashion has evolved over the years. The collection has grown over time, to include men’s, women’s and children’s clothing dating from 1690 to the 1970s.

Rare treats in the exhibition include…

• Man’s coat, made of silk woven with metallic thread in about 1690 • Jacquard woven silk afternoon dress, about 1860, highlighting advances in silk weaving (the Jacquard looms, with punched cards controlling the pattern weaving, inspired Charles Babbage who came up with the idea for the first computer) • Woollen wedding dress, knitted on a domestic knitting machine in1971, when the trend for home knitting machines was at its peak • Mini dress made of Crimplene (one of the new synthetic fabrics) in a bright psychedelic print. Minis were at their shortest by about 1969 • Elegant mini and jacket by Emanuel Ungaro, about 1966 • Gold nylon and lurex ballgown by Maryon, late 1940s. Nylon and lurex were new man-made fibres developed in the 1930s.

The exhibition also highlights methods of pattern-cutting and decorative techniques, and fabrics and clothing that were revolutionary in their time. The first water-powered mills, rotary printers and synthetic dyes and materials eased what was a cottage industry into the world of mass production and fashion for all.

This year, the exhibition showcases new work from an open competition for designers, with their garments on display alongside historic pieces from Killerton’s renowned fashion collection. Designers of all ages submitted new designs and work on the theme of innovation.

North of England

Gallery of Costume, Platt Hall, Rusholme, Manchester M14 5LL Manchester City Galleries www.manchestergalleries.org

Something Blue: Wedding fashions 1914-2014

1 August 2014 -27 September 2015

Something Blue explores a hundred years of bridal fashion from the Gallery of Costume’s collections. The 18 unique gowns on display were worn by a wide array of British brides including mill workers, wives of Lieutenants in the Royal Navy, women in the air force as well as the wedding dresses of art world figures Kathleen Soriano, Director of Exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts and Maria Balshaw, Director of Manchester City Galleries and the Whitworth Art Gallery. All but one of the dresses that will be part of the exhibition have not been on display before.

The show illustrates the changes in styles, materials and fashion trends in wedding dresses throughout the century. From brides using parachute silk in the 1940’s due to the rationing of

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materials, to the dismissal of traditional gowns in favour of more modern suits or shorter dresses in the 1960’s, and some brides’ preference of coloured dresses in the 1990’s, the exhibition illustrates the wedding dresses of the periods.

Highlighting the personal stories behind each of the dresses displayed, portraits of the brides on their wedding days along with narratives about how the brides came to choose the particular dress are exhibited with the gowns. From descriptions of last minute haircuts and sale rail dresses to years of preparation and thought, each of the dresses displayed recounts individual and intimate stories of the brides and their gowns.

Many of the dresses in the exhibition have originated from Manchester and the surrounding area including two dresses by local Manchester designer Jean Jackson. The earliest dress to go on display was donated by Annie Appleton, a mill worker from nearby Todmorden who married in 1914, the day after the outbreak of The Great War, illustrating the exhibition’s connection to the craft of the surrounding region.

Designer in Focus: John Bates at Jean Varon Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, Liverpool, until Autumn 2015

A display of 13 outfits by one of the most innovative and influential British designers of the 1960s and 1970s. It features both day and evening wear.

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/john-bates/ Admission FREE Open 10am-5pm every day

Drip Dry! Synthetic Fibres in Fashion Sudley House, Mossley Hill Road, Liverpool, until Spring 2016

A display of 13 outfits from the 1920s to the 1990s, focusing on the impact of man-made fabrics on fashion. It includes a rare ‘Beatles’ dress from 1964 and a typical shell suit from the 1990s. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/sudley/exhibitions/drip-dry/index.aspx Admission FREE Open 10am-5pm every day

Quilt Museum and Gallery, St Anthony's Hall, Peasholme Green, York, YO1 7PW

24 January – 9 May - All Shapes and Sizes celebrating the design and draughtsmanship skills of quilters through the ages and Voices from the Inside, a guest exhibition by Fine Cell Work.

15 May – 5 September – Ancestral Gifts: an exhibition curated by internationally renowned artist and designer Kaffe Fassett, containing specially selected items from The Quilters’ Guild Collection alongside 15 fabulous new works by Kaffe. This is the only UK venue exhibiting this exhibition.

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The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Co Durham DL12 8NP [email protected]

Common Grounds: Lace Drawn from the Everyday 9 May - 28 June 2015

An installation of light sensitive drawings by artist Sarah Casey which literally bring to light hidden aspects of the Museum’s Blackborne Lace Collection.

Yves Saint Laurent: Style is Eternal 11 July - 25 October The Bowes Museum and the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent are collaborating to create Yves Saint Laurent: Style is Eternal, the first exhibition in the UK to present a comprehensive display of the French fashion designer’s work and life. The YSL show will highlight the defining elements of his vision, and the significant influence it has had on fashion and the way we understand womenswear.

Yves Saint Laurent, 1964 © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent / Maurice Hogenboom

“Fashion fades, style is eternal” Yves Saint Laurent once said. Articulating this idea, the exhibition will present fifty garments including some iconic pieces from the Russian Collection, the Mondrian dresses and the Tuxedo. The show will also open up a dialogue with The Bowes Museum’s collection, creating a unique sense of narrative around the history of fashion. It will inhabit much of the Museum's first floor, including the award-winning Fashion & Textiles Gallery, which has hosted high profile fashion exhibitions such as Vivienne Westwood Shoes, Stephen Jones Hats, Henry Poole & Co Tailoring, a retrospective of Laura Ashley and most recently 'Birds of Paradise: Plumes & Feathers in Fashion'.

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Yves Saint Laurent. Short cocktail dress. Haute couture collection Fall-Winter 1965. Tribute to Piet Mondrian © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent / Alexandre Guirkinger After heading up the Christian Dior fashion house from 1957 to 1960 as Artistic Director, Yves Saint Laurent created his own fashion house with partner Pierre Bergé, with its first catwalk show in 1962. For 40 years, Pierre Bergé managed the business while Yves Saint Laurent focused entirely on the creative side.

In the first twelve years, the designer defined a new style and composed the quintessential elements of the modern woman’s wardrobe: the pea jacket and trench-coat in 1962; the first tuxedo in 1966; the safari jacket and the first trouser suit in 1967; the jumpsuit in 1968. A selection of these iconic garments will be on show at The Bowes Museum - an exclusive opportunity for fashion lovers, enthusiasts, designers and students in the UK to have access to some of the 5,000 garments and over 15,000 accessories, drawings, paper patterns and objects conserved and kept by the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent in its archives at 5 avenue Marceau, Paris.

Yves Saint Laurent. Pantsuit. Haute couture collection Spring-Summer 1967 © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent / Alexandre Guirkinger

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By making use of male dress codes, the designer brought women a sense of social empowerment whilst retaining their femininity, a sentiment emphasised by Pierre Bergé: “If Chanel gave women their freedom, it was Saint Laurent who empowered them.” Yves Saint Laurent had the ambition to dress all women, not only exclusive haute couture clientele. In 1966, he opened the first ready-to-wear boutique to bear a couturier’s name, SAINT LAURENT rive gauche, opening the way to fashion as we know it today. Passionate about the arts, and a collector himself, Yves Saint Laurent paid homage, as early as 1965, to various artists in his haute couture collections, with the famous Mondrian dresses, as well as his homage to Diaghilev and Picasso in 1979 and tributes to Matisse, Cocteau, Braque and Van Gogh in the 1980s, some of which will be displayed at The Bowes Museum.

Yves Saint Laurent. Long evening ensemble. Haute couture collection Fall-Winter 1979 © Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent / Alexandre Guirkinger

Yves Saint Laurent: Style is Eternal will highlight the diverse influences of Yves Saint Laurent. The show will explore a number of themes, from art, lace and transparency, and Masculine - Feminine as well as featuring the different eras and styles of his creative career.

This exhibition is organised by The Bowes Museum in partnership with the Fondation Pierre Bergé - Yves Saint Laurent This exhibition is supported by Durham County Council and the Garfield Weston Foundation

The Midlands

Northampton Museum & Art Gallery, Guildhall Road, Northampton, NN1 1DP Telephone: 01604 838 111 www.northampton.gov.uk/museums Sport to Street 10 January - 19 April Northampton Museum & Art Gallery is home to the largest collection of trainers and sports shoes in a museum. The exhibition Sport to Street takes a closer look at this shoe icon from the earliest sports shoes to the iconic brands of today.

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Fibre to Fabric 11 April -3 May

Fibre to Fabric showcases the many skills of the members of the Northants Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. A fundamental understanding of the properties of different fibres enables the members to create beautiful garments by hand spinning, weaving, felting and crocheting, dying and sewing. This exhibition will include a number of finished garments, samples and loom to illustrate these wonderful techniques.

Making Presence Felt 25 April - 31 May Artist Fiona Candy explores human identity and the sensory experience of presence. Immersive 3D sound and objects come together to create imaginative encounters. By drawing our attention to where our feet meet the ground, Fiona shows how the characteristics of shoes reflect the relationship between the individuals wearing them and the environments in which they are worn.

Republic of Ireland

National Museum of Ireland: Decorative Arts and History, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7, www.museum.ie Ib Jorgensen – A Fashion Retrospective opening May 27th 2015

For nearly forty years Danish born Ib Jorgensen was one of Ireland’s leading fashion designers; he was a founder member in 1962 of the Irish Haute Couture Group and the first chair of the Irish Designers’ Association established in 1982. At the height of his career in the late 1970s and early 1980s Ib maintained a salon and workroom in London in addition to his Dublin based business. The exhibition will look back on Ib’s long career, displaying a selection of Jorgensen designs ranging from the late 1950s to the mid- 1990s, supplemented with fashion photography and illustrations.

Sequinned cocktail dress with peplum detail, Ib Jorgensen, 1986 ©National Museum of Ireland

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International

10th North American Textile Conservation Conference: New York, New York

Material in Motion November 16th – 20th, 2015

The tenth biennial North American Textile Conservation Conference (NATCC) will be held in dynamic New York City and will focus on the theme of “Material in Motion.” Topics include, but are not limited to, technical analyses and descriptions, scientific and historical research, conservation treatments, and other issues. Please visit our website for updates at: http://www.natcconference.com and email any questions to [email protected]

The third biannual International Textiles and Costume Congress (ITCC) will be hosted at Marmara University (Istanbul/Turkey) on 4th to 6th November 2015, under the conference title: 'Between Worlds – Innovation and Design in Textiles and Costume'.

Books

Jan Glier Reeder, High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

New edition of the superbly illustrated catalogue and excellent text of the Brooklyn Museum’s collection now lodged with the Met in New York. There might be bargains available for the old edition now that the new one has appeared! ($35 on the Met webpage)

ALSO - Loads of the images are online on the publication page on the website. http://www.metmuseum.org/research/metpublications/High_Style_Masterworks_from_the_Broo klyn_Museum_Costume_Collection_at_the_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art

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LONDON SOCIETY FASHION

Cassie Davies-Strodder, Jenny Lister and Lou Taylor ‘The V&A is an invaluable resource for costume designers. I was fortunate to be able to look at some of the clothes in the Heather Firbank collection when I was researching for the first series of Downton Abbey - these were fine examples and particularly relevant.’ Susannah Buxton, EMMY award-winning costume designer for Downton Abbey (Series 1 & 2) Over 80 years ago, Heather Firbank packed away her extensive collection of fine clothes, bought from London’s very best dressmakers and tailors. These treasures lay undiscovered for the next 30 years, until after her death, they were given to the V&A, laying the foundations for the Museum’s world-famous collection. Firbank was an enthusiastic shopper and bought her clothes from the world’s leading couture houses, including Lucile, Redfern and Mascotte, as well as private dressmakers and department stores. Her collection forms an invaluable record of fashionable Edwardian taste over a period of some 15 years. Beautifully illustrated with new photography of finely crafted evening gowns, tailored suits and glamorous hats, the book also features contemporary photographs and pages from Heather’s own albums of fashion cuttings. It vividly maps out the London couture scene of Edwardian Britain, and charts changes in fashion through the tumultuous first decades of the twentieth century. Through the story of Heather’s own life, both joyous and troubled, this book celebrates the central role of clothing in creating a single woman’s identity. Jenny Lister is a curator in the Furniture, Textiles and Fashion department at the V&A. Her exhibitions 60s Fashion (V&A 2006) and Grace Kelly: Style Icon (V&A 2010). Cassie Davies- Strodder is a curator in the Furniture, Textiles and Fashion department at the V&A. Lou Taylor is Professor of Dress and Textile History at the University of Brighton and author of The Study of Dress History (2002) and Establishing Dress History (2004). • Edwardian fashion and etiquette are explored through the life and extensive wardrobe of London socialite Heather Firbank • Focuses on shifts in fashion and designs from leading couturiers such as Lucile, Redfern and Mascotte • Heather Firbank’s wardrobe provided inspiration for Downton Abbey’s award-winning costume designer

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MAY £30.00 HB ISBN 9781851778317 270 × 216 mm 160pp 150 col BIC: AKT FASHION Sales: Please contact your Abrams & Chronicle Books representative or email [email protected] / [email protected] Distribution: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, Faraday Close, Durrington, West Sussex BN13 3RB T: +44 (0)1903 828501 F: +44 (0)1903 828801 E: [email protected] http://www.pubeasy.com Publisher: V&A Publishing, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London, SW7 2RL www.vandapublishing.com T: 020 7942 2966 F: 020 7942 2967 E: [email protected]

Book Review by June Swann

First a correction to one in my last reviews: Mark Palmer, Clarks, Made to Last, Profile Books, London 2013. The reference: ‘based on Tim E. Crumplin’s thesis,’ should have read, his ‘Post- Doctoral Research’. At last there is a second book on Coptic footwear, which may help with dating these early shoes, which were rescued before archaeology became so helpful. These are the most useful for showing the more decorated shoes that might have been worn in Europe’s so-called Dark Ages (at least something similar; there must be Byzantine influence somewhere), beside the sad scraps of leather that survive in our damp lands. André Veldmeijer & Salima Ikram: Catalogue of the Footwear in the Coptic Museum (Cairo). Sidestone Press, Leiden, Netherlands, 2014 ISBN 978-90- 253-6, 332 page soft back, fully illustrated in colour, with black and white drawings and full catalogue. Veldmeijer has been writing on Egyptian footwear for some years, using the ‘Dutch- English’ terminology pioneered by Olaf Goubitz (I gave him a copy of English Shoe Trade Terms and, with many others, tried to help with his English, but he persisted in using 3 words when one term was sufficient. Those researching Egyptian footwear should check the web for Veldmeijer’s many publications (mostly sandals), but the colourful shoes are a revelation.

An 8-page booklet has been produced on an obscure ‘saint’ (though never officially accepted): John Schorne, North Marston’s Saint published by the North Marston History Club 2013 (Buckinghamshire, England). Born about 1250, he became rector of the village in 1282 and not only found a spring of water in a drought, but ‘conjured the devil into a boot’ (if only we could!). The village became the third most important place of pilgrimage in England after he died in 1213. The church grew so rich that in 1478 the Pope agreed his remains be transferred to the more important, less remote St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. The shrine survived until Henry VIII’s Reformation. Paintings of him holding a knee boot with the horned Devil’s head showing at the top survive on rood screens in 3 churches in Norfolk and one in Suffolk; 2 of them show him wearing shoes from Henry’s reign. There are a lot more of the various lead pilgrim badges showing the same, with a very lively devil on the booklet’s front cover. Illustrated with mostly colour photographs, and the text enough to encourage further reading, or even visiting the area where 6 ‘Devil in the Boot’ pubs survived when I first had a car.

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Thomas Dekker The Shoemakers Holiday edited by Jonathan Gil Harris, Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, London & New York, second edition 1990, reprinted 2014, 119 page paperback, with Introduction and a lot of footnotes of varying accuracy when explaining shoe terms. The 1599 play, a jolly romp with serious undertones, was published in 1600 (there is also a 1971 Scolar Press facsimile, if you can read type of that date). It shows how important shoemakers had become by then, when at the height of their appreciation about the middle of some 50 years of prosperity (shoemakers usually too kind hearted to charge enough). Looking at the exquisite shoes made then, not just attractive, but good work, they deserved the wealth. Those familiar with Shakespeare should ignore the modern comments and enjoy, and see it when you can: the current production at Stratford-on-Avon is not the best of the 10 or so I have seen, but you will emerge smiling.

Katherine Elliott, ‘Clothing Soldiers; Development of a System of Production and Supply of Military Clothing in England from 1645 to 1708’, page 30-50 in Arms & Armour vol.10, no.1 Spring 2013, Maney, ISSN 1741-6124. I was pleased to see this mentions the sealed pattern garments in the Armémuseum, Stockholm, which also holds the most sealed patterns of boots and shoes I have found anywhere, now (at least in 2014) available on the web, the most accurately dated objects museum assistants dream of. The article is obviously useful as background information, and for re-enactors. I wonder what happened to the boots he ‘never put off… for six weeks together’ in the 1640s: were they kept, perhaps concealed in a house repair when he returned home? Mostly b&w photographs, including familiar boots and shoes from the V&A, though I doubt their rigid leg jack boot is as early as ‘1660’: the rigid leg and big top was the cavalry boot worn during the 1702-13 Marlborough Wars and continued for some 10-20 years after and later with changes in toe shape.

Lenka Vaňková – Veronika Pilná: Metododika Datování a Interpretace Portrétů 16-18 století Pomocí Historické Módy, 160 page soft back, Prague, Czech Republic 2013, ISBN 978-80-7480-002-3, many colour photographs of dress and footwear there, as well as unfamiliar paintings you will be able to interpret the dates for, without struggling with the text. The brief chapter on Obuv/footwear shows 2 rarities, both women’s, a slap-soled shoe with platform sole and early 18th century toe-shape; the other a c1610s platform sole mule. There are also 2 pages of post- stamp-size photographs of more footwear, including another rare, teenage girl’s white leather shoe with the large open sides of about 1613-40 (from English evidence, though how, or whether this varies from East European styles I have yet to discover).

Fanny Espinoza: Zapatos Femeninos, Seduccion paso a paso, Colecciones del Museo Histórico Nacional, Santiago, Chile, 2013, ISBN 978-956-7297-27-6, 100 small page hardback, in Spanish. After a 26-page Introduction, the catalogue follows with good photographs and description of each shoe, covering the period 1820-1970, with enlargements of labels, fashion plates, advertisements, bills for background. A handy book with basic information for the period covered.

The Museum of South East Moravia in Zlín, with the Shoe Museum, has moved into The Skyscraper there. A useful guide to the shoes in English is available to carry round, which I suggested should be put on sale to take away, as well as a publicity leaflet by Miroslava Stybrová A Guide to the Collection of Historical Footwear: rather unwieldy, concertina folder, which divides the contents into 9 sections by country and region, types, materials, occupations, and the Bat’a Company’s production, the company which transformed a small village into a 20th century town with all facilities from model housing, education at all levels, theatre, cinema, tannery, rubber works, with a worldwide empire of shops and factories. Their only other recent publication by

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Pavel Stojar, 360 page large format hardback, Zlínský Kraj Obrazy/The Picturesque Zlín Region, magnificent picture book in both languages, ISBN: 978-80-903450-8-9, published 2011 by Q studio s.r.o., Uherský Brod, CZ; guaranteed to encourage you to visit. See the Zlín section for information about the town, Skyscraper, Museum (very impressive), including on the dust-cover.

I think we should also be aware that the younger generations are beginning to excavate some of the mass graves from the World War 2 Death Marches in Czechoslovakia, in hopes of matching DNA with families who lost relatives this way, and improve the burials. 2 hardback books by Jiří Nenutil were published in Pilzn 2011, both with short summary in English and German: Pochody smirti and Exhumace obĕtí II…Both include 2-3 photographs of 1 or 2 incomplete leather shoes and boot; occasional textile fragments also survive.

Edited with Introduction by Keith Brooker, Recollections of William Arnold published by the Northamptonshire Record Society 2014, 184 page soft back, ISBN 978 0 901275 71 4. The original Recollections was privately printed on cream paper in Northampton in 1915, having been dictated by William Arnold, a finely proportioned, delightful book to look at and read, with a few relevant b&w photographs (including him and relations in black leather ankle boots, the only footwear visible in the entire book). This has now been stretched slightly to the new larger page format, black on glossy white paper, leaving the photograph faces rather sad. It is preceded by 84 pages: list of abbreviations, bibliography and Introduction with too much of most pages occupied by small footnotes, which makes reading tedious, especially as not all the references appear in the Index. The Recollections are then followed by a page of Brooker’s ‘Notes on the Text’ and a 49 page ‘Appendix. The Footwear Industry of Northampton’, again with tiny footnotes and indeed repeating a not insignificant amount of the Introduction. I winced when I read the American word ‘footwear’: not used there until 1881, and only began to be accepted in England in1919. Up to c1970 it was always known as The Boot and Shoe Trade (which resulted in the Boot and Shoe Collection in the Museum). The Editor’s sections contain an enormous amount of important information, without much system: an appendix listing each maker/manufacturer mentioned, in alphabetical order, with the information about them chronologically; their private life, if really essential, separate at the end. That would really make it useful for the serious reader/student and the rest more palatable. It covers the changes in shoemaking as machines (none of which are illustrated) were invented from 1855, with the big Blake sewer no one would want at home driving workers into factories by about 1863-4, until all stages were perfected. The workers too agreed a system for resolving disputes after the Great Strike in 1895, though it did not solve the army bootmakers unemployment problem after the Boer War – that fared better after the first protest March to London in 1905. The terrible loss of skilled management and men in the First World War was not ‘solved’ until full employment again from 1939. The cover, back and front, shows a painting of Northampton’s then very attractive Market Square before so much was ‘developed’ in the 1960-70s. But nowhere could I find a mention of it for the artist’s name or its whereabouts, a sad omission for a book on the history of such an important trade, for which the town was then famous worldwide.

In the week before Christmas 1933 Patrick Leigh Fermor, set free from education, left London to walk to Constantinople just before his 19th birthday. As I try to find more about the long- distance walkers, in hopes they comment on their footwear, I thought his 3 books, written retrospectively from his notes, might enliven the long winter nights, all published from 1977, and now available in paperback, with maps: A Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water, The Broken Road, John Murray Publishers, London. It was a good read, with many comments on the local footwear he saw: clogs in the Netherlands; in eastern Europe he called them moccasins, obviously the ‘turned-up’, harder-soled opanke, then still common there. His own puttees and

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‘nailed boots’ from an army surplus store survived to the 3rd book; ‘coming to bits’, they were mended by ‘the best cobbler in Tirnovo (Bulgaria), delivered back, looking brand new, the heels armed with miniature horseshoes, the soles a-glitter with studs that struck sparks from the worn cobbles’. He carried rubber-soled gym shoes for wear when not walking on rough ground. Sadly he seemed wary of the Turks when he met them, and the last book ends before he reached the life-changing Constantinople/ Istanbul early in 1935.

Also for winter reading, if you want to understand 19th century Russia, its footwear and the need for Revolution, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, written in the 1870s, is impossible to put down.

The Costume Society’s Costume vol.40 no.1, January 2015, Maney Publishing ISSN 0590 8876, has a useful article mentioning shoes, by Danae Tankard, ‘Giles Moore’s Clothes: The Clothing of a Sussex Rector 1656-79’, though no shoes appear in the photographs.

And a final costume book which includes boots and shoes, by Adelheid Rasche, Krieg und Kleider: Mode und Grafik zur Zeit des Ersten Weltkriegs, Leipzig 2014, 224 pages, 240 pictures; English edition ISBN 978-3-86502-339-1. German. ISBN 978-3-86502-338-4.

June Swann 2’2015

CONSTITUTION

The name of the organisation shall be: Dress and Textile Specialists, hereinafter referred to as DATS.

1. OBJECTIVES

1.1 The objectives of DATS are:

• To provide a supportive network for professionals in the British Isles and Republic of Ireland who are working with dress and textiles and those whose work involves collections-based research. • To promote the use of professional standards in curatorship within dress and textile collections • To encourage and develop expertise, research and scholarship • To encourage sharing knowledge, information, skills and resources • To enable those working with dress and textiles collections to develop and use them for the benefit of the public

2 MEMBERSHIP

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2.1 Membership of DATS is open to all people in the British Isles and Republic of Ireland who are working with dress and textiles and those whose work involves collections-based research.

2.2 Membership may be individual, institutional or honorary (to be awarded at the discretion of the committee).

2.3 There is an annual membership subscription. The fee is to be set at a rate that will not preclude the membership of junior colleagues.

3 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE

3.1 The Committee of DATS will consist of the following officers: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Web and Social Media Editor. The term of office will be 3 years with an option of 2 additional years.

3.2 The Committee will also include regional representatives to cover the following areas: London, East, Wales & West, Central, Northern, Scotland and Ireland (to include Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), and a representative for Conservation.

3.3 There are four committee meetings a year all of which are attended by the officers and conference organisers and two of which are attended by the full Committee. Minutes are taken at all the meetings and are circulated to the full committee.

3.4 Additional committee members maybe co-opted at the discretion of the Committee, as needed.

4 ELECTIONS

4.1 The election of Committee and Officers will take place by nomination and ballot of the membership at the Annual General Meeting.

5. ACTIVITIES

5.1 The group will organise one Annual General Meeting and conference with speakers from a range of disciplines on topics relevant to members but with an emphasis on training and raising professional standards.

5.2 Regional representatives are empowered to convene groups of local members.

5.3 Two on-line newsletters per year are published, one of which includes synopses of the conference papers.

5.4 An email group is maintained in order to communicate with members and promote an exchange of queries and ideas.

5.5 A website and appropriate social media accounts are maintained to promote the exchange of information and resources, to raise the profile of the profession and to reach new audiences.

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