Break a leg in the limelight....

....and other stories and photos from the Gaiety Theatre on the Isle of Man.. Front of house. On the stage. Backstage. Up in the Gods and down by the Corsican trap....Watch this space....

Summer in the Seventies.

WHEN  I started this blog I wrote about accessories. Scarves. Shoes. Bags. Hats.

Today I am writing about summer clothes. I am in a quandary. Being what is now termed a 3rd Ager (scary but at least avoids the P-ns---n-r word) I feel I fall between several sartorial stools. 

I still like long flowing 1970s dresses from the era when I was a teenager. I have yet not felt any desire to wear a white cardigan in the summer. But nothing seems to be right anymore. Summer frocks now seem to be exclusively sleeveless. My upper arms are neither toned, tanned or much to look at. Last night I sat in a restaurant with a kimono type top on over a tee shirt. It was a hot evening. It was even hotter under the kimono top. But like many other 'big' (I know. Euphemism) women the top stayed firmly on. I do not know whether I should be used to this by now or whether I am being punished for not dieting. (the latter obviously.)

I would live to hear from any other 60 somethings about how they feel about clothes…not just summer, but year round.

Is ours the generation that will never switch to being dressed differently?

Our mothers went from war time hats/gloves and full makeup, through to coordinating outfits by Berkertex or Jacques Vert. Evening dresses were long, cocktail frocks knee length and you would not wear trousers unless playing golf.

I still like and wear what I wore 40 years and always have done. Trousers/jeans/mid or floor length skirts or dressses. Working for a Uni helped as I never needed 'office clothes'. But now I sometimes see femmes d'un certain âge looking as if they have been in a time warp since the Isle of Wight Festival. (The proper ones in 69/70 obviously. Described by Wikipedia as a 'counterculture event'. Bless.)

So, as I do not think I look like that, there must have been some evolution in my personal style I suppose. Leggings for instance. They are wonderful. Those and a big tee shirt will get you a long way. Although I avoid tee shirts with ' Hendrix' or 'Summer of Love' or 'Woodstock' on them. (See femmes d'un certain âge.)

Leggings were only worn by ballet dancers in the 1970s. Leg warmers did make a brief appearance as 'fashion wear' in the late 70's, but came and went, thank goodness. I can't not include the confession that I had a matching set of gloves and legwarmers. In red, yellow and orange. Sorry for that mental storm.

I finally threw out all the ethnic patterned cotton long skirts with elasticated waists, as I looked like a sack with a string tied round it. Then they came back into fashion. But they are so long. Maybe I have always been short rather than overweight???

So will I ever move onto 'evening wear? I dressed 'up' for the restaurant, but that was baggy cotton trousers, tee shirt and kimono combo. 

Are there people who go out for dinner in elaborate frocks? 'Famous people seem to wear frocks made of as little as possible, preferably with a thigh split and side boob to the fore. Notable and chic exceptions to this are Helen Mirren and Dame Judi Dench. Those beaded coats Dame J wears.Covet. 

I hope to hear some feedback. Maybe there is a shop somewhere that I have not found yet. One that successfully straddles the fashion gaps between Primark/M&S/John Lewis and hunting on the web. Let's hope that there is a fashion fairy out there who knows…….

An Afternoon With Edwardian Elegance.

Look what I found in the costume store in Henfield Museum. 

I was on the track of items Edwardian… dresses, blouses and stoles.  

This old gold dress is in two parts…the front panel is completely separate. You tie it on like an apron. I suspect that the 'apron' and a missing bodice front were designed to be swapped for other fabrics to change and vary the look.

Having dressed the mannequin I dug deeper and accessorised the ensemble with a red silk parasol that took up the colour of the embroidered red flowers on the fabric of the dress, sadly the silk on the parasol is shattered, but the colour and style still shine.

Shawl next. Cream silk embroidery on a cream silk background.

When I placed it round the shoulders of the model, see how perfectly it draped. The fringe fell just so. 

Add a small white crocheted Dorothy bag and Voila.

Madame Edwardian is ready for her public.

                        

This pink and lace confection must have been stunning when it was made. Very sadly the silk in the skirt has failed, but the bodice….even seen en déshabillé..is exquisite. 

I like this photo with that bodice front and centre, the Edwardian ensemble behind it and behind that a 1930s wedding dress…

Then there was the Edwardian blouse which had pin tucks, lace, crocheted 

French knots for fastenings which all together added up to a wonderful confection of style, daintiness and seamstresses skill.

This shot epitomises how diverse and interesting a museum can be. There's the Edwardian outfit, and behind it a dolls pram, the corner of the wedding dress case, some local prints, the (working) clock mechanism late of  the Village Assembly rooms and don't let us forget the rack of tuned shepherds crooks just visible on the left….

Looking the other way you can see how full the museum is of things to discover, investigate and be fascinated by.

This extravaganza was instigated by the promised visit of two lovely ladies from Preston Manor in Brighton and was designed to show them what Henfield Museum has tucked away in its boxes and cupboards and cases. I relished finding Edwardian items to show them. And so I opened boxes, gently removed tissue paper and brought out items of elegance and age.

I supplied costume details and Alan the Curator details on everything else they saw, including the Violet nurseries memorabilia…but that’s another story.

Henfield Museum

http://www.henfieldhub.com/henfield-museum

Preston Manor is a gem of a house to visit. You really feel as if the family are just in the other room. Perfectly furnished and set in the Edwardian era, there is a great deal to see.
My personal favourite is visiting the world of' 'Downstairs', as well as 'Upstairs'

Situated on the outskirts of Brighton, on the fringes of  Preston Park,  Do go. It's lovely.

http://brightonmuseums.org.uk/prestonmanor/

A simple guide to exhibitions

HOW TO 101; EXHIBITIONS

First the idea

Then the meetings

Some emails

The proposal of exhibits

The opening of the Museum boxes to see the exhibits

The joy when they look like their description

Erecting the screens.

Not yellow.  Green?

                     

Blocking out the display       

That’s a lot of info notices to
write            

Why is this costume so long?

If this jacket does not sit right one of us will be sorry

Research    

Mistype parlour (Milking) learn a lot about freerunning

Type edit PRINT

Scan photos

Print and have new cartridge Right There. (JIC)

Do creative things with tissue paper, mannequin and Velcro

Wonder if the red basket uses enough space 
But a rehearsal needs its props

Plastic water bottles added as…..bottles

Or will a milk churn and bottles be bigger?

Get bucket with blue tack, tissue paper, picture hooks and velcro strips.

Zip up briefcase in purposeful manner

Pack it all in car

The rain made that task quicker

Collect the props

Put milking stool in a box

Carry Adolphus’s portrait

Carefully

Drive to venue

Take it all out of the car

Put screen section A in foot B

Repeat

Hang that there and this here

And there you are

An exhibition appears before your very eyes

You realise Dress rehearsals are A VERY GOOD IDEA

You take some pictures

You stand back and really look

You go home. 

Content.

CYBER PATHWAYS SCI FI SHORT STORIES

Thank you Amazon

‘seventeen fascinating and spell-binding stories written by various authors from Europe and the USA’

I’m in there.

So what’s not to like?

www.amazon.co.uk/Cyber-Pathways-Science-Fiction-Short-Stories

AGRICULTURE ART ARMY

Agriculture Art Army

An Exhibition at Henfield Library

15^th February to 4^th March 2016

Discover what people wore in a Parlour, a Studio and a Mess.

Tucked away in a corner of Henfield Library from 15^th February until 4^th March is the Agriculture Art Army exhibition.

Visit your local library and see a display of costumes and curios from Henfield Museum. 

Off High Street, Henfield, West Sussex, BN5 9HN

Boutique Chic

BOUTIQUE CHIC 

at Horsham Museum

Runs until 30^th April 2016

Noisy, dark and cramped.

No. Not Horsham Museum. Boutiques.

I‘ve been to see Horsham's current exhibition ‘Boutique Chic’.

Tucked away upstairs in the museum in a quiet corner next to the sewing room and accessories there is a gem of a gallery. A large display case more of an attic room really, is imaginatively arranged to suggest the essence of a fashion boutique of the 1960s. All vivid colours, styles and patterns.

You can get right up close to the smaller case.

 It contains two Laura Ashley dresses.This brand perfectly captured the dreamy country milkmaid clothes with bibs and lace and long sashes and they were quite quite different to the bright mini skirts. 

The style looks older than the 1960s, almost Edwardian, but this epitomises how ‘60s fashion was being split in many directions.

 A trend that has never really gone away.

Like teenagers in any era, the desire to look different from your parents was paramount. Boutiques were smaller spaces, completely at odds with the chic quiet temples in a department store where your mother bought her clothes.

They had coloured lights and loud music. 

And the young assistants wore the fab clothes the shops sold.

And they didn’t call you madam. 

New designers meant new fabrics made into young bright colourful clothes, styled in mini,midi or maxi lengths. Unlined clothes underlined the cheap fast production methods that got goods into the shop the minute they were made. Stories were told of dresses being run up in one place and gathered up in an assistant’s arms and run along the street to the next door boutique and straight on the racks.

Horsham’s exhibition showcases the BIG trends of the sixties.

Wet Look fabric.

PVC Macs with welded seams.

Psychedelic patterns.

Short skirts. Long dresses.

Button up the front skirts.

Waistcoat and skirt suits.

Brands like Dollyrockers and Mary Quant Ginger Group.

Pucci and Vogue are represented too

 

The proof that the 60s freedoms in dress went up the age groups as well as down, was a Jean Allen  metallic gold lace mini cocktail dress. Teenager style for those old enough to drink.

It is just visible in this photo beside a snappy red wet look waistcoat and mini skirt. 

My favourite item was the green psychadelic dress. Lovely also to see the Twiggy coat hanger and the hem to neck feature zips with big rings to pull them up (and down).

I thought how the blue wrap over Mary Quant Ginger Group dress with its short puffy sleeves looked very 1980s and how the 1930s influence was represented by the purple satin Biba midi dress.

Looking at these with an older perspective, I was surprised to see how many of the clothes were dry clean only. In 1968 a mans suit cost roughly 10/6 (52p) to be dry cleaned. And as a shop assistant would be earning approx. £4 a week, it meant you had to take very good care of your clothes.

And finally.

There they were, hung up near the back.

Silver mesh stockings.

I had a pair of those.

Felt groovy. Looked mod.

Itched like mad.

And on mature reflection, pairing them with green platform heels might have been a mistake……..

A museum well worth a visit.

My grateful thanks to Jeremy Knight and Horsham Museum for permission to use the photographs.

www.horshammuseum.org