Leather, Chiffon, Pleats and a Manx Label

A behind the scenes visit to the costume store

Thie Tashtee Vannin  Doolish  Ellan Vannin

Manx Museum  Douglas  Isle of Man

To be made welcome is always a treat.

To feel as if you are a colleague and not a stranger is a rare treat.

And this is exactly what happened when I visited the Manx Museum in July.

First port of call was the costume cases. Showing at the moment are a selection of late Georgian and Victorian dresses. My favourite was a blue wedding dress which was worn by a Miss Harrison when she became Mrs John Brooke on June 6^th 1866. The close local and personal links these clothes have to the island make them even more special in a Manx Museum.

My host at the museum was Assistant Curator Nicola. She is in the midst of reorganising the costume store, but was generous enough to welcome me behind the scenes and to let me look through the reserve costume stock as she worked. I also got to take photos and ask as many questions as I wished.

 The museum textile collection has many interesting and intriguing items. And none more intriguing (and unique to the IOM), than motorcycle leathers as worn in the World famous IOM TT races. For those of you with a passion for motorcycle racing Carl Fogarty and Connor Cummings are two of the riders who have literally left their impressions in the leathers.

Faced with an embarrassment of riches, I selected garments at random, which after I quelled my chronological habit, was great fun. 

So here are a few highlights of my day.

 

 A late 19^th century carriage cloak in heavyweight  wool, festooned with tassels and duffle fastenings in old gold. Heavy (and warm) and very imposing.

A war time air force blue dress that glittered with a sun ray design on the neck and the ends of the short sleeves. 

 Turning the sleeve inside out showed the gold fixings for the diamante design. This must have been a very scratchy dress to wear.      

The svelte lines of a full length pale lavender crepe evening dress swirled and sparkled at me. Not only did this dress have a gorgeous girdle of glittering bead flowers, it carried a fairly special label too. Harrods.

A beige chiffon dropped waist 20s frock. Long sleeves and a loose belt between top and skirt. The colour was lovely; the contrasting bodice insert with small collar and tie detail was chic. Standout for me was the finely pleated skirt. This was bandbox fresh (only the front panel was pleated) looking after this must have required a very high calibre ladies maid.

The Fifties. Lots of skirt and lots of petticoats. This blue sprigged delight caught my eye. Boned bodice, four layers in the skirts…buckram, rayon, net and chiffon. It only needs white stilettos and a white cardigan to get through summer. Labelled ‘Alma Leigh’, these dresses command a high price on vintage sites.

The gem I have saved for last. The thing I was hoping to find was a garment labelled from an Island shop. And voila. A wonderful two piece silver threaded damask evening ensemble. Floor length dress and short jacket.

Labelled  RC CAIN Duke Street Douglas.

  

                                          
This garment was designed for a glamorous evening. The dress had a classic wide strap bodice and the matching jacket was lined in grey chiffon, with finely made silver button fastenings. Closer examination revealed that some pink artificial flowers had once been sewn to the bodice and had come to rest in the accompanying handbag. Why I don’t know. But Nicola suggested perhaps a carnival makeover in its history and I agree. I had a  look at the (excellent) online Manx Museum newspaper archive and found in the Isle of Man Examiner an RC Cain advertisement from 1934 for their shop in Duke Street for ‘frocks, jumpers, gloves and hosiery’. In 1959 their ad was for ‘pretty dresses’. I believe the shop opened in 1883 and closed in the 1970s, but would be glad to have more details if anyone has them?                          

This was a perfect way to spend a day.

Nicola could not have been more welcoming and ‘her’ Museum is a delight.

Grateful thanks for permission to use the photographs.

A visit to the Isle of Man definitely leaves a person with a warm glow.

Gura mie ayd Nicola.

Manx Museum

http://www.manxnationalheritage.im/

A Hemming Bird, Love Letters and a Tennis Raquet

The Grove Museum of Victorian Life

Ramsey Isle of Man

Visit Grove house to slip back in time. The Victorian rooms are crammed full of bibelots, furniture, heavy curtains and there are even bobbles on the shelf covers. Cases display fans and trinkets used in every day life by the people who lived in the house. I saw my first hemming bird in one of the cases. (Yes, hemming, not humming). Upstairs you can visit a bedroom, sewing room, nursery and maid’s quarters.

           


And there is a costume room, showing examples of the type of clothes worn during the life of the house. These outfits are presented in well placed glass cases so that a good view of each dress is possible. The oldest outfits provide a glimpse of tightly corseted figures. There is a beautiful cream carriage cloak with fringe detail. An unusual thing to see is what the well dressed Edwardian lady tennis player wore. From her boater to her plimsolls, via a floor length skirt and belted jacket you can see how women suffered for their sport. One gorgeous terracotta coloured suit from the 30s had an embroidered pattern on the jacket front, with the same on the jacket cuffs. Closer inspection showed this to be hand done and it livens up the suit a lot. My favourite dress was a plum frock with a cream neck drape and falling scarf effect, edged with self covered button detail. 1930s I should think.
                                         

        
                         


                                                                                    
                                                           

This house has a fascinating history. There are photographs of the family who lived here and a picture of three of the ladies seated in the front parlour. When you stand in the room and look to the corner the likeness was taken, not much has changed. You can listen to spoken memories from one of the ‘girls’ who lived her life in the house. And then there are the love letters on the bedroom mantelpiece. What happen to Ned? Why did she not marry him? We shall never know. 

This is a lovely house, with a warm family feeling and comfortable red carpeted stairs with shiny brass stair rods. A gorgeous bunch of fresh flowers sat on the hall table next to the calling cards on the silver tray.  Definitely worth a visit.

Ps the loos are spotless and the staff are welcoming and really know their stuff.

 

http://www.manxnationalheritage.im/attractions/grove-museum-of-victorian-life/

‘Hot Water Bottles, Buckets of Stained Glass and Please Don’t Lick the Wallpaper’

The Gaiety Theatre

Douglas, Isle of Man

Up the marble steps. Push on the polished brass handle to open the door and make your entrance into the wood panelled foyer. Under the glittering chandelier a bust of theatre designer Frank Matcham gazes towards the sea.You have arrived at the Gaiety theatre.

The theatre opened its doors in 1900 as the Gaiety Theatre and Opera House. Matcham had performed miracles in seven months transforming the shell of the Pavilion into a venue for high class entertainment. Social classes were segregated by ticket prices, the luxury of their surroundings and even the entrances they used to access their seats. The fact that the theatre looks so magnificent today is a tribute to the time, effort and dedication of the people who had the vision to save and preserve such a special place. Many tales were told by our knowledgeable guide. Not often does a tour commentary include the words ‘hot water bottles, buckets of stained glass and please don’t lick the wallpaper’. Our party wound its way through corridors and up stairs, where all was carpet and wallpaper and chandeliers, for we were starting off as toffs and going to the stalls.

Once seated the glory of the auditorium is all around you. 












The original drop curtain masks the stage from view.








Then watch the furling of the magnificent tasselled and fringed green velvet curtain that is a show in its self (and as the curtain opening motor cost £140k I should think so too). 

You find out why flying bars had a lot in common with whistles, glimpse fly combs, lighting rigs and three special traps.

From centre stage gaze out at where the audience would be and imagine a first night crowd in furs, diamonds and white tie standing up from their green velvet seats and applauding you to the rafters.

Reality bites and you go downwards on stone staircases, past brick walls painted white and a sign saying ’No quick changes here’. Then you see the machinery that helps to make the magic.

Old green metal lighting generators and the intricate wooden beams that allow for scenery to go up and demons to come down and (unique to this theatre) a very special Corsican trap. This trap is all about facilitating ghost movements, but you need to see that for yourself. 

The grey concrete floor is dusted with glitter and scraps of gold ribbon…more magic I expect.

Then it’s up, up and not away but to the Gods. 
The magnificent wedding cake of the auditorium can be seen in all its glory from this vantage point. 















There are costumes on display up here, souvenirs from the Centenary productions of ‘The Telephone Girl’ and ‘The Corsican Brothers’. 

  

 
Still we go up. Climb some steep brick stairs and there, up under the roof, is the final sanctum. The projection suite from the cinema incarnation of the 1920s. 
The equipment is simply astonishing.     

Then we clatter down from the cheap seats via the plain red staircase, past ‘No ice creams past this point’, past the colours of a stained glass window. 

And finally to the foyer and back to the twenty-first century.
Take a bow Gaiety. Your show should run and run.