We had a wonderful ‘York Festival of Ideas’ workshop on Saturday 18 June, thanks to our audience of enthusiastic and engaged people. Together we had fun doing some practical experiments of how to wear a skirt lifter, how to use a Victorian button hook, how to brandish a 1920s silver minaudière in style, and much more.
Some members of the audience voiced their surprise at how much can be learned of the past through the study of dress accessories. Others were taken back to memories of their great-grand-mother’s dressing tables and the fragrance of her powder compacts. And some wished to engage with the DMDA in a more pro-active way. The questions continued long after our session had finished. We have also taken important food for thought away from our audience’s questions, comments, and memories.
Special thanks are due to little Alexander, who manned ‘the cockpit’ of the monitors and navigated the PowerPoint; to Al and Elizabeth for assisting with the passing of the object trays; and to Jeffrey for taking some photos. As you can see from the images, Elizabeth did an amazing job restoring the 1920s chiffon dress (look at that celluloid paste buckle!) and adjusting the reconstruction of an 1870s bustle silhouette.
