Silk and Roses

​History Wardrobe presentation: 
Silk and Roses: Saturday 20th July 2024

The summer came at last and, of course, we were then all a bit exhausted by the heat. So I was pleased to find that the Stafford Hall in the Costessey Centre was cool, even though it was a sold out event - as usual for the popular 'History Wardrobe’ events.

There were odd seats here and there between the various groups of friends, and I was able to sit relatively near the front. Several members had made an effort to dress in appropriately floral dresses, in keeping with the silk and roses theme.  I remembered that I had exactly the right dress for the occasion hanging in my wardrobe … life is full of these minor regrets.

The stage was set with handsome mannequins dressed in floral splendour and decorated with little flags and flowers.

Our chair, Caroline promoted future talks and events, which included our planned presence at the Worstead Festival held on the last weekend of July. Caroline was pleased to announce that we had the first opportunity to buy the new C&TA Christmas cards - prepared especially for sale at Worstead.  There was a round of applause but also a moment of shock at the thought of planning for Christmas this early.

Caroline then introduced the speaker, Lucy Adlington.  Many of the audience had been to Lucy’s ‘History Wardrobe’ presentations before and there was a buzz of anticipation; but some of us newbies were not so sure what to expect.

The first thing I noticed was that Lucy has a wonderful carrying voice which reaches the back of the hall without difficulty. I realised quickly that we were being treated not just to an erudite lecture on the relationship between gardens and fashion design … but a wonderful, almost theatrical, presentation using voice and movement … as well as showing us wonderful examples of her collection of floral costumes and textiles through the centuries.

The fabulous Lucy is an avid collector and her pleasure in sharing items she had collected, and the stories attached to the items, made the session very enjoyable.

So now no longer a newbie, I can thoroughly recommend ‘History Wardrobe’ to you next time an opportunity arises.


Helen Durrant
C&TA member

---