Archive Footage….

My “Are Television Executives Missing a Trick?” post, garnered some great debate and comments. It also made it’s way onto The Sewing Forum where there were yet more interesting comments. One in particular caught my eye. It pointed the way to some fascinating BBC archive footage. A series of programmes first broadcast in 1957 exploring the changing face of fashion from as early as the 18th century right up to what was then, the modern day. 1957! Citing broad ranging influences from art, architecture and interiors; social, political, cultural, historical and economic factors. In fact everything that still has an impact on the styles of today. Perhaps the only real difference between the way fashion evolves, between then and now, is the speed at which new styles come and go; the fundamentals of fashion evolution and what influences it, seem to have remained the same….

Presented by fashion historian Doris Langley Moore (a fascinating lady in her own right) this series of  6 short programmes is a fabulous delve into the past, and I thoroughly recommend you grab yourself a coffee and dive in!  Mrs Langley Moore has the most delicious of BBC plummy accents. I particularly loved her pronunciation of the word “masculine” and she has a dry sarcasm that’s thoroughly entertaining. The series features “live models” sourced from the famous faces of the day. The likes of Dora Bryan, Lynn Redgrave, Ron Moody and even a young Benny Hill! Click on the links below to view the individual episodes. Each is approx 15 minutes long:

• Men, Women and Clothes/ How Fashions Come and Go
• Men, Women and Clothes/ Sense and Nonsense in Fashion
• Men, Women and Clothes/ Fashion and Faces in Figures
• Men, Women and Clothes/ Formal Clothes 
• Men, Women and Clothes/ Informal Clothes 
• Men, Women and Clothes/ Facing the Elements 

If you have a rainy afternoon to fill one day, you could do worse than to take a peek into fashions past and treat yourself to some fabulous vintage fashion footage…