GEORGIAN COSTUME AND NEEDLEWORK

Saturdfay, 27 January, 2018

Friends Meeting House, Friargate, Off Castlegate, York, YO1 9RL

Two Talks by Alison Larkin

"Georgian Costume and Embroidery"

"Biology of Needlework"

The members and guests were treated to two talks by dress and embroidery expert, Alison Larkin.

In the morning Alison showed us, with the aid of an excellent Powerpoint presentation on "Georgian Costume and Embroidery" how both men's and women's clothes belonging to the wealthy members of society in the Georgian period changed and developed over time from the first George in 1714 to George IV who died in 1830.  She explained how the early elaborate and extensively embroidered clothes gave way to much simpler styles by the end of the period.

In the afternoon in a quite different presentation on "The Biology of Needlework" she introducd us to the different natural fibres, both animal and celulosic which were avaiable before the coming of the modern synthetics and explained something of how they were coloured using natual products in the time before the introduction of the first synthetic dyes in 1856.

She also told us something of the embroidery that she does and how she is currently researching the embroidery patterns that were given away with The Ladiy's Magazine in those issues published between 1770 and 1819..  Many of these patterns are missing from existing copies of The Lady's Magazine, so if you know of any of these patterns, either still in copies of the magazine or elsewhere, please let us know and we will pass the information to Alison