Dedicated followe r
Whether you embraced the shoulder pads or would rather forget them entirely, one place you can look back at fashion favourites from the ‘good old days’ is Maidstone Museum.
Its dressing room collection, which has more than 8,000 pieces, pays homage to some of the most popular designs telling a story of how women’s clothing developed with time. On display at the museum in St Faith’s Street are items dating back to the 1800s to the early 2000s.
But despite the vast history it represents, the glass cabinet that brings the most nostalgia, and perhaps the most popular, is that of the 1950s to 2000. From flares to turn ups, the collection’s manager Samantha Harris says this is the display that always gets people talking. Miss Harris said: “The way the gallery is organised is by different time periods to try and highlight those different changes in fashion and body shape and often that’s linked to politics, in particular women’s roles in society, so that was the thinking behind the gallery.
“It doesn’t just show nice pretty things people were wearing, it tries to tell some of the story behind what influenced fashion through those periods. “Going back to the earlier costumes, people recognise some of the items because they look like stuff they’ve seen in period dramas, TV programmes and films. “But because it’s organised by time period, it’s the very end case that people can associate with because that starts from the 1950s going through times they remember.
“Representing the 1960s, we’ve got a really lovely op-art dress and knee-high boots and platforms and I think there’s an element of nostalgia with those items.”
The ‘Swinging Sixties’ was a phrase used to describe a time when the fashion was influenced by pop music and colourful prints.
Traditional styles went out the window in favour of creating lively, inventive clothes where hemlines rose to well above the knee.
One of the most influential designers for women in that decade was Mary Quant. In 1964, Shirley Roome, 71, from Dover, owned a dress believed to be a replica of Miss Quant’s which she bought from Richards on Week Street, when she lived in Maidstone.
Mrs Room, who posed in the garden with her dear friend, said: “We were probably around 14 or 15 years old when we bought those dresses. We thought we were so much more feminine than a lot of the kid’s fashion now.”
The 60s was also the decade which introduced the mini-skirt. Maureen Furlong admired the new style which she sported in a bold print with her foster sister Kiki.
The now 70-year-old from Maidstone said the dress was bought from either Joyce’s or Snob, brands which had a presence across the county until the 80s.
As Kent moved into the 70s, attire began reflecting ethnic cultures or retro looks from the 1920s to 1940s. Bright colours, textures and patterns were still popular but this time combined in eccentric, adult styles.
The 70s fashions tended to express a home-crafted, environmental awareness, encouraged by the anti-establishment hippie movement.
The collection then shows punk and sportswear began to influence fashion moving into the 80s.
It says the ideal 80s woman was sporty, slim, muscular and ambitious, successful in work, relationships and leisure.