Throughout the Summer, Harborough Museum and Market Harborough Library will be celebrating Harborough by the Sea, which will take place at the end of July and is organised by Harborough District Council. This will focus on fashion and Harborough in the 1950s and 60s with events and exhibitions.
This beautiful dress will feature in a pop-up exhibition during the weekend of Harborough by the Sea, available to view on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 July. Read all about the dress and our other events below.
Christian Dior Fine Silk Dress
Our thanks to Susan Hammond, one of our volunteers, for writing this blog post.This attractive dress, created by legendary French fashion designer, Christian Dior, is made from an exceptionally fine pink silk, block-printed with small pink roses. While pink was the most popular it was also available in lemon yellow and blue on white.
The unique light-weight silk appealed to Dior even though it was originally made to insulate electrical wiring! In conjunction with Ascher Ltd, who had the idea to print on the fabric, Dior went on to produce dresses fit for royalty; Princess Margaret wore a dress of this silk in public during a 1950s Caribbean visit.
Christian Dior exploded onto the Paris fashion scene in the late 1940s with the opening of his fashion house. He reintroduced femininity and luxury to women’s fashion with designs that were often more voluptuous than the boxy, fabric-covering shapes of recent WW2 styles. These were wildly popular and Dior became the most successful fashion designer in the world.
Harborough by the Sea
Other events and activities at Harborough Museum and Market Harborough Library on 28th & 29th July, will include:
- Vintage storytelling, postcard colouring and children’s trail (both days)
- 50s & 60s music (Saturday 29th)
- Memory corner with 50s & 60s photos of Harborough (Saturday 29th)
- Goody bags (these will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis and are limited in quantity
- There will also be a display of fashion accessories in our temporary cases from June 27th which will run throughout the Summer, available now!
- Dressing-up clothes and photo opportunities for children and adults, available now!
- Seaside and cookery in the 50s & 60s displays in the Story Place, available now!
If you would like to find more about Harborough by the Sea and other activities happening as part of the weekend, please visit the official website.
