The Mitchell Collection of Costume
The Mitchell collection of costume was kindly donated to the museums in 1991 from an enthusiastic local collector, Mrs Kathleen Mitchell. From corsets to capes and bodices to boots the collection of more than 450 items of costume and accessories contains many exquisite examples of historic costume especially from the Victorian and Edwardian periods. As with many museum collections, the story of its creation is as interesting as the objects themselves. #SUBHEADING#Mrs Mitchell#SUBHEADINGEND# #IMAGE# Kathleen Mitchell (nee Stacey) was born in Sheffield in 1912, and moved to Hull in 1950 to teach at St Johns Church of England School. She and her husband John Mitchell organised barn dances between two local schools. Despite initial problems making the boys and girls dance country dances together in a time of Rock and Roll, her enthusiasm was infectious enough to make the events a great success. The Mitchell's were well known within the Folk music and dance world. Kathy led a local branch of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS), which flourished under her leadership. She organised the Whitby EFDSS festival, and taught country dancing and sword dancing and prepared the Country Dance Demonstration Team. She was treasured as great teacher and very gentle woman, and in recognition of this was presented with the Gold Badge by the Society in 1978, the highest award they could bestow. #SUBHEADING#Collecting costume#SUBHEADINGEND# Kathy Mitchell's collection of costume was a personal hobby arising from a genuine interest and love of historical costume. She amassed such a large number of items that it virtually took over her house. She collected items from wherever she found them; second hand shops, auctions or through donations. Pat Raine, a local costume expert and friend to Mrs Mitchell, recalls meeting Mrs Mitchell after an introduction by a mutual friend. Kathy had been pleased to show her collection to a fellow costume enthusiast and someone who used the fashion and historical context of many items. Sadly very little of the collection has any known provenance due to the various methods of collection, but living in Hull and Sheffield makes it likely that many of the costumes have a local connection to the city and the wider Yorkshire area. #SUBHEADING#Donation to the museum#SUBHEADINGEND# #IMAGE# Kathy had talked to Hull Museums before her death about donating a few key items which were historically important, and a good addition to their collections. Unfortunately this had not been completed before she died in June 1990.The executor of her estate was kind enough to donate the entire collection to the museums including an extensive collection of slides, showing the costume photographed by Mrs Mitchell in her garden, sometimes on live models, a practice not advocated with historical dress today. #SUBHEADING#Acknowledgments#SUBHEADINGEND# Many thanks to Pat Raine for kindly supplying this information on Kathy Mitchell. Pat has assisted Hull Museums many times by providing research and expertise on costume items. The museums wish to acknowledge her long standing support. View all of the items in the #LINK=http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/museumcollections/collections/search-results/resultsoverview.php?keywordsorig=&titleorig=&personorig=&placeorig=&dateorig=&materialorig=&accessionnumberorig=&collectionorig=&museumorig=&keywords=&title=&person=&place=&date=&material=&accessionnumber=&collectionall=all&collection26=Mitchell+Collection&museumall=all&location=any&SearchSubmit.x=51&SearchSubmit.y=11TEXT=Mitchell Collection# or use the advanced search
1940s Fashion - Hard times for fashion
War time shortages had a big influence on fashion in the forties. Discover the restrained and austere styles of the forties, looking at the main fashion features of the period.
1940s Fashion - Utility scheme
War time shortages had a big influence on fashion in the forties. Find out how the shortages in resources led to a government restrictive fashion scheme, which placed limitations on how clothes looked and how much material they could be made from.
1940s Fashion - 'Keep young and beautiful'
War time shortages had a big influence on fashion in the forties. Discover how women managed to keep looking young and beautiful, and what hairstyles and make-up were popular during the wartime years.
1940s Fashion - back to 'Civvie' Street
War time shortages had a big influence on fashion in the forties. Read on to discover how the term 'The Full Monty'' originated, and why Christian Dior's New Look caused such a stir after the war time restrictions placed on fashion.
1940s Fashion - Rationing and Making do
War time shortages had a big influence on fashion in the forties. Discover how the government introduced a clothing rationing system, which meant people had to 'make do and mend' with the clothes they already owned.
Restrictive Fashion
For over 200 years women were required to wear corsets to mould their bodies. Find out how corsets were made and why corsetry and whaling were very intimately connected.
Madame Clapham: Hull's Celebrated Dressmaker
Madam Clapham was Hull's most celebrated dressmaker. She established her business in 1887 in Kingston Square, and continued until her death in 1952. Read on to discover how she developed her dress making business, when she reached the height of her fame and how she became a Court dressmaker.
Do you know your Utility wear from your 'New Look'?
How much do you know about 1940s fashion? Get out your Clothing ration book, put on your Utility wear dress and test your knowledge on fashion in the forties. Remember, all the answers to this quiz can be found in the 1940s fashion stories - so keep up that wartime morale and check them out if you get a bit stuck!
