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A love story — with clothes as heroes

7 November 2020

9:00 AM

7 November 2020

9:00 AM

Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes Claire Wilcox

Bloomsbury, pp.304, 16.99

On the weekly ‘opinions’ afternoons, the public would arrive with carefully wrapped parcels holding items to be identified, writes Claire Wilcox. Sometimes this was a length of Brussels lace, sometimes a gown that could be dated not just to the year but to the season, because the fashion then was known:

Once, someone brought a box of medieval leather shoes and everyone was sent home while a specialist in protective clothing and mask was called in, in case they had come from a plague pit.

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