Fashion Treasures From The 1920s To Vivienne Westwood | Antiques Roadshow UK

[00:00:00]This is a great dress.

[00:00:01]I can just imagine this being worn in the 20s.

[00:00:04]I would never have thought it were that much.

[00:00:06]I didn't expect that much.

[00:00:07]Goodness me!

[00:00:11]This really is the most unspeakably smart dress.

[00:00:14]Isn't it wonderful? - Isn't it just. Beautiful.

[00:00:15]- Who wore it? - My wife… - Really? -..and before that her mother-in-law.

[00:00:19]Oh, brilliant. Proper family treasure.

[00:00:20]Yes, indeed.

[00:00:21]It looks like the Odeon cinema on the front there, doesn't it?

[00:00:23]Exactly the same date that all those cinemas were built.

[00:00:25]- That's really what dates it, isn't it?

[00:00:27]- It is, it is. Very deco, very chic.

[00:00:29]And I think you ought to insure it for somewhere around about £300.

[00:00:33]- Really? - Yes.

[00:00:34]Goodness me. I would never have thought it were that much.

[00:00:36]But very nice to know.

[00:00:38]I don't think it's likely to go out of the family now.

[00:00:41]- I'm sure it's not.

[00:00:42]I wouldn't let it go if it was mine.

[00:00:43]- No, not at all.

[00:00:44]- Well, they say three's a crowd, but this is really quite a crowd.

[00:00:47]There's you, me and Vivienne Westwood. - Indeed, yes.

[00:00:50]I'm just going to do something very rude.

[00:00:51]I'm just going to check that we have… Oh, we do have the label.

[00:00:56]That's all right, that's good. - Good, good, good.

[00:00:58]- This is a great dress.

[00:00:59]Tell me where you got it.

[00:01:01]- I actually bought it – or my husband bought it, I should say.

[00:01:04]I'd seen it in a magazine spread and absolutely fell in love with it.

[00:01:08]And we just happened to be up in London, this was 14 years ago.

[00:01:12]And I just happened to guide him down the King's Road towards the World's End.

[00:01:16]I do that to my husband sometimes.

[00:01:17]It works, doesn't it? - It did!

[00:01:18]And it also happened to be my birthday, so it happened, which was great.

[00:01:22]- How could he possibly resist? - Absolutely.

[00:01:23]- And it looks terrific, I have to say. - Thank you.

[00:01:25]And even now, 14 years on, there's something about Westwood designs that have this sort of classic feel to them.

[00:01:33]And of course there is, this year, a retrospective of Westwood at the V&A Museum. - Indeed. Yes.

[00:01:39]Have you been?

[00:01:40]- I have, I did go and see it. - Oh, did you?

[00:01:41]- Because I love her clothes. - Yes.

[00:01:43]I don't own any other Westwood.

[00:01:45]I wish I did, but I don't.

[00:01:46]Or anybody else, come to that matter.

[00:01:48]But I was delighted to see the dress in the exhibition.

[00:01:52]- It's actually...? - Yes.

[00:01:52]- Well, I mean Vivienne Westwood, she's an icon really, in late 20th-century design.

[00:01:57]She and Malcolm McLaren created punk rock, with their shop in the King’s Road, called Sex.

[00:02:04]And out of that came this wonderful, extraordinary passion for design and a very quirky and a very English type of design.

[00:02:15]What did you pay for it? I'm sorry.

[00:02:17]- No, that's OK.

[00:02:18]- Am I allowed? - I'm trying to remember.

[00:02:19]Yes, it was about £250.

[00:02:22]- I can believe that. - Mm.

[00:02:24]I have to say, today, I would have thought we're talking about sort of £300, £400.

[00:02:30]So, I mean, it hasn't shot up in value. - No, no.

[00:02:32]But the great thing is, unlike almost anything else that you buy and wear, it hasn't gone down in value. - That's true.

[00:02:37]- It's not worth nothing. - Yes. Yes.

[00:02:39]So, are you going to continue wearing it?

[00:02:40]Oh, yes. I mean, I love it and I would never sell it anyway because it's just… I don't know, I just adore it.

[00:02:45]And I love wheeling it out every now and again.

[00:02:47]Fantastic, well I hope you and Viv have a great future together.

[00:02:50]Thanks very much.

[00:02:51]- I've got to do this. - Oh, I see!

[00:02:54]I can just imagine this being worn in the 20s.

[00:02:57]Have you ever worn it? You're not old enough… No, I've haven't worn it, no.

[00:03:01]- How did you come to have it?

[00:03:03]- I bought it at a local auction about two or three years ago.

[00:03:07]In the local auction in Dolgellau.

[00:03:09]And I just liked it.

[00:03:11]It's such an unusual colour, isn't it?

[00:03:13]It certainly is.

[00:03:15]- What is so lovely about this era is that the 1920s was, if you like, modernisation of woman.

[00:03:22]- Yes. - Emancipation.

[00:03:24]They threw away their corsets.

[00:03:25]They were free.

[00:03:27]I love the stylised… - It's glorious, isn't it?

[00:03:30]-..if you like, bows. They're like bows.

[00:03:32]They're not flowers, are they?

[00:03:34]So I think it could have been made in England.

[00:03:37]I don't think it's French.

[00:03:39]It's difficult because there's no label inside.

[00:03:42]So it has a lining, but the outside is muslin.

[00:03:46]It's very fragile – and very heavy, with all these beads.

[00:03:50]It just lends itself to the dance, doesn't it?

[00:03:53]It certainly does.

[00:03:54]Now, at the bottom, I had to look twice because I thought, "Hang on, it isn't quite the right length."

[00:04:01]Now, the 20s were the short length.

[00:04:05]And then suddenly, by the time we got to the 1930s, it was much longer.

[00:04:10]And so someone has put that on so they can go on wearing it.

[00:04:15]How do you keep it at home?

[00:04:18]I lay it… I've got it on a layer of acid-free tissue and I keep it flat because I think to hang it would be… The weight of the beads would drag it… - Eventually, with gravity and… - In fact, I'm hoping you can give me some advice on that.

[00:04:31]- Well, the advice is I think you're doing absolutely the right thing.

[00:04:35]You want to protect it from moths. - Yes.

[00:04:37]- Acid-free paper, obviously, is the right thing.

[00:04:39]Now, what did you pay for it?

[00:04:42]£50.

[00:04:44]You have done well!

[00:04:47]That's fantastic.

[00:04:48]Well, you've obviously got a good eye.

[00:04:50]In the right sale, probably in London, we are talking about somewhere between £500 and £800. - Wow.

[00:04:59]I didn't expect that much!

[00:05:00]- It's a pretty good return… - It certainly is. -..compared with stocks and shares, isn't it?

[00:05:05]- Because it was the end of the war, they couldn't get the fabric they wanted to make a coat… - Of course.

[00:05:12]-..so, all the ladies gave some material and designed it and sewed it up themselves.

[00:05:19]So, the way they've done it is they've done it as if it were a patchwork quilt. - That's right.

[00:05:24]So, they would have done it round a template… - Yes.

[00:05:27]-..joined it up in the patterns, just using up bits of material that they would have had in their bottom drawer.

[00:05:32]As you can see, some of the red is crêpe de chine.

[00:05:35]I mean, you just wouldn’t get that these days.

[00:05:37]- So, do you reckon they were using old dresses as well?

[00:05:39]- Yes, some of it was old dresses.

[00:05:41]And the white, some of the white was a lady's wedding dress.

[00:05:46]- Really? Well, that was a great sacrifice. - That's right.

[00:05:49]But why do you think it was made?

[00:05:51]Let's have a look at the back.

[00:05:53]Why do you think…?

[00:05:53]Was it made for a special occasion, do you know?

[00:05:55]It was their best coat, to wear for great festivals like Christmas or Easter.

[00:06:00]I wear it when I'm doing baptisms or doing a wedding.

[00:06:04]I have to be a bit careful when I'm doing a wedding because it is so beautiful.

[00:06:09]I find if I'm not careful, I tend to upstage the bride when I sweep in with this.

[00:06:14]- Well, it's not the sort of thing that we very often get on the Roadshow.

[00:06:17]Needless to say, as far as a value is concerned, it's irrelevant.

[00:06:22]I'm not saying it doesn't have a value, but it has a wonderful social story and that's the value to you and I.

[00:06:28]- Absolutely.

[00:06:30]- Well, I'm very lucky because I rescued them from a dustbin.

[00:06:33]- You didn't! - I did, yes.

[00:06:34]I studied at an art school.

[00:06:36]And when I was working at a studio that did painting for costumes and films, they were throwing them out.

[00:06:45]So, I said, "May I have them, please?"

[00:06:47]And I've had them for 40-odd years.

[00:06:50]This one, for instance, this is by Roger Furse who was a superb draughtsman.

[00:06:55]This is for Lady Hadley in Woman Hater – Edith Evans.

[00:06:59]Wonderful. For me, it's a drawing in itself, with the watercolour on top.

[00:07:06]It's obviously meant to be exactly how they were going to clothe her.

[00:07:10]And all these… what she had to wear underneath.

[00:07:13]And wearing a sable and there's her sable. Wonderful.

[00:07:17]It even looks like her and it's only meant to be for the costume, isn't it?

[00:07:20]Now, this is another well-known costume designer called Berkeley Sutcliffe.

[00:07:27]Now, Moira Lister, this is another one we don't know exactly what this was going to be.

[00:07:32]I think it was Sweetest and Lowest.

[00:07:34]- I love the pinched-in waist, this wonderful… I think this fashion ought to come back, don't you?

[00:07:39]- It's very much a fashion of the 40s, isn't it?

[00:07:43]- Very much, very much. - They're sort of like fashion plates.

[00:07:45]- And beautifully executed.

[00:07:47]So, that is very fragile. I'm going to just… It's amazing they didn't sort of scrunch it up to throw it away.

[00:07:54]- I'm glad they didn't. - Yes, so am I.

[00:07:56]This is a splendid one, look at this.

[00:07:59]- This is for Hermione Gingold.

[00:08:01]- Hermione Gingold holding what is meant to be, I suppose, a Venetian mask in front.

[00:08:06]And look at the eyelashes. Aren't they wonderful?

[00:08:10]Again, by Berkeley Sutcliffe.

[00:08:13]This is Sweetest and Lowest, so, obviously, Moira Lister and Hermione Gingold both in the same production.

[00:08:20]Absolutely wonderful.

[00:08:21]Again, very decorative.

[00:08:23]- Very decorative and I think, in a way, the value lies in that.

[00:08:28]The Roger Furse was almost more collectable than any of the others.

[00:08:34]So, the Roger Furse one, we're talking about maybe £200.

[00:08:38]This one, because it's Hermione Gingold – there's a great following of her – and collectors will probably pay somewhere around £100, £150, possibly up to £200 for this one.

[00:08:50]But you've got a huge collection there.

[00:08:52]This is the tip of the iceberg.

[00:08:54]So together, if you really work out on an average of £100 to £250, I think you must have probably £5,000-worth there.

[00:09:03]I think probably, yes. Thank you.

[00:09:06]I've got a lot more, actually, at home.

[00:09:08]- Have you? - Yes.

[00:09:10]- Oh, my goodness.

[00:09:11]- But this one is, I think, probably one of the nicest.

[00:09:14]- Yes, I think so too. Wonderful.

[00:09:16]- They were done by my grandmother in the 19-teens and 1920s.

[00:09:23]- I mean, they are extraordinary.

[00:09:24]Here's a bathing costume here, put that on there.

[00:09:28]And lovely dresses here.

[00:09:30]I mean, there must be about sort of 50 or 60 dresses.

[00:09:33]Yeah. I remember as a child, that I was allowed to play with them on high days and holidays, and that I've always treasured them.

[00:09:41]And they were given to me when I was a teenager.

[00:09:43]- Yes. Well, I mean, she must have worked very hard because they are quite sophisticated and they're all hand-drawn and they're all coloured in with watercolour.

[00:09:53]She went to an art school in London and then became a dress designer, apparently for somebody called Raymonde.

[00:10:01]Raymonde's somebody who I've never... - Raymonde sounds terribly sort of French, doesn't it?

[00:10:05]Well, I don’t know if it's male or female but that's all I know.

[00:10:08]And really, I wanted to find out how I can find out more about fashion in the 1920s.

[00:10:15]And whether she really did design anything that was worthwhile.

[00:10:19]I think you'd obviously have to go to a fashion museum or a fashion design museum.

[00:10:24]You could go to the clothing museum in Bath... - Oh, right. -..I suspect, and see what literature they've got and whether, in fact, they can trace him back – or her back.

[00:10:35]But I think all of these are obviously, obviously good designs.

[00:10:39]This one's rather interesting because this one comes, well, it's almost contemporary, isn't it?

[00:10:44]You know, sort of very much off the shoulders but also with a contemporary tattoo.

[00:10:48]Very contemporary, I think.

[00:10:50]And this one here…..my goodness, you could hardly… It's hardly decent!

[00:10:55]- No, well, she was a bit of a girl, I think, in her day.

[00:10:59]The Roaring Twenties and all that.

[00:11:01]Absolutely, Roaring Twenties.

[00:11:03]And of these, you've got what, I suppose about another 50... - I think so, yes, yeah. -..set of drawings.

[00:11:09]So, a fabulous collection of costume design of the 1920s.

[00:11:14]It has to be worth, these 50 have to be worth somewhere in the region – very hard to value – but I would have thought between £500 and £1,000.

[00:11:22]Goodness me!