Today I’d like to share with you some photos from ‘The Fabric of Democracy’ exhibition 2023 at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London. It illustrates – with a wide range of examples – ways in which textiles reflected political upheaval, were used for propaganda or functioned as a method of resistance,
This beautiful 1914 lace panel made with linen depicts a soldier fighting in the First World War and was made in Lusarna (then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire).
Examples from the Second World War included an underwear set and a dressing-gown (seen further below) which had been made up from an escape map printed on silk. The items were a gift to Countess Mountbatten by a boyfriend serving in the RAF.
Also from this period was the American poster below, produced in 1942 to encourage women’s contribution to the war effort by working in factories.
Government propoganda even found its way into fashion textiles, as seen in this scarf by Jacqmar from the early 1940s
There were interesting examples of celebratory textiles such as this dress printed with images from the coronation (detail seen further below).
For a thoroughly up-to-date example of textiles carrying a political message, there was an example of the ‘pussy hat’ (used on women’s marches in 2019) plus the instructions for making one, further below.
‘The Fabric of Democracy’ exhibition is on until 3 March 2024 at the Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3XF
website: https://fashiontextilemuseum.org/
I have been away from home a couple of times recently and I’ve been using my own version of the ‘Pretty Purses’ zipped bags seen below. They are a perfect size I find for the plugs and cables for my phone and e-reader. Plus, this is a great scrap project! Find the pattern here
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Amanda Jane Textiles 