We have just presented a Tudor Talk with display at Sunderland Library and Arts Centre.

The Sunderland Library and Arts Centre has just been reopened and our talk was part of the events to celebrate. We were located in a large meeting room on the second floor, purpose built for events at the library – it also had a wonderful state of the art kitchen and changing area – perfect for our events.

Included was a brief history of the Tudors and their clothes.  Beautiful costumes for Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots – as well as headdresses, jewellery, fans and Tudor Underwear were on display.   King Henry VIII himself in full regalia made a personal appearance and there was also a mannequin dressed as Queen Elizabeth I in a very Ornate Gold embroidered Silk Gown with Ruff and Fan. 

We have a good number of guests attending our talk – in fact more chairs had to be added prior to my lecture to accommodate the extra visitors! My talk was very well received – we received both excellent feedback from both our guests and also the staff at Sunderland Library and Arts Centre.

I mentioned the inspiration for my work started in Sunderland itself. In 1969 at the tender age of 11 I attended a screening of a film at the ABC cinema in Sunderland – it was called Anne of the Thousand Days ‘starring Genevieve Bujold as ‘Anne Boleyn. With the romance and beauty of the gowns, as well as sets and costumes used in the production it inspired in me a lifelong passion for anything connected with ‘Anne Boleyn’ as well as a desire to recreate costumes from the 16^th Century. I made my first ‘Anne’ costume at the age of 14 from a cut down red velvet dress of my mothers – I thought I looked wonderful.At the age of 17 I attended Sunderland Youth Theatre which gave me a taste for theatre production. After completing my A levels I enrolled for a one year Foundation Course in Art and Design at Sunderland University – a year which I thoroughly enjoyed which led to me studying  a BA Hons Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University.  

I enjoyed chatting to a lovely lady who is currently designing and making costumes for a local theatre production. Her daughter will be starring as Anne Boleyn – she mentioned she has three Tudor costumes to design in three weeks – no mean feat!! I was happy to give her as much advice as I could.

I also received an enquiry from a lady who is a member of a local embroiderers Guild – she said she really enjoyed the talk and would it be possible to book us next year for her group – I replied that we present a lot of events to ladies groups, Townswomen’s Guilds, the WI and also Embroiderers Guilds.  She said they were fully booked for this year and would be in touch about booking us for next year. As we already have a lot of events booked for 2015 – I advised her to email us now. 

I have just received the following comment from Norma who attended our talk

“Enjoyed your talk and costume demonstration. It has been wonderful to go onto your site and watch the videos, great to see you in costume and the fab King Henry. Thanks again for a very enjoyable afternoon in Sunderland Library.”  

Thank you Norma for your excellent comment.

We are having a very successful year – our best ever I am pleased to say.

I would also like to thank Julie Lawrence and her team for making our ‘Tudor talk and Costume display such a success – I am sure we will be presenting more events at Sunderland Arts Centre and Library in the future.

Talks on ‘The Tudors’

Our fabulous costumes bring back history.

Included in our costume display is a beautiful Blue and Gold Ornate Anne Boleyn Gown and headdress. My husband appears in full regalia as King Henry VIII to present an entertaining and lively talks on the ‘Tudors’.

Please find below a selection of comments/letters from pupils who have enjoyed our ‘Tudor Talks’.

Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did.

On Saturday 5^th May, Sunday 6^th May and Monday 7^th May 2012 we will present our exciting and dynamic Period Fashion Shows three times daily at beautiful Belsay Hall in Northumberland as part of the fabulous weekend of ‘Fashion from the Past’ for English Heritage.

See a variety of sumptuous Tudor costume displayed in fashion presentations revealing the secrets of Tudor courtly costumes.  The shows are accompanied by period music and talks. Find out not only about the history of the person wearing the costume but also how the costumes, jewellery, fans and masks are designed and created.

http://www.journallive.co.uk/northumberland-sites/ponteland-northumberland/ponteland-news/2012/04/18/fashions-brought-back-to-life-61634-30786348/   

Last year over 3300 people visited Belsay to view our Fashion Shows and costume display – I am sure we will have even more visitors this year. Included are my new and fabulous costumes for two of Henry VIII’s wives – Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard.  The costumes will be modelled in the fashion shows and also included in my stunning display of 16^th Century inspired Period Costumes on show in the beautiful library at Belsay Hall from Tuesday 8th May – Sunday 27th May 2012.

My Catherine Howard inspired Gown in deep pink silk gown is designed to be worn at a Tudor Court Masque. It was inspired by portraits of the period and costumes worn in the film ‘Henry VIII and his Six Wives’.  It has a stomacher lavishly embroidered with gold/jewels and is worn with a matching French hood and beautiful ornate gold mask. Catherine Howard was a young, frivolous pretty girl who loved beautiful clothes – she received many as presents from the King. Catherine would have loved this type of very ornate, lavish and feminine gown.

The Gown created for Jane Seymour is a very beautiful and regal silver dress. It has been designed in very fine silver/grey silk and patterned silver damask fabric. The damask has black threads woven  to produce a beautiful pattern of crosses.  Jane Seymour was a very religious person and this pattern has been chosen to reflect her personality. It is embellished with pearls and worn with attractive hanging sleeves in shades of silver and blue.  A lace edged  silver/blue jewelled hood and exquisite silver feather fan complete this regal costume.

Also included in the display are ornate costumes for Henry VIII,  Anne Boleyn, James I, Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth. There will also be  Tudor Underwear on show – it gives a fascinating insight into what was worn beneath a period gown.

I look forward to seeing you at Belsay next month – everyone is welcome.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/events/fashion-from-the-past-costume-presentations-bh-5-may/ 

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/belsay-hall-castle-and-gardens/events

King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I , Queen Anne Boleyn, Queen Katherine Howard as well as Mary Queen of Scots and King James I were presented to the public in the  Tournament Gallery. This exciting event was accompanied by fabulous Tudor music to create an exciting and dynamic  period atmosphere.

‘Tudor Times’ at the Royal Armouries includes knights in armour, stunning stunt horse-riding plus Family Fun Days throughout the whole of the Easter holidays.

The Tournament Gallery is a fabulous large hall which contains wonderful artefacts including the iconic centrepiece  – Henry VIII’s almost unbelievable Horned Helmet. This strange headpiece was a gift from the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I.

The visor on the helmet is in the form of a grotesque human face, with ram’s horns”. Its etched facial decorations bring it to life; stubble on the chin, crow’s feet around the eyes and rounded brass spectacles.  The spectacles look more Victorian than Tudor – Henry may have worn this peculiar horned helmet at court pageants, rather than in combat.

During combat you can wonder if King Henry’s opponents held back in case they injured the King, but apparently he was an excellent warrior, whether on horseback tilting or fighting on foot.

A screen in the hall shows the Field of Cloth of Gold. This is the name given to a place in Balinghem, between Guînes and Ardres, in France, near Calais. It was the site of a meeting that took place from 7 June to 24 June 1520, between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France. The meeting was arranged to increase the bond of friendship between the two kings following the Anglo-French treaty of 1514. It was called the Field of the Cloth of Gold because the King’s and their retinue’s tents were made of gold cloth.  The tournament took months of planning and ended happily with the signing of a peace treaty between the two powers. Henry knew how to put on a good show!

The gallery has several small suits of armour.  These were made for children – youngsters often started combat practice as early as 8 years old you may be surprised to know.

Another eye-catching headpiece is the Moustache Masked Helmet which has a facemask for show. It has a wide curling moustache below a large hooked nose cover. The facemask is removable, revealing an inner barred visor inside so it can be used in combat.

Our show was a popular event with over 200 people attending. The audience included quite a lot of children. They were very interested in the show as most of them are studying the Tudors at school. A young girl called Emily said “I enjoyed the show very much and wish all the girls in my class had gone and seen the wonderful costumes”.

I was also very pleased that some of my family who live in Yorkshire came to see the costumes – they loved the show and it was great to meet up with them.

I am so pleased everyone really enjoyed the occasion. It was wonderful to stage a Tudor Fashion Show in a room containing actual items Henry would have worn – it was a truly magical event.

I would like to thank all the staff at the Armouries for their help and support in making the show such a success particularly Kate Humble who is the Visitor Experience Manager. – Thank you Kate.

I have included photographs of the event below courtesy of Leeds Photographer  – Michael Kitchen – thank you Michael!

[See image gallery at www.tudortalkandcatwalk.com]

I would like to remind you that we are presenting a ‘Tudor Fashion Show’ with music at the Royal Armouries in Leeds next Friday 6th April 2012 at 12 noon.

The Royal Armouries is Britain’s national museum of arms and armour.

At the Leeds Museum there are over 8,500 objects on display in five galleries: War; Tournament; Oriental; Self Defence and Hunting.

Visit the newly refurbished Tournament Gallery and experience the might of Henry VIII – king and sportsman.

Our Fashion Show is part of the ‘Tudor Times’ events at  Easter which include jousting and an extensive reenactors market.

My new silver silk ‘ Queen Jane Seymour’ gown is currently on display until 6th April  in the entrance hall of the Royal Armouries if you would like to view it.

Our exciting event includes appearances by King Henry VIII in full regalia, Queen Anne Boleyn. Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots in her execution gown and a new silk gown for ‘Queen Katherine Howard’.

I have included a picture of my Elizabeth I costume worn in the Tournament Gallery beside a portrait of King Henry VIII.  It is worn by Adele one of the managers at the Armouries, she was kind enough to model it for photo shoot to advertise the show, thank  you Adele.

The event is free and everyone is welcome.

If you require more information please click the links below

http://www.royalarmouries.org/events/events-at-leeds/calendar/2012-04-06/tudor-fashion-show 

http://www.royalarmouries.org/events/events-at-leeds/tudor-times

Don’t delay if you’d like to see my magnificent Henry VIII Costume –  it is currently on display at Gosforth Library, Regent Park Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 3HD for only one more day.

Accessories I have designed and created for other outfits will also be displayed. These include beautiful Tudor style necklaces and girdles, ornate feather fans, pearl trimmed headdresses and jewelled masks. The costume and accessories will be on display until  24^th October 2010.  If you have seen my costume at the library I would love you to leave a comment at the end of this post.

Have a look at Newcastle Libraries Blog –  the first entry on 30 September describes my display – http://community.newcastle.gov.uk/libraries/

Details of my costume are also included in the events section in the Insight Newsletter at Northumbria University – http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/insight/

If you would like to read more about my Henry VIII outfit have a look in the costumes/displays section of this website.

Please find below photographs taken at Gosforth Library.