Friends of Malton Museum lecture on Wednesday 20th September 2017 at 7.30 pm in the Library, East Wing, Malton School, Middlecave Road, Malton
Dr Mary M. Brooks, a textile specialist, will give a talk called “Let them wear milk – mid 20th century fashion, fibres and fascism”.
Admission is free to Friends, others are welcome at a charge of £3.
With war looming, mid-twentieth century politicians in both Allied and Axis countries became anxious about the availability of wool for the military. New textiles made from milk, soya beans and peanuts were developed and promoted as fashionable fibres for the home market.
This lecture will explore the development and making of these fibres and their political and social implications. It will look at how their glossy image contrasted with the reality of mail-order purchasing as well as the problems of wearing and caring for ‘cheesy’ materials which shrank in the wash – and ask why they have slipped so quickly from memory. You will be able to handle samples and garments made from these extraordinary forgotten fibres.