Throughout history, the way people dressed influenced how others perceived them. This was true in the class-conscious society of the fifteenth century, and particularly for the Paston family living in Norfolk. A middling sort of family in the years of the Wars of the Roses, this was a family with its eyes fixed on gentry status. Impressing the neighbours was vitally important; so was being careful with their money.
At the beginning of the century Clement Paston was a mere husbandman with no claim to social standing. By the reign of King Henry VII his great grandson John Paston was a knight and invited to events at court.
What did their clothing and their household textiles tell us about the aspirations of this level of society? Here we can search the Paston letters and wills, as well as the inventories of Paston manors, for glimpses of how they chose to make a statement in society.
Speaker: Sunday Times Bestselling author Anne O’Brien was born in West Yorkshire. After gaining a BA Honours degree in History at Manchester University and a Master’s in Education at Hull, she lived in East Yorkshire for many years as a teacher of history.
Today she has sold over a million copies of her books in the UK and internationally. She lives with her husband in an eighteenth-century timber-framed cottage in the depths of the Welsh Marches in Herefordshire. The area provides endless inspiration for her novels about the forgotten women of medieval history.
C&TA ONLINE ONLY MEMBERSHIP
Our Online Membership is for those who attend our virtual events – and would like to receive a digital copy of our annual Miscellany journal, join in our members’ monthly online ‘Crafty Chats’, online discount and more … for the affordable rate of only £15.00 per annum.
If you would like to sign up for Online Membership, please click on the link.
Online members will receive discounted member ticket rates for our virtual events (i.e. not in person events, usually held in Norwich, Norfolk, UK)
FULL C&TA MEMBERSHIP
Full C&TA membership is for those who enjoy attending in-person – and online – events, as well as the benefits of visiting Norwich’s remarkable Norfolk Museums Service’s museum collections, plus other locally-available discounts. For Full Membership, please click on the blue link. Full individual membership is £25.00 per annum (see the C&TA website for other membership types): www.ctacostume.org.uk
We look forward to welcoming you as a C&TA Member.
Any queries about membership, please email: membershipcta4@gmail.com
Any queries about online events, please email: ctacostume.events@gmail.com
In 2024, the C&TA celebrates our Coral Anniversary: 35 years of supporting the Norfolk Museums Service’s costume and textiles collections
The Costume & Textile Association (C&TA) host regular online events via zoom, in addition to in person events in Norwich, Norfolk, UK
Online Programme for Spring / Summer 2024
Tuesday 23 January Tartan with Jonathan Faiers, professor of Fashion Thinking at Winchester School of Art, author and co-curator of Tartan exhibition at V&A Dundee
Wednesday 21 February Dressing Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes with Jane Pritchard, curator of Dance, Theatre and Performance at the V&A. 2024 celebrates the 150th birthday of Nicolas Roerich, the 100th anniversary of Leon Bakst and the 111th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring ballet
Tuesday 12 March Jane Austen’s Wardrobe with Dr Hilary Davidson, dress, textile and fashion historian, curator and author
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NORFOLK MAKERS’ FESTIVAL EVENT 13 – 21 April 2024, ONLINE & @ THE FORUM, NORWICH
Free Exhibition in The Gallery, The Forum, Norwich Daily 10 am – 4 pm. 13 – 21 April 2024
ONLINE EVENT Saturday 13 April 2 pm Agony & Ecstasy: History of Corsets with Joy Evitt, C&TA (Free, donations welcome)
ONLINE EVENT Sunday 14 April 2pm Spinning a Yarn: Women Spinners in Norfolk’s Medieval Worsted Industry with Jenn Monahan, Geoffrey Squire Memorial Bursary Award 2019 (pre-recorded talk followed by Live Q&A with Jenn)(Pay what you can)
**IN PERSON EVENT @ THE FORUM, NORWICH 12 noon Monday 15 April 35 Years of C&TA Support with Ruth Battersby, senior curator, Norfolk Museums Service (NMS) (Pay what you can)
ONLINE EVENT Tuesday 16 April 7 pm Double Weave: Modernist Designers Bourne & Allen with Dr Jane Hattrick, co-curator of exhibition at Ditchling Museum
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Tuesday 23 April 7 pm Print Pattern & Narrative with Kate Farley, associate professor in design at Norwich University of the Arts
Tuesday 21 May 7 pm The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes: Secrets from a Victorian Woman’s Wardrobe with Dr Kate Strasdin, author and senior lecturer in Cultural Studies at the Fashion and Textiles Institute, Falmouth University
Wednesday 5 June 7 pm Courtly Coral: Red Coral and Coral Motifs at the Chinese Imperial Court with Dr Pippa Lacey, C&TA
Tuesday 23 July 7 pm The Pastons: Clothes Maketh the Man (and Woman) with best selling author Anne O’Brien
August Summer Break
Tuesday 24 September 7 pm Fashion on the Silk Roads with Professor Susan Whitfield, Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC)
