‘Old, New, Mostly Borrowed & One Blue’ will be held in the Long Gallery at Doddington Hall & Garden every Wednesday, Sunday & Bank Holiday Monday 1pm to 5pm 1 August to 8 September. Exhibition included in admission; no additional charge.
An exhibition of unusual, interesting and historic wedding dresses will be taking place at Doddington. We promise a fascinating collection of approximately 60 dresses from around the county and further afield. The exhibition is supported by a grant from Renaissance East Midlands.
With such variety in the dresses exhibited and the stories behind them, it's difficult to summarise on our website what you can expect to see, however we have an overview for you - of some of the dresses but not all - which we hope goes some way to giving you a feel for what will be a fascinating and enjoyable exhibition:
Stately homes from around Lincolnshire will be represented. As well as dresses from the Jarvis family at Doddington including Victoria Jarvis’ 1960s Hardy Amies dress and current owner Claire Birch’s 1986 Droopy & Brown ‘Princess Diana-Inspired’ dress, visitors can see both the wedding dress and wedding kimono belonging to Rie Day of Fulbeck Hall; the white silk Princess-line dress with hand-sown pearls and train later used for christenings worn by Easton Walled Garden’s Lady Ursula Cholmeley and a dress designed by Miss Sara Perceval for the daughter of Shervie Price, owner of Harrington Hall near Spilsby. Also included is the wedding dress gifted to Lady Ursula d’Abo of Belvoir Castle – cited as one of The Queen’s most beautiful Maids of Honour at her Coronation - by the Maharani of Jaipur in 1946/7.
Dresses of historical interest are included. As well as very similar copies of the dresses worn by Lady Diana Spencer and Lady Jayne Grey, also secured is the dress worn in 1820 by the illegitimate daughter of George IV, who was just 12 years old when she married. The tiny dress is edged with ribbon and net lace with leg o’mutton sleeves. We are also displaying the 1922 dress worh by HRH The Princess Mary.
Unusual & local interest dresses will be displayed. These include a black wedding dress, a wedding dress for dogs, a knitted dress and a dress made from Lincolnshire Longwool by a shepherdess. Dresses worn in recent years at weddings held at Doddington Hall will be making a return. Dresses belonging to staff at the Hall have also been loaned, including the Nepalese dress belonging to Gauri Limbu. A 1907 silk dress owned by a lady from Skellingthorpe is included, as is a 1940’s gold silk dress worn at a Horncastle wedding. One Skegness dress was worn twice – firstly in 1947 by Mrs Tebb and then again in 1995 by her granddaughter Nola Shaw. A 1939 dress from Boston will be displayed - made of silk painted with flowers the dress was worn many times afterwards as was the practice in post-war Britain. A 1920s dress has been lent, as have a couple from the 1960s.
Curator and organiser Fiona Baker is busy securing many wonderful and fascinating dresses. Why not keep an eye on her blog? It's a fascinating and often amusing read!
As part of the exhibition, couples are invited to enter our draw to Win a Wedding Venue Hire at Doddington.
Anyone - ladies or gentlemen! - are invited to turn up on Sunday 15 August in a wedding dress and get in free. It's just for fun...
Note: we are currently booking group visits to the House & Gardens that coincide with this Exhibition. If you would like to know more about group visits, please click here for the relevant page on our website. Your contact for all group visits including those that include this Exhibition is Nicky Wilson on 01522 694 308.
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