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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Steven Morris

Parachute nightdress among recycled items on display at Devon fashion exhibition

Charlotte Eddington, an assistant to Killerton’s costume curator, admires an 1860 child’s petticoat.
An 1860s child’s petticoat and other pieces at Killerton House. Photograph: Steve Haywood/National Trust

Some of the garments in the exhibition are made of elegant silk, others of rough-looking wool or scratchy nylon – but what they all have in common is that they have been repaired, remodelled and reused, sometimes over the course of centuries.

There is a long-sleeved waistcoat made in the late 17tth century and then adapted and preserved over 300 years, wedding dresses handed down from mothers to daughters and brought up to date with clever tweaks, even clothes that were created during the second world war out of parachutes and old army blankets when fabric was rationed.

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