The marvellous Doris Langley Moore looks at fashion evolution and sources of inspiration. Using authentic period costumes modelled by some familiar faces, she addresses issues such as why cloaks resembled lampshades in the 19th century and how bustles evolved from crinolines. Although the series was filmed in colour, the ability to actually transmit programmes in colour was slower to develop and didn't start on the BBC until 1967. As the Queen Mother had opened the Museum of Costume at Eridge Castle in 1955, and to enable her to appreciate the full colour spectacle, she was invited to a private film viewing at the BBC a few days before the programme aired in 1957. The collection was eventually moved to Bath and Doris Langley Moore made sure that every 12 months a new addition was made to represent that year's fashion. Mary Quant designed the dress that was chosen for 1963.
In the second programme of the series, Doris Langley Moore looks at impracticality in fashionable clothing and how it has been popular throughout history. Impractical, ornate clothes signified a person of leisure who took no part in manual labour. This particular fashion imperative was turned on its head, of course, with the arrival of the Swinging 60s and the democratisation of fashion brought about by people such as Twiggy and Mary Quant.
Doris Langley Moore explores the odd correlation between the amount of facial hair on men and trends in covering up in women's fashion. We also get to see Benny Hill in various states of hirsuteness, and a young Vanessa Redgrave demonstrates early 20th-century use of face powder.
In the fourth programme of the series, Doris Langley Moore explores how outfits for formal events are planned to call attention to our joy, grief or glory. She also looks at how ceremonial robes are merely once fashionable formal attire that has become 'petrified' and how this is particularly true in Britain, where we like to maintain the distinctions that reveal one's place in society.
In this programme Doris Langley Moore talks about how the capriciousness of fashion is demonstrated most readily in informal clothes, which are less expensive and therefore changed more frequently than formal attire. We are also shown an original example of the revolutionary Dior 'New Look' suit of 1947 alongside the boxy, utilitarian alternative favoured by the British Government.
In the last episode of this series looking at the history of fashion, presenter Doris Langley Moore shows how protection from the elements has always been of secondary importance. We also see how attitudes to covering up changed completely in the 1920s, when the acquisition of a suntan became de rigueur for those serious about style.
