Angels Costumes

Today I had an event for the arts society where I arranged a group tour of Angels Costumes which is in Hendon, north of London. It was established in 1840 and is currently owned by the 7th generation of the Angel family. They have been awarded many Oscars and Baftas for costume design, for productions such as Shakespeare in Love, The Lady in the Van, Downton Abbey, Wicked and Game of Thrones. They have 8.5 miles of hanging costumes, with many different departments such as military wear, uniforms, furs, and even contemporary clothing. We saw the red military outfit worn by Poldark, the Games of Thrones costumes and some beautiful gowns worn by various well known actresses. It was a fascinating tour lasting over 2 hours and I can highly recommend it (bookings are made through their website).

We learnt many interesting things and had the most entertaining guide. Obviously moth damage is a real problem for them so in this image, which is a large warehouse containing outfits by decade, you can see the large air ducts in the ceiling. The air is totally recycled every 2 .5 hours and keeping the air moving with fans helps to avoid the moths settling as they dislike wind. In the fur section, the room is kept at a very cold temperature as the moths only like warm air. So dark wardrobes are ideal for moths to breed - to avoid moths ruining your clothes you should ideally take the doors off your wardrobes, keep the room cold, and keep the air circulating! We were not allowed to take any photos except at this point.

Then back home again, and tonight is book club. However it is also Burns Night so book club is being hosted by our Scottish member of the group, and instead of the usual drinks and snacks, she is making a proper Burns Night supper - I am looking forward to it!