Saturday 8 February 2003 - Liverpool.

Our February meeting was held in Liverpool at the Blue Coats Chambers in the middle of the city in the morning, and at the Conservation Centre in the afternoon.

Our talk by Pauline Rushton, who is curator of Costume & Textiles at the Walker Gallery, about the Tinne family and their shopping habits was fascinating. Mrs Tinne must have been the original "shopaholic" as many of the items donated to the museum since 1967 are unused and still with their original packaging and price labels.

Being able to look at photographs of family members and then to see the garments they were wearing in the photographs was extremely informative, especially since the photographs were black and white or sepia. The colours revealed in the actual garments added a touch of realism and brought the period between the wars to life.

Lunch was provided by the café in the chambers and was excellent, though we were glad of the opportunity to walk a little of it off on our way to the Conservation Centre, about 15 minutes away. Here we saw exhibits from the Ethnology Department ranging from Tahitian bark fabric, New Zealand linen garments, African printed and embroidered textiles and Canadian textiles produced from red cedar. A curator from the department described each group of exhibits and there were many lively questions from members.

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