Symposium | Making More Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain

Making More Mischief: Folk Costume is an exhibition staged at London College of Fashion (09 April-23 June 2024). It is part of a 2-year NLHF-funded wider project exploring the traditions and contemporary practices of British folklore. 

We are hosting a symposium to accompany this exhibition and extend the themes of this project. Our aim is to share knowledge across the heritage sector, exploring co-creation of exhibitions, the exhibiting of folk dress, and prompting new ways of thinking around and displaying folk dress and seasonal customs. 

The line-up of participants includes folk participants like Pearly Queen Doreen Golding, Mattie Faint aka Mattie the Clown, and Bettina Fernandez Sleeman, founder of Hackney Para Carnival (who make costumes with and for people with disabilities). They will variously provide insights into the clothes they make, decorate and wear and how these express their folk culture and personal identities. There will be filmed elements and a folk performance. 

Two foundational lectures will provide context for folk culture and folk costume in Britain. Simon Costin and Mellany Robinson will explore the history of folk culture in Britain , in all its diversity,; how this rich culture has historically been suppressed and overlooked and initiatives to capture and safeguard it. These include the Museum of British Folklore that Simon established in 2009.  Dr Chloe Middleton-Metcalfe is the leading specialist and a rare collector of British folk costume. She will explore the culture and nature of, and the terminologies used to define, folk costume in Britain.   

We have committed to provide a free event which means there will be no refreshments provided. Please bring a picnic and drinks and enjoy lunch with speakers and other attendees.  

Folk Dress Symposium

The Folk Dress Symposium has been confirmed for Saturday 25 May at LCF. The draft schedule is as follows:

Morning session:

• Welcome to LCF: Professor Andrew Teverson, Head of College (and researcher specialising in folklore and fairy tales) (TBC)
• Introduction to the day: Amy de la Haye, Co-Director at CfFC, LCF and project lead.
• The Museum of British Folklore & Making More Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain: Co-Curators Simon Costin, Director, MOBF, Mellany Robinson, Project Manager, MOBF and Amy de la Haye, Co-Director at CfFC, LCF and project lead.
• Doreen Golding, Pearly Queen of the Old Kent Road and Bow Bells
• Richard Sleeman and Bettina Fernandez-Sleeman, founders, Hackney Para Carnival

Lunchtime session:

• Folk film clips introduced by Simon Costin
• Performance
• Picnic (B.Y.O) lunch participants – speakers and attendees

Afternoon session:

• Introduction to pm session: Mellany Robinson
• Chloe Middleton-Metcalfe – founder, English Folk Costume Archive on Defining Folk costume in Britain
• Mattie Faint, aka Mattie the Clown - archivist, Clowns International on Costume and Clowning Ceremony
• Kinsi Abdulleh, NUMBI Arts Founder and Director, Kinsi Abdulleh and curator of the Somali Museum Atelier for Making More Mischief
• Questions and Discussion
• Performance (morris dancing)

Arriving by public transport

If you are arriving via Stratford Station, please follow the PURPLE ROUTE and walk towards the London Aquatics Centre and when you reach Sadler’s Wells on your right, turn right onto the public realm (Sadler’s Wells is still on the right-hand side) towards our East Bank campus.

If you are arriving from Stratford International, please follow the BLUE ROUTE and then merge onto the PURPLE ROUTE towards the London Aquatics Centre and when you reach Sadler’s Wells on your right, turn right along the public realm (Sadler’s Wells is still on the right-hand side) towards our East Bank campus.

If you are arriving from Hackney Wick, please follow the RED ROUTE down Carpenter’s Road, crossing Carpenter’s Road Lock and then over Tallow Bridge which leads directly onto LCF UAL’s waterfront entrance on the mezzanine level.

Arriving by car

If you are arriving by car please ask taxis to drop you off at , which is less then a 5-minute walk away from the building.

The Cow Pub address:

4, Chestnut Plaza,

Montfichet Rd,

London E20 1GL

Host or Publisher London College of Fashion, UAL