Summer Holiday At The Walsall Leather Museum
On the day that my son breaks up and school is out for Summer, it seems apt to look at a new exhibition at the Walsall Leather Museum which celebrates all things related to Summer Holidays. The Summer Holiday exhibition takes items from the Walsall Collection, and the Hodson Shop collection to give a glimpse of how we spent our Summer holidays in the last century.
The Summer Holiday exhibition showcases fashion, accessories and archive photography which shows how the British experience of holidays moved from the Kiss Me Quick hats and Butlins chalets of the original British holiday, to the cheap trips to Spain that made us look more further afield in terms of our Summer break.
Beautiful printed Summer dresses and some fabulous swimsuits are my personal favourite pieces from the exhibition, a snapshot of Summer fashion from the past, but still totally wearable today (surprisingly modern too.)
This stunning blue bathing suit is my personal favourite from the exhibition, I can imagine Kelly Brook wearing this.
There are also objects that speak of a different kind of holiday, tins and flasks and small camping stoves that have a Famous Five feel to them, and show that a love of life under canvas did not start with Summer music festivals.
The fabulous array of vintage cameras are a lovely juxtaposition to the archive photographs that are on display and I also love the Vintage advertising posters that have a distinctly Art Deco feel to them.
The Summer Holiday exhibition is on at the Walsall Leather Museum until October. It is free to enter and can be combined with a look around the rest of the museum. Throughout the Summer there are a number of child friendly workshops taking place. You can download the events programme by visiting this page here.