The clothes worn by some of Blenheim’s most colourful characters will be revealed in a special live streaming event hosted by TV’s Sue Perkins next week.
The accomplished writer, actor and comedian will be interviewing Blenheim Palace’s social historian Antonia Keaney about her book – A Passion for Fashion: 300 Years of Style at Blenheim Palace.
The book provides an amusing look at some of the clothes, underclothes, shoes and accessories worn by many of the more colourful characters in Blenheim Palace’s history, as well as a cautionary look at the role that arsenic, lead, mercury and mousetraps played in the fashions of the day.
Sue said: “I’ve always been intrigued by the role fashion has played throughout history and am really looking forward to chatting with Antonia to discover how it’s been a key part of aristocratic life at Blenheim Palace down through the ages.”
“I did a series for the BBC called Supersizers, which was about the history of fashion and food and have some painful, first hand experiences of the lengths people were prepared to go to look good. This will be the perfect opportunity to discover why and also to learn more about Blenheim’s most interesting and influential female characters,” she added.
Together with her presenting partner, Mel Giedroyc, Sue has become a well-loved face on British television in a career, which has lasted over 25 years, including seven series of The Great British Bake Off.
Sue’s many other TV credits include Insert Name Here, Heading Out, Thronecast and her popular travelogues on Japan, Kolkata and the Ganges river.
The live stream event on Tuesday August 18 at 7.30pm is part of a series of virtual seminars being staged at Blenheim.
Other guest presenters include author Hugo Vickers talking about Gladys Deacon, the fascinating and enigmatic second wife of the Ninth Duke of Marlborough, Celia Sandys, writer and Winston Churchill’s granddaughter, and Allen Packwood, Director of the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge.
Tickets for the event are £5 and are available to purchase from the Blenheim Palace website https://www.blenheimpalace.com/virtual-experiences/
