Cutting it fine – Bespoke historically accurate costumes through the ages with Jane Sammells and Rebecca Atkinson.

August 25, 2026 11:18 am Published by

Friday 18 September 7:30pm – 9pm at the Dales Countryside Museum. No booking required and free to attend.

Rebecca Atkinson, specialising in the design and creation of bespoke bridal, evening and daywear, established Applegarth Couture.

Jane Sammells of Curriculum Kitchen provides a multi sensorial approach to learning, delivering historical food workshops into schools and museums.

Jane and Rebecca met when Jane tested the meaning of “bespoke” to the limit by asking Rebecca to make historically accurate costumes to enhance her workshops. Rebecca immediately rose to the challenge, supplying an array of much admired high quality costumes

Jane’s much admired costumes often lead to further questions about the ‘Underpinnings’ from these lines of enquiry Jane and Rebecca formed ‘Cutting it Fine’ and together with a handful of, as historically accurate as possible costumes, talk to groups about their research and Rebecca’s handiwork.

Each talk involves Rebecca dressing Jane in the costume layer by layer (don’t worry the bottom layer is usually far more substantial than modern women wear to the shops on a warm day, and much less revealing!) They bring along items of other eras to compare and where possible original pieces.

Jane and Rebecca also explain the fabrics used and why use of colour and fabric changed as well as cut and style, often to do with wars and patriotism rather than just fashion.

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This post was written by alsionj