London College of Fashion

Doreen was born within the sound of Bow Bells which makes her a true Cockney. She became a Pearly Queen in the mid 1990s, firstly as a Pearly Pride (an apprentice) and eventually earning her title. Unusually Doreen has two titles, one in her own right (Pearly Queen of Bow Bells), and one with her late husband (Pearly King and Queen of Old Kent Road). The main business of Pearlies, according to Doreen, is collecting funds for charities. An average day involves putting on your outfit and standing outside supermarkets rattling a bucket. Doreen's outfit has motifs of flowers, bells and horseshoes and her jacket is covered in badges given to her by different charities.

The Thread | Fashion Marketing Unravelled | Episode 1 by London College of Fashion

Whitelands College (now part of University of Roehampton) has an archive of May Monarch robes that date back to the 1870s. The first ceremonies were sponsored by John Ruskin, the writer and polymath, who commissioned the children’s book illustrator Kate Greenaway to design the first robe. Each year Whitelands elects a May Queen (or since 1986 King) who wears a specially designed robe. The monarch leads a May Day ceremony and is invested by a bishop. These days there's a procession led by Morris dancers and a service, and previous May Monarchs are invited back and wear their costumes. Gilly and Gemma are the College archivists and have both been involved in organising the ceremony.

Chris Barber has been involved in folk music and folk clubs as long as he can remember, and joined Forest of Dean Morris in the 1980s after getting married and moving to Gloucestershire. Shortly after joining the team, he was asked if he would like to be the Old Fool. The Fool is 'the Lord of Misrule' - his role is to attract an audience, keep them entertained between the dances and add an element of danger to the dances by interacting with the dancers. Forest of Dean Morris wear rag coats. These are homemade garments made by stitching multi coloured rags on to old jackets or waistcoats. Chris and his wife made his Fool’s costume from an old tailcoat. They created his top hat out of a cornflake packet.

Tim Watkin got involved in folk traditions through music and Mummers’ plays. He joined Stratford Morris and took on the Tourney Horse after finding it in a rather tatty state. He revamped the horse (using an old archive photo of it from 1910) and performs in it alongside the Stratford Morris team. The role of the horse is to clear the way for the dancers or interact with the crowd and collect money. The horse hangs from the wearer's shoulders and has a wooden head, basket neck and a skirt covering the wearer's legs. It's supposed to resemble a medieval tournament horse.

Tereza Mazak was born and grew up in Slovakia. She has always been interested in folk traditions and costumes, and her grandmother and great grandmother were both dressmakers. Tereza studied costume design at college and specialised in historical and theatre outfits. After moving to Edinburgh, she attended the Edinburgh Fire Festival, an annual event celebrating the return of summer, and then joined the Beltane Fire Society which organises it. Tereza was asked to design costumes for the May Monarch and the Green Man. Her costumes were inspired by nature and Celtic motifs. They were made as sustainably as possible, using upcycled materials and things from charity shops.

Making Mischief Oral History Project, 'EFDSS' full by London College of Fashion

John Land has been involved with the Minehead Sailor’s Horse all his life. His earliest memories of the hobby horse coming up the street are from before he could walk. He first took part in the procession as a teenager and is now involved in keeping the tradition going and organising the annual event in Minehead, on the Somerset coast. His wife Jackie and Paul Wilson are both folk musicians who also take part. The 'horse' comes out on ‘Warning Night’ (April 30th). It dances, chases the crowd and gets up to mischief in Minehead on May 1st to 3rd. The Minehead Sailor's Horse consists of a circular frame (possibly originally an upturned coracle) which is decorated with multicoloured rags.

Sue and John Exton are both artists. They started making Mari Lwyds after retiring from teaching jobs. A Mari Lwyd is horse costume made from a horse’s skull mounted on a pole. The skull is attached to a cloak which hides the 'rider' (the person holding and operating the skull) and the Mari Lwyd is led by an 'ostler' who, during processions and performances, guides the horse through a community knocking at people's doors and demanding entry to their houses. The tradition, which is predominant in South Wales, dates back to 1800, although there's evidence of people going around as hooded animals as early as the 4th century. John and Sue are passionate about their hobby and spend many hours creating their Mari lwyds which all have names.

Boss Morris is a group of female Morris dancers from Stroud in Gloucestershire. They formed in 2015 and perform at all sorts of events, such as local seasonal events, fetes, festivals and music awards (including Glastonbury and the Brits). Their style of dancing is Cotswold Morris but Boss pride themselves on adding 'twists and tweaks' and wearing 'radical' costumes. This has enabled them to engage with new and different audiences. They often perform with 'beasts' such as a lamb, a bull and an owl. All the costumes including the 'beasts' are hand-made, and designed and created by the whole group. Josie Wilkes and Lily Cheetham have been involved with the group for several years and absolutely love what they do.