ULSTER REFORM CLUB
Established 1885
ULSTER REFORM CLUB
Established 1885
1pm Arrival
2pm Talk Begins
3pm Afternoon Tea served
£35
Society, Couture & Conformity on board RMS Titanic
As first class passengers boarded Titanic in Southampton, Cherbourg and Cobh, little did they know that the contents of their luggage would end up being costumes on the set of one of the most infamous period dramas in history, and ultimately the closing chapter of that most elegant and decadent of eras, ‘The Gilded Age’.
Join Mark Blackburne as he opens the steamer trunks of Titanic's rich and famous and reveals how what they wore on that fateful maiden voyage can tell us a surprising amount about the realities of women's lives in the upper echelons of Edwardian society with its rigid class hierarchy and often oppressive social conventions.
This illustrated talk not only provides a snapshot of the achingly stylish fashions of the late 'Belle Époque' years, but also the strict rules that governed women's clothing generally during that period, making this seemingly glittering world often feel more of a ‘gilded cage’ to those living within its exclusive but narrow confines. Through the lens of Titanic's ill-fated voyage we gain a unique opportunity to peer back through time into a dazzling microcosm of 1912 high society with its eye-watering wealth, rigid conformity and thinly veiled scandals.