Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2019 September 20

= September 20 =

What do these dresses signify?


The above picture shows a street party in Ladywood, Birmingham, England. Perhaps the 1937 coronation?

Why are there four women wearing the same dress, each with a large label attached? What does the pattern on the dress represent? Andy Mabbett ( Pigsonthewing ); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:30, 20 September 2019 (UTC)


 * I don't know how we could hope to figure this one out. (Based on their weight and the table to their left, I'd guess they are judges tasting some very fatty food.) :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 20:54, 20 September 2019 (UTC)


 * We could hope that someone would remember similar things shown in other photos of the era, or perhaps would have access to newspaper archives where the celebration might have been reported and photographed. Personally, I'm stumped. --76.69.116.4 (talk) 06:33, 21 September 2019 (UTC)


 * NOTE: There's actually five such women in the pic. The middle one has her head turned away. HiLo48 (talk) 06:41, 21 September 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't think competition judges would have dressed uniformly in this era and milieu. My guess would be that they are members of a singing (or similar) group taking time out between performances. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.202.210.107 (talk) 13:05, 21 September 2019 (UTC)
 * The pattern on the fabric appears to resemble piano keys, so a music group is a reasonable guess. Alansplodge (talk) 07:47, 22 September 2019 (UTC)
 * It looks like urban camouflage to me; war surplus material? 2606:A000:1126:28D:6504:E9D7:43B1:CD4A (talk) 17:07, 22 September 2019 (UTC)


 * The pattern neither looks like camo nor piano keys to me. Note that the papers on their chests seem entirely too large to be normal name-tags, so must either be extra-large name-tags to be viewed at a distance, or contain many lines with more info. Since I see no hint of a name on them, I must assume we have the latter case, and they contain many lines of smaller text. Some type of qualifications, perhaps, for their role in the event ? If they contain the formal titles of members of the upper-class, those can get quite long, indeed. Their weight might also indicate upper-class membership, as back then being fat didn't carry the stigma it does today, and poor people then often weren't able to get enough food to become fat. SinisterLefty (talk) 18:16, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

There are also two women between the stalls and the street wall who seemingly have identical costumes. Can the general fashions be dated? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 17:38, 23 September 2019 (UTC)
 * It seems much earlier than the 1930s to me. My best guess is Peace Day, a bank holiday on 19 July 1919 to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the official end of the First World War. Celebrations including parades and street parties took place in towns and villages across the Empire. The jollifications in some places ended in rioting by disgruntled ex-servicemen, notably in Luton where the town hall was burned to the ground.  BTW, I should think that despite wartime shortages, there were plenty of fat ladies in England who were not aristocrats. Alansplodge (talk) 20:15, 23 September 2019 (UTC)
 * I do not think the other two women are wearing the same dresses (as the other five), though I also gave them a long second look thinking the same thing. Kind of odd that the headgear doesn't match, though I suppose the one with the... headdress? could be the leader (lead singer, lead musician, etc.). I'm torn between thinking the crowd are looking at the women (suggesting some level of fame or importance) or simply looking at the cameraman. I note that the one woman whose footwear is more or less visible is not wearing something you'd typically perform in, but rather a pretty heavy looking flat boot. Also, maybe it's just the inconguous footwear, but these don't look like dresses per se, but almost like costumes put on over normal clothes. Matt Deres (talk) 23:36, 24 September 2019 (UTC)
 * I meant the dresses were identical to each other (but different to those in the forefront).
 * Have Birmingham Archives been asked? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 17:00, 26 September 2019 (UTC)