''Clothes-Line'' was an early

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television programme broadcast live in six parts between 30 September and 3 December 1937. It is notable for being the first television programme dedicated to the

history of fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

.Taylor, Lou, ''Establishing Dress History'', chapter 2 (Manchester 2002) It was produced by Mary Adams, and co-presented by the fashion historian

James Laver James Laver, CBE, FRSA (14 March 1899 – 3 June 1975) was an English author, critic, art historian, and museum curator who acted as Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings for the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1938 and 1959. He was also ...

and Pearl "Polly" Binder.

Broadcast times

* Episode 1: ''Clothes-Line'', broadcast at 21.20 on Thursday 30 September 1937 * Episode 2: ''The Sporting Woman'', broadcast at 21.20 on Thursday 14 October 1937 * Episode 3: ''Fossilized Clothes'', broadcast at 21.15 on Thursday 28 October 1937 * Episode 4: ''Hats and Headgear'', broadcast at 21.15 on Tuesday 9 November 1937 * Episode 5: ''Influences at Work'', broadcast at 21.15 on Thursday 19 November 1937 * Episode 6: ''Grandmamma Looks Back'', broadcast at 21.10 on Thursday 9 December 1937 Episode 4 was broadcast on the Tuesday that week rather than the Thursday due to

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...

falling that Thursday.

Concept

''Clothes-Line'' illustrated the development of fashion history through live models in original costumes from

C. Willett Cunnington Cecil Willett Cunnington (22 November 1878 – 21 January 1961) was an English medical doctor and collector, writer and historian on costume and fashion. When he died ''The Times'' called him the ''Leading Authority on English Costume''. He and h ...

's collection. Laver provided verse commentary on the garments, while Binder drew lightning sketches and illustrations at an

easel An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it, at an angle of about 20° to the vertical. In particular, painters traditionally use an easel to support a painting while they work on it, normally stan ...

. After the first episode was broadcast, '' The Listener'' commented: "we were left wondering quite what it was we had just seen and heard – a poetry-reading, a lightning-artist display, a

mannequin parade ''Mannequin Parade'' was an Australian television series, or possibly a highly unusual commercial break/TV show hybrid, which aired on Melbourne station GTV-9 from weekly on Saturdays 1 June 1957 to 24 May 1958. In 1957, Darrods, a now-defunct d ...

, or what?" As they went on to acknowledge, ''Clothes-Line'' in fact used features of all three to create a new type of television programme.

Controversies

Pregnancy

In addition to being the first television programme to deal with fashion history, ''Clothes-Line'' may well have been the first television programme to feature a heavily

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

woman. Binder had been pregnant with her first child when discussions for the programme first began, and a conscious decision was made to have her as a presenter. As she got closer to her

due date Due date may refer to * Due date (payment), the last valid day of payment for an invoice * Due date (pregnancy), the estimated delivery date for a pregnant woman * '' Due Date'', a 2010 American movie * ''Due Date'', a 2011 solo exhibition by Am ...

, and had to stand further back from her easel, the noticeability of Binder's condition caused consternation amongst the BBC. Binder's daughter Josephine was not born until 6 January 1938, almost a month after the last episode aired on 9 December 1937.

Nudity

The last show episode, ''Grandmamma Looks Back'', aired on 9 December 1937 and a fashionable backless evening dress worn by

Micheline Patton Micheline Patton (1912 – 30 June 2001) was an Irish actress who worked on radio, stage and television from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. Biography Micheline Elizabeth Patton was born in Belfast in 1912, and died on 30 June 2001 in Godalming ...

, the actress playing the granddaughter to Nesta Sawyer's grandmother, was the cause of accusations of public nudity due to the filming angle from behind. Binder recollected in her diary that outraged viewers wrote in to complain.

Repeats (''Clothes Through The Centuries'')

The first series was, as with so many early BBC programmes, broadcast live. The controversy of the final episode notwithstanding, it was so well received that it was decided to repeat the programme in early 1938. Laver, Binder, Adams, Patton and Sawyer all returned to reprise their roles for the second (revised) version, which consisted of three parts, and was renamed ''Clothes Through The Centuries''. The episode titles were: * Episode 1. ''Grandmamma Looks Back'', broadcast at 21.10 on Sunday 10 April 1938 * Episode 2: ''The Sporting Girl'', broadcast at 21.10 on Monday 2 May 1938 * Episode 3: ''Legendary Loveliness from Nefertiti to Lily Langtry'', broadcast at 22.00 on Friday 3 June 1938''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'', 27 May 1938

References

{{Reflist Fashion-themed television series BBC television documentaries BBC Television Service (TV network) original programming 1930s British television series 1937 British television series debuts 1937 British television series endings British English-language television shows