blouse

Lady's blouse made up of printed silk maps of the Far East, as used in war time, round neck with band extending to two ties, three quarter length sleeves, button through front. Made by County Clothes of Cheltenham, Gloucester, an unusual examples of a professionally made and retailed garment made using war issue silk maps. Often clothing made from repurposed maps are home-made, in this instance there is a note associated with the documentation to say that the donor asked the shop to make this up for her as a bespoke item. The maps are printed on both sides and the pattern cutter has cleverly hidden away the key and serail number of the map in the armpits and on the inside of the garment. The fine slik of the blouse has been extensively darned and repaired showing it must have been well worn and in places the printing has faded or been washed away so it seems that it was worn for a fairly long period of time. The accession register states that he blouse was made up around 1940 however the maps used are from the 1944 series of maps so the blouse must have been made up after that date and most likely after the war. The style of the label looks later, possibly 1950.