The idea crystallised after Brenda and Jim visited the Victoria and Albert Museum in the summer of 2005 to see an exhibition devoted to the work of Charles Worth. "When I got home, I realised that we wanted something similar here in Bourne", said Brenda.

Her vision was, and it was then little more than a pipe dream, of increasing the scope of the displays with examples of the magnificent costumes Worth created at his Paris salon where he dressed some of the world’s most famous women. The perfect solution would have been to purchase an original dress but they are virtually unobtainable and all surviving examples are scattered around a dozen museums in Europe and America.

But photographs exist and last July she appealed though this web site for seamstresses to copy one of the costumes and she was pleasantly surprised by the result because several ladies with suitable qualifications replied. Within weeks, three of them, Claire Hart, Leslie Wade and Deborah Hallam, had begun regular meetings at the centre, planning the project in minute detail, the materials, the sewing and the means of display, and by Christmas the project was well underway.

Lady Jane Willoughby, president of the society, contributed two tailor’s dummies from the attic at Grimsthorpe Castle on which the dresses could be displayed against a mural of Bourne market place, painted by local art student Luke Ochrombel, aged 17, and all enclosed in a floor to ceiling glass frame made by local craftsmen. The cost was soon escalating and the Civic Society is not a wealthy organisation but Jim and Brenda were determined to see their project completed and, although nothing was said publicly, quietly contributed a substantial amount towards the final cost from their own pocket.

The dress that has been copied, using material from the period and specially bought from London, is a style known as Visite and made from off white silk with braid and bead trimmings, originally designed by Worth in 1885 and bearing the label of his salon at No 7 Rue de la Paix in Paris. This is the centrepiece of the display with two additional dresses, together with other costumes and accessories loaned by members and friends including an original jacket bought from the House of Worth in Paris. Cabinets were added to the new gallery on the first floor to accommodate all of the exhibits, new shelving fitted and the walls covered with framed photographs and documents illustrating Worth’s life and career while a computer in the foyer has been specially programmed to play a continual pictorial record of his dress designs.

Jim and Brenda Jones - a commendable personal achievement

The result is extremely effective and one that fully merited the civic opening that was performed by the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Judy Smith, who cut a silk ribbon at the entrance to mark the event. A coveted blue plaque on the wall of Wake House, erected by English Heritage in December 2002, already commemorates the birth of Charles Worth and the new gallery is a most impressive innovation for the Heritage Centre, telling visitors about the life and times of our famous son. It is also a highly commendable personal achievement for Jim and Brenda Jones.

The ladies responsible for this magnificent effort had no intention of resting upon their laurels and felt that the close rapport and working relationship that has been established by the project, engendered by regular meetings at the Heritage Centre during which time all have become close personal friends, should not be wasted and so they embarked on a second project.

Their latest creation is a glamorous ruby red evening gown completed from a design Worth produced at his Paris salon for one of his rich lady customers and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Jim and Brenda paid a visit to take photographs and make notes to ensure that they got the details correct and then after an exhaustive search for someone that stocked it, the material was ordered from a specialist firm at Harrogate in Yorkshire.

Work started in September 2006 and was finished just in time for the official unveiling which was held on Saturday 21st April 2007 when it joined the first dress they had produced, another fine example of team effort and the voluntary work being done in this town which will attract many visitors in the years to come.

A genuine dress by Worth was added to the display in August 2014, an evening or ball gown in burgundy silk made to order at the Paris salon. It was handed in to the Heritage Centre by a local lady who was given it by friends living in France, one of whose ancestors had it made by the House of Worth, suggesting that it might be suitable for a place in the Charles Worth Gallery.

Members of the Civic Society who opened the bag found to their astonishment that it contained a Worth dress made in 1921, inspired by the great man and most probably the work of his son, Jean-Phillipe, who took over when his father died and whose designs continued through the use of dramatic fabrics and lavish trimmings. The garment also bore the distinctive Worth label in embossed fabric, thus marking it out as one of particular excellence.
 

The latest addition has been given a prominent place in the gallery which has made its mark during the eight years it has been opened, attracting visitors from around the world, particularly Australia and the United States, and assisting many students working on theses for their fashion degrees.

“The new dress has become the most important item now on display”, said Mrs Brenda Jones, chairman of the Civic Society which runs the Heritage Centre and who was instrumental in opening the gallery. “We have a wide variety of other artefacts, documents, photographs and garments, but this is now by far our pièce de résistance.”

REVISED SEPTEMBER 2014