Feature - Jo Badger Historic Costumes

This was a feature article submitted for a university assignment.

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You hear the word ‘history’ and are catapulted into thinking of dates and dusty remains. For historical costume maker Jo Badger, you say ‘history’ and she is transported to a world of colour and fabrics. She may be found in her workroom with Lottie the Labrador and “shouting at the radio” but Jo time-travels daily – from prehistory to the 1960s.

“Golly, I don’t think I have one!” The hardest question put to Jo, creator of Badger Historic Costumes, is which is her favourite period of history. As she weighs up her options you can see the debate raging behind her eyes. “The 16th century for the religious changes of Henry VIII as well as the clothes. The clothes are completely mad and wonderful to make. I do like the 18th century for the look of everything and the beginnings of agriculture and industrial revolution.”

Jo sits. Cup of tea in hand. Lottie at her feet. Contemplating each answer. Her easy nature and unbridled passion for history spills out of each considered word. “Wonderful.” It’s one that comes up a lot. Suppliers, books, people. All of them come under the umbrella of “wonderful” but each is there in entirely their own right, having helped Jo in her work somehow.

The First Stitch

Jo started making historical costumes in the late 1980s while still at university at King Alfred’s College in Winchester. While there she gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Drama. “I have always been interested in history.” At this moment she bursts into laughter. Not because the statement is brimming with hilarity, because the resounding crash of Lottie dropping her bowl interrupts us. “What people looked like, what they wore. My degree was probably the starting point about being serious with making historic costume.”

She decided to set up her business when she was seven months pregnant with her son, Hugh, who is now nearly 17. “The prospect was either go back to work in the middle of London for English Heritage or try being a self-employed costume maker.” Asked about the thought of a ‘proper’ job now elicits a response which we could have guessed. “It’d be highly boring. I cannot think of a real job I could go back to.”

There is a pause. “I had to make a go of it really.” The matter of fact nature with which Jo talks about how she began her own business, sums up how she has approached the whole adventure. “I started off with contacts I had from working initially [at Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight] but a lot of it has been word of mouth. Museums are very nice and they talk to each other, they go to each other’s exhibitions. They’ll ask ‘who made that for you? Where did you get that from?’ so word spreads.”

Tying the knots

From her humble studio in Worcestershire her work has swept across the country. Her biggest project features in Lincoln Castle. “89. I had to make 89 costumes in total;” she recalls. “The majority of my 89 were prisoner’s costumes.” She pauses. Her next statement is spoken amidst a sigh. “Lots and lots of lovely grey wool.” She laughs away her sarcasm. Jo along with four others completed the project within the allotted six months.

The range of clothes she makes date from the Stone Age to the 1960s and all eras in between. Jo has hand sewn everything from pieces of leather to represent skins of early man, to the decadence of a Queen Elizabeth I dress which featured in the English Heritage magazine. “That was nice. You send your babies off into the world hoping that they’re going to get looked after so it’s really rewarding to see that people do appreciate the effort you’ve put in.”

Before being made, each costume must be subjected to a rigorous research process. Fortunately for Jo there are a wealth of books on the topics, and her own personal library holds hundreds of years’ worth of history. Museums and local councils also have a vast array of resources which she can utilise to see how a whole outfit would be put together. “Quite often with portraits or photographs you have to guess what is going on around the back or below the waist or hip height.” These collections eliminate a portion of this guesswork. For very early outfits Jo has to rely on letters and wills for research. “You’ll find people leaving their best petticoat to someone and their second-best petticoat to someone else. You know how much you’re liked by that person!”

Despite loving the intricacy of creating costumes that the wealthiest in society would have worn she finds the process slightly “daunting”. “You have to sit and look at things for a very long time before cutting out.” She chooses her words as carefully as she would make the cuts in the most expensive silks and satins. “You have to be really really sure that the patterns and the measurements are right and come back to it again and again before making that first cut.” She smiles and then adds: “But they’re the fun ones because they’re so highly decorated, you get to use really funky fabrics.”

At the other end of the spectrum, making clothes for ordinary people is enjoyable for Jo as well. “We’re not all related to monarchy so it’s handy to see what our ancestors would have worn.” This is something Jo believes museums and stately homes are starting to “twig onto”.

The final cut

So, is Jo pleased with the career choice she made? “Oh yes, yes” she laughs, eyes lighting up. “I get to work with some amazing people who know their stuff and are really enthusiastic about their period of history and their house and it’s wonderful.” Enthusiasm is clearly a staple requirement in this job. Jo, it seems, is overflowing with it. Concluding with a simple “it is good fun” sums up her modest attitude.

We will probably never experience time travel. But for Jo? It is all part of the job.