Showcasing 20 outfits, Bedazzled - on display at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight from October 26 until January 26 will celebrate 'the enduring popularity of beaded garments and explores the skills involved in making them'. The exhibition is also a chance for National Museums Liverpool to present recently-acquired items from the wardrobe of Leila Potter (1935 - 2022) for the first time. Leila was a successful businesswoman, charity campaigner and local councillor who spent much of her life in Wirral and Cheshire.
Evening jacket on display in 'Bedazzled' at Lady Lever Art Gallery (Image: Clare Bates. Courtesy National Museums Liverpool) She is said to have had 'a passion for dazzling, sequinned items of clothing, usually featuring the colour pink'. Pauline Rushton, head of Lady Lever Art Gallery, said: " Bedazzled is a riot of beads, sequins and sparkle – bringing a real dose of colour and glamour to the gallery over the festive period.
"We’re particularly excited to be showing some of Leila Potter's 1980s items for the first time. "Glitzy styles from this period were likely to have been influenced in part by popular American television programmes such as Dallas and Dynasty , where sequins and shoulder pads were synonymous with some of the leading female characters." The renewed appetite for dazzling evening wear in the 1980s followed the post-War period during which elaborate, beaded evening wear wasn't part of mainstream fashion.
Evening jacket on display in '.
