The Context: D289 Lido Blue

Dewhurst's advertised that there were 280 Sylko shades in 1930, and 300 shades in 1932. I think that it is therefore reasonable to assume that D289 dates from this early 1930s period. When you look at the colour name, Lido Blue has 1930s written all over it.

According to 1930s historian Juliet Gardiner, almost 200 lidos were built in the UK during the 1930s. It was a mania, and was closely tied to the Keep Fit movement that also took hold of the country during that decade. For an idea of what this entailed, you could do worse than watch Geroge Formby's 1937 film, "Keep Fit" - a send up of the whole thing. 


These lidos were an expression of the fondness for anything nautical in this period. If you were wealthy, the thing to do was get on board a luxury liner and go sailing. If you weren't so rich, then the next best thing was to get into your bathing suits or sailor styled sundresses and go to the beach or lido. In 1936, Cecil Beaton writing for Vogue magazine noted that shorts and sailor trousers were the very thing.

Needlework magazines of the period reflected the trend. In June 1934, The Needlewoman had the following projects:

Bathing suits, a child's sunbathing and promenading suit, a green jumper that "suggests a yachting or cruising holiday", a sunfrock and a beach bag. There was even a "Lido scarf" to make.


What with our bathing water situation, I propose a lido comeback please. I've got my reel of D289 at the ready.

Visit my Amazon page for all kinds of jottings set in the mid 20th century

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