Ahoy. London has always been a port. Until a hundred years ago, the river was was once so crowded with ships that it was said you could cross without getting wet. Our speakers Alex Werner and Amber Jane Butchart row us back to its Victorian heyday and show how its images and inhabitants were set sail upon the seas of London psyche.

A soundtrack for the city will be provided by The Clerkenwell Kid.
Hendricks will be on hand to provide rum, sodomy and the lash the gin.

London’s nineteenth century ‘Sailor Town’ centered on a few distinct localities close to the London docks and the river Thames. Above all, it was Ratcliff Highway and the surrounding area, lined with taverns, dance halls, brothels and lodging houses, that attracted sailors of all nationalities. The streets and alleys in the vicinity were dangerous, lawless places at night. The popular press featured regular reports of petty and violent crimes committed there while journalists wrote colourful essays of the vice and depravity of ‘Tiger Bay’. Alex Werner of the Museum of London Docklands, joins us to tell stories of this real and mythical place which became so important in the Victorian imagination.

Then, Salon alumni fashion historian Amber Jane Butchart takes us on a long languorous over-the-shoulder look at the fantasy image of the 19th century London sailor and the cult of ‘sailor style’. Amber examines how this humble Victorian creature became sexualised and objectified in the Illustrated London News. She describes the subsequent transition of sailor uniform into fashionable dress, women cross dressing as sailors in the London Music Halls and the birth of a gay icon in popular media and visual culture.

Alex Werner is Head of History Collections at the Museum of London and has curated a number of major displays including ‘Jack the Ripper and the East End’, ‘Dickens and London’ and most recently ‘Sherlock Holmes, the man who never lived and will never die’. He has made a special study of the history of London’s port and river. His publications include 'London’s Lost Riverscape' and 'Dockland Life', both co-authored with Chris Ellmers.

Amber Jane Butchart is a fashion historian on a quest to place the semiotics of style in a wider cultural, political and social sphere. She is an Associate Lecturer at London College of Fashion and regularly discusses the history and culture of dress for the likes of Woman’s Hour, Making History and the Great British Sewing Bee. Her latest publication, 'Nautical Chic', is the first book to track the history of high style on the high seas, focussing on the influence of maritime dress and history on our wardrobes.

SALON FOR THE CITY is an ANTIQUE BEAT production sponsored by HENDRICKS GIN