Costume Considerations

Mayor Chris Rochester

We are being commissioned to make this robe by Councillor Chris Rochester, current Mayor of Bournemouth.

He considers the present robe too heavy for summer use and so would like a lightweight robe that is breathable.

The robe is only really worn for ceremony and civic occasions where it is worn with a jabot, lace cuffs and the Mayoral chains.

It is important to know what the robe would be used for and so I have looked at the kind of duties the Mayor performs.

‘Except Members of the Royal Family and HM Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset who represents same, the Mayor takes precedence over all persons within the Borough - including visiting Lord Mayors, Mayors and Town Mayors.

The Mayor is the First Citizen of Bournemouth and represents the Council, all political groups and the people of Bournemouth. He/she is a "public relations officer" for the Town and MUST therefore be NON-POLITICAL AT ALL TIMES during his/her Term in Office.

The Mayor, by virtue of the Office, also presides at the meetings of the Council where it is his/her duty to keep order and to carry out the procedure outlined in the Council's Standing Orders. These set out the lengths of speeches, the procedure regarding the rights of Chairmen of Committees in introducing their Minutes and their right to reply at the conclusion of a debate, and the rules governing Motions.

In addition to Chairing the Full Committee Meetings, held in the Council Chamber every six weeks, the Mayor will:

§  open a number of Conferences in the Town, extending Civic Welcomes and hosting Civic Wine Receptions for their delegates;

§  open various functions (school fêtes, new businesses and shops, etc.);

§  attend a wide variety of events (Open Days, school/college presentations, Annual General Meetings, Dinners, neighbouring Civic events, etc.);

§  entertain a number of guests in the Mayor's Parlour at the Town Hall (foreign visitors, Civic dignitaries, representatives of local organisations, etc.);

§  visit many people (schools, rest homes, people celebrating their 100^th birthday or Golden Wedding Anniversary, etc.**).

§  hold an annual Volunteer of the Year Awards Scheme

§  hold charity events to raise awareness and funds for local Charities.’

Costume Considerations

The Mayor will not be wearing the robe for the majority of these events and instead will just be wearing a medallion to show his position. I do need to take into account however that a lot of people will see this robe and so it needs to look professional, also people who meet him will see the detailing of the robe and so these need to be of a high standard.

The robe will be photographed and so the fabrics I think need to photograph well and the silhouette needs to be bold as well as the robe being lightweight.

Some events where the robe will be worn will take place outside and so we need to consider how the fabrics will react to weather. I imagine the robe will not be getting particularly wet but I need to think about how the fur etc. will react to water.

Price is another consideration, we have been given a budget of £420 and so we need to stay within this, on the other hand the quality of the fabric needs to be good to denote his superiority.

We will be handing over the garment before the ‘Mayor Making ceremony’. This is held on the last Friday in May and this is where the Mayor hands over to the next. The Sunday after this there is an annual civic service where the new Mayor will process with their Civic Party, wearing full robes, through the streets of Bournemouth to St Peter’s Church.