Embrace the power of dressing up with English Heritage

Throughout August, English Heritage are offering adults the opportunity to dress up at their properties across the nation as part of new research that suggests that our imaginations increase with age.

The research commissioned by English Heritage suggests that imaginations grow richer the older we get, so to learn more, they are offering dressing up opportunities to adults at 11 sites across England over the summer.

Speaking about the project, English Heritage’s Head of Visitor Experience, told reporters: “Adults often forget how much fun dressing up can be, it’s about imagination and stepping back in history. Whether they want to be a steely knight, a judicious Roman senator or an Elizabethan lady, we have just the outfit.”

The research is being undertaken alongside the University of Kent’s psychology department, who spoke to participants at Dover Castle, aged between 4 and 81, to imagine the use of various Roman objects, including a dress fastener, a weight and a mold of a God. The answers were then analysed for originality and elaboration. It was found that older adults were more likely to provide detailed and colourful ideas compared to children and young adults.

The adult dressing up plan is central to the English Heritage’s One Extraordinary Summer campaign. Sites taking part include Corbridge Roman Town on Hadrian’s Wall, Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire, Dover Castle in Kent, Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, Eltham Palace in London, Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, Pendennis Castle in Cornwall, Boscobel in Shropshire, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight and Witley Court in Worcestershire.