@bookish there have been examples of things turning up after many years - the clothes of a Poole fisherman are on display in the town museum having been found in a trunk - the kit of a quite famous morris dancer was found long after his death, but unfortunately the family immediately disposed of it, as it was considered of no value or interest and it was only mentioned casually after the event.

Household skills of previous generations can be quite destructive - the old way of making a knitted garment means that it can be taken apart easily and remade into something larger or smaller - almost all the garments I made for my children were remade and then worn by the grandchildren until they fell apart. The best parts of worn out woven garments were often used for patchwork or rag rugs, the not so good bits became wash rags or floor cloths or bird scarers out in the garden.

Dressing up clothes from the attic or nursery were lost in the Great War, or if they escaped that, during clothing and fabric rationing in the 39/45 as they were carefully unpicked and reused for briefer modern garments - my grandmother used to do sewing for the people she worked for and had many patchwork quilts of cotton chintzes from the 1800s still in everyday use in the 1950s and 60s - most of which were burnt in the back garden when she left the family house. The skirts of the Victorian gowns were used for the new costumes, Nana was allowed to keep the bodice and offcuts as part of her fee.

Anne the Pleater