For diver Chris Carr, finding the right party dress for the Millennium involved more than the usual trawl round the shops.

Her dark blue creation is made from material salvaged from the wreck of the SS Dakota, which hit the rocks off Anglesey in 1887. The 18m of fine clothe were among the possessions of the emigrants heading from Liverpool to America. Preserved by the mud, the fabric was retrieved on a dive with the Merseyside Sub-Aqua Group.

'I realised what it was, so we dug it out and brought it to the surface. It felt like silk, but was in fact a very fine wool. I took it to the Merseyside Maritime Museum and I was told not to wash it but to let it dry so I laid it out in the garden on a fine day.'

The material was turned into a stunning gown complete with train and bolero jacket by designer Jeanie Woodbridge, who admitted to having a few nerves when cutting it.

Mrs Carr will wear the dress to a friend's party on New Year's Eve. An injury has since forced her to give up diving with her husband Geoff after 20 years, but she said 'we have made some fantastic discoveries and this is one of the best'.

(Daily Mail, 28^th December '99)