Today I spent a lovely afternoon with Karen from Did You Make That?, Melissa from Fehr Trade and Susannah from Cargo Cult Craft at the Horrockses Fashions exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum.
Melissa and Karen looking very natural for the camera
Horrockses was a British ready-to-wear women's fashion label which was big in the 1940s and 1950s. The dresses cost £4 - £7, which is around £80 - £130 in today's money - so the equivalent of buying a dress from Jigsaw, say - but desirable enough for royalty to wear them. The brand was best known for its cotton summer dresses - vibrant, colourful and very wearable - which were ubiquitous in the increasingly popular holiday spots such as the south of France and Italy.
Karen looking suitably chic and colourful
Enough talk, let's look at some dresses...
Mmm... dresses...
Glamorous housecoats
This cute sunsuit looks like something Casey would make...
But we all agreed that no one could pull off this pink playsuit!
love, love, love everything I'm seeing here!! Some gorgeous dresses!
ReplyDeleteWhoa you're SO quick! Thanks for organising today, we should do it again sometime soon (err, a meetup, not the same exhibit again, obv!).
ReplyDeleteI wish I could go there too. It's so inspiring!!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous - thanks for sharing! They look even more beautiful en masse! Love the green dress in photo 4 - I can't quite make out the print, is it slices of cake?!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. Beautiful frocks.
ReplyDeleteNiceee! I love seeing stuff like this. Thank you for sharing =)
ReplyDeleteSherry - the print of that dress is of various foods - fruit tart, cheese, asparagus, hard boiled eggs...! Apparently it was something to do with rationing still being a part of people's lives in the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post. You keep GREAT company! The photos are fab despite lack of flash. I wish I'd taken more now. I also wish we'd taken one of you with your camera so that you could share your Beignet skirt, which is even better in reality than on the blog. Thanks for organising such a lovely afternoon.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous dresses.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that I've got some pics up on my blog from the photo shoot of the retro-looking skirt I just made along with a quick and easy tutorial of how to make one in under 25 minutes with just leftover material and no pattern. Come by and see if you get a chance.
Trudy of Sewing With Trudyhttp://sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com/2010/08/photo-shoot-of-retro-skirt.html
Beautiful dresses! I see quite a few I'd love to own!
ReplyDeleteI would totally rock the pink playsuit. Shamelessly. ;)
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know I saw Bright Star, per your suggestion. Loved it, loved it. It made me ache for a Fanny-like double breasted empire waist dress, though modernized a la mod as an A-line mini. Campion's so good at tension, just love all her films. Thanks!
yes I would! AND all three dresses from the first image. Looks like an awesome exhibition, wish I could have come. Next time..... xxx
ReplyDeleteOohhhh I lurve the lobster skirt too..what a gorgeous exhibition, lots of lovely things :D
ReplyDeletelooks like a fantastic exhibition.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I heard about the Horrockses exhibit and wanted to go, but unfortunately I'm on the wrong side of the Atlantic. Thank you for these pictures.
ReplyDeleteI think without the jacket the pink sunsuit could be rocked... ; )
ReplyDeleteOh, I wish I hadn't been on holiday when this was! Such beautiful clothes!
ReplyDeleteWow! I'd never heard of Horrockses before but every one of those dresses is exceptional. Thank you, thank you thank you!
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