1949 Fashion Sketches — an Awakening to Fashion

1949 Fashion Sketches — an Awakening to Fashion

A short while ago I looked through an old art folder of designs I did in 1949. (I was just sixteen at the time) I had forgotten that I sketched quite well considering I only had one and a half terms at the Nottingham College of Art. I left the Dress Design Diploma course early because my dad had been seriously disabled for quite a while, and I needed to earn more than the little I managed to get from sewing. I wanted to be able to contribute to the running of the home. My poor old mum was going out cleaning, looking after my dad, coping with all the household chores, as well as having to bear the brunt of my dad’s temper. (It was hard for any hard-working man to realise he was no longer the bread winner. Hardly any benefits in those days and, from his chair in the kitchen he tried his hand at many things — leatherwork, vacuum cleaner repair, pram upholstery and so on. What with that and terrible night cramps her suffered, his nerves were worn thin) It also has to be realised that we had not a single electric gadget and all cleaning and washing had to be done by hand. Such was the lot of most working-class families. In those days, men went out to work and wives looked after the home and family. Being wife, mother, and domestic was a full time job. I got a job in a shop before I told the college I was leaving. The tutor said I could get help with materials but there was no way of meeting the thirty shillings a week pay I was to get working.
But I still wanted to be a designer. Through a friend of a lady who paid my mum to clean, I had an interview with the manager of the outerwear department of a large Nottingham clothing manufacturer. So started my career as a dress designer. It was quite thrilling to see my designs in shop windows, even more to meet someone in the street wearing one.
When I started writing about ten years ago, I used some of my own experiences to provide an authentic setting for my first book, Awakening Love. I broadened the story out and gradually developed strong characters that were to carry the tale onwards to a new emerging generation. So the Love By Design trilogy was born.
The whole history of dress design is reflected in the pages of the Love By Design trilogy.

For more info on the trilogy go to my author blog
To buy eBook versions of the trilogy go to the Dare Empire bookstore
For printed books go to Magpies Nest Publishing and read chapters and reviews. PalPal purchasing. Free delivery in UK.
Printed handcrafted books AGPress — free delivery in USA (Awakening Love - USA title is DESIRE)