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Description: | Dress is made of silk georgette with hand figgoted inserts and has an elaborately draped skirt with uneven hem. A number of graduates of the Barrett Street school in the 1920s and 1930s remember the many fine fabrics that were used to make garments for their annual exhibitions of work. Miss Cox who was head mistress, and the trade staff of the school enjoyed a close working relationship with many West End firms, some of whom donated the materials for students use. Many of the girls either went to work or were working for these firms, and attended evening or day release courses. During WWII, due to government restrictions on the supply of material, this practice was stopped. The dress in this photograph may be made from donated fabric. Trade overalls Notes in the archive indicate that, from the 1915 inception of the Trade School for Girls at Barrett Street, pupils wore trade overalls that reflected their area of study. From the photographic archive, the following convention seems to have been followed up until the mid-1930s, with some possible exceptions for hairdressing students during the early years of the school: · Dressmaking students - wore white overalls with red and green embroidery. · Embroidery junior students - wore white overalls with collars embroidered in orange and gold · Embroidery senior students - wore white overalls with embroidered monograms · Tailoring students - wore blue overalls (these appear dark in the black and white archive images) · Hairdressing junior students - wore short sleeved overalls with black and white embroidered collars · Hairdressing senior students - wore plain white overalls During this period, overalls may also have been characterised by the cut of the neckline: round necks for embroidery students, square necks for dressmaking students. This differentiation is at times seemingly inconsistent in the photographic archive, although it has been reported by at least one historian who has studied the history of the London trade schools. Around the early to mid 1930s, trade overalls for students were changed to wrap around garments. No uniforms were required for mature evening students of any period. | Subjects: | photograph trade overalls Dressmaking/Design: womenswear uniform eveningwear dresses bow female student embroidery | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Photographer unknown Creator Corporate Name: Barrett Street school | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=7653... | Go to resource |
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