Horrockses at the Fashion & Textiles Museum

“I took three Horrockses Fashions frocks with me to the Middle East, and due to the heat all my dresses had to be washed regularly in primitive conditions. Only the three Horrockses dresses survived in perfect condition.” Letters of praise from Horrockses Fashions customers – like this comment from Irene Ashwin-Naylor in a note from the 1950s – were ubiquitous during the brand’s forty years of dominating the British dress market. However, you’d be forgiven for not recognizing the name nowadays – the label ceased production of their off-the-peg cotton dresses in the 80s, and rare Horrockses pieces are now only sold by collectors at specialist vintage markets.
But don’t despair; this month you can get a glimpse of a Horrockses creation at London’s Fashion and Textiles Museum, a little-known gem full of lavish vintage fabrics and fashion blasts-from-the-pasts. The exhibition focuses on the dresses, sunsuits and even maxi-dress inspired housecoats of the era. Browsing the early creations, it’s clear that James Cleveland Belle, Horrockses design director, took inspiration from Dior’s 1940s New Look; he created wasp-waised midi-length skirts and dresses which exaggerated the female form – think this autumn’s Mad Men-esque Louis Vuitton collection.
As the exhibition moves away from the birth of the brand to document their heyday as purveyors of sundresses for British beach holidays, the fabrics take a more playful turn. From neat nautical stripes and floral favourite roses, designs began to include a pepper-and-sweetcorn illustration, maps of the British Isles interspersed with lines from Shakespeare, and even a skirt decorated with bright dancing lobsters. Horrockses launched a childrenswear line, Pirouette, during the same years; there are tiny peter-pan-collared sailor suits and mini sunsuits with matching hats. A family fully-clothed in Horrockses wear would be conspicuous in Hunstanton today, but the black and white photos dotted around the walls show the brand to be the height of style in the 50s.
Housecoats, eveningwear and Horrockses-designed film costumes also feature in the exhibition, but the main message of the brand is one of quality. It is clear that a lot of care went into designing each motif, each fabric and each dress, and that the cotton used was of the highest quality. It certainly creates a beautiful result, and makes you long for a similar care and attention to detail in today’s high-street designs. A Horrockses dress was a dress for life – as Irene writes, it will survive everything – but to get a similar piece today you might have to go vintage.

‘Horrockses Fashions’ is at the Fashion and Textile Museum on the South Bank until 24th October 2010.