Mary queen of frocks!!

Is anyone else watching this? I think she is way out of her depth here, she hasn't produced one item that I like, not even the £100 dildo!!! what's all that about in a dress shop????

Val

 

Haven't really had the incentive to watch her Val .. shame I missed that one! I am a Gok Won fan .... I have picked up so many clever tips from him and his 'tarting up old stuff' is great!

 

Hello Val

Yes, I am glued to this, having been born into a rag trade family. My earliest memories are of being dragged along to subterranean workrooms beneath upmarket fashion houses, where the workers slaved in (relatively cheerful) semi-squalor to produce gorgeous things for ridiculously small wage packets.

I love Mary Portas but my problem with this is that it's all style over substance. I get the distinct impression that she's designing for herself (tall and slim) rather than the bulk of her customers. She's right, however, about the general awfulness of fascinators, mother of the bride outfits and matchy-matchy accessories. I liked her 'no-brainer' dress, which I thought could genuinely look good on a variety of different body shapes. I also loved the shoes, although, despite all her protestations about comfort, I don't think I'd wear the precarious heels unless I could be carried from car to bar and back again. With my luck things would end horribly if I had to walk even a few yards.

My mum, who is still very stylish and wouldn't be seen dead with an excrescence growing out of the side of her head, says that the main thing about fashion is to starve yourself and stay slim. That way you can look very good in a simple dress and a good pair of shoes. To this end, although she's very keen on stuffing everyone else with sticky cakes, she doesn't eat much herself. Instead, she adheres to a strict cigarette-only diet.

I think she is right (about thinness, not fags). Men adore Nigella but most ordinary mortals are much better off without the extra pounds. I just wish I'd thought of this before I polished off a large baked potato for tea.

 

Rag trade family here too!!! Mum & sister were both machinists, Mum also worked a Hoffman press for a while, my husband was a sewing machine engineer who also made sewing machine attachments!!

Val

 

My sister's still in the business, although she doesn't make things directly. She's a fashion buyer.

I think I had a marvellous, alternative childhood;when my mum had me she worked from home but travelled up to town for fittings etc. The London workrooms were mostly staffed by immigrants of one sort or another and they were tolerant of kids in the way that Brits just weren't. All kinds of colourful characters took me for walks to sweet shop; now,there would probably be some kind of investigation!!

 

When I was a youngster most of the East End workshops were owned by Jewish people, immigrants hadn't arrived yet!! I really liked the sounds of the workshops and the cutting rooms were just amazing, HUGE tables and the cloth was just moved around it. VERY friendly people though.

Val

 

Yes, that's just as I remember it. I thought it was wonderful - much better than the grand showroom upstairs. Yes, many Jews and I also remember Greek, Italian, Spanish and Chinese. My Mum's boss was a very motherly Jewish matron who thought of Mum as a favourite daughter (Mum never let on that my Grandma married out!). Such a purposeful feel to the workrooms - and such skill!

From a Spanish colleague, Mum learned to cook tortillas (so exotic then) and to use olive oil - which was still a bit of a novelty in England. You used it to clean out your ears, not to cook with!

Mum tells me that she once worked in a room from which she and the other fitters and cutters had intimate view of the local public gents. (Such glamour!) They used to take bets on handwashing, or the lack of it.

 

£100 for a Dildo ?!! Does it make you breakfast and take you out to buy a new frock afterwards ??:DOH:

 

No, I think it just lights you a cigarette..............!! :WINK1:

Val