Margaret Howell – Wikipedia
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All about Margaret Howell

Hanging in my wardrobe is a dress I saved up to buy. It’s a designer Margaret Howell dress bought in Stratford upon Avon many moons ago from a shop called The Dresser. I saw it in Vogue in yellow but bought it in blue. A couple of weeks ago I found the original photo from the Vogue which I’d kept all those years. Well I’ve put the photo somewhere safe which I can’t find. Hopefully it will turn up as it will give the date it was available to buy, obviously more than 10 years ago. Anyway I was so well schooled by my up bringing to only wear it on special occasions as it was a special dress, so it’s had very few outings. Why I don’t know, as it’s not a particularly fussy dress especially as Margaret Howell tends to design plain, practical, well made clothing. If the weather is good when we are able to get out and about it will be my dress to celebrate in!

Finally I was challenged by Simon to dress up for our break out isolation walks. So here I am in an Emily and Finn dress bought second hand on eBay. The ensemble is finished off with gloves to open gates and jacket to carry disinfectant wipes just in case!

In the 90’s and 00’s there was plenty of opportunities for evening wear with various 40 th and 50th birthday parties and other events to dress up for. So I was able to gather a variety of party/ evening/ cocktail dresses usually bought in a sale or 2 nd hand, and usually entailing a trip out with friends. It was important then to not been seen in the same outfit too often especially as these events often involved the same friendship groups.

All these and more, still hang in my wardrobe awaiting that day when I might wear them again if I can still fit into them! Although, in the last decade I’ve been aware that people just don’t dress up as they used to. The young in particular often attend parties, theatre and other events in jeans and casual wear.

The end of COVID when it comes will of course be tinged with much sadness and of course relief . Of course we will want to celebrate in some way meeting up with our friends again. Having had no opportunity to dress up for quite awhile will it prompt us to get out our glad rags and dress up? I hope so!

Returning to my current theme of my love of fashion throughput the decades, I continued to work as a teacher ( wearing my school uniform of my more ancient clothes), though there seemed plenty of opportunities to dress up in the evenings and weekends. For the chiming of the new millennium, we celebrated at home with friends and children. For the occasion I wore a Vivienne Westwood red pencil skirt, which still hangs in my wardrobe!

Plenty of occasions gave me excuses for days out at the newly opened Selfridges in Birmingham, or Bicester shopping village also newly opened. At that time one could still pick up a designer bargain like my much loved and coveted Paul Smith leather jacket. As Ive mentioned before it was also a social occasion involving in Bicester, meeting a friend from London half way, or combining a visit to Birmingham art gallery, with a visit to Selfridges in Birmingham. But of course always returning just in time to pick children up from school unless someone offered to.

The dress I posted last week was a vintage dress bought way back in the late 80s. I loved it, and wore it to several events. It was only last year when I parted with it to a designer 2nd hand shop in Warwick ( as it didn’t fit any more!) . I enquired where it had been sold to and the shop owner confirmed it had been sent out to the USA. I wonder who it belongs to now, it will have a story of its own to tell.

Finally managed to dress up a bit this week and ditch the jeans for the excitement of a visit to the pharmacist to collect a prescription, and Waitrose. Wonder what I’ll wear for my exciting outing to Sainsbury‘s this coming weekend?