Elizabeth Handley-Seymour
Elizabeth Handley-Seymour | |
---|---|
Born | Elizabeth Fielding 1867 Blackpool, England |
Died | 1948 |
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | fashion designer and court-dressmaker |
Known for | created Queen Elizabeth's coronation gown in 1937 |
Spouse |
James Burke Handley-Seymour
(m. 1901) |
Elizabeth Handley-Seymour (1867–1948) was a London-based fashion designer and court-dressmaker operating as Madame Handley-Seymour between 1910 and 1940. She is best known for creating the wedding dress worn by Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future
Early life
Born Elizabeth Fielding in Blackpool in 1867, she moved to London in the 1890s and set herself up as a court-dressmaker.[1][2] In 1901 she married Major James Burke Handley-Seymour.[1] The Major was described as having been a lifelong art critic in 1938.[3]
Business
According to a 1938 newspaper article, Handley-Seymour launched her business in 1908–09 with a staff of four.[3] By 1912 Handley-Seymour was based on Bond Street, and had received her first Court commissions.[4] She was still located at Bond Street in 1938, with a staff of 200 making up her designs, while her husband handled the administrative side of the business.[3]
From the beginning Handley-Seymour offered copies of Paris dresses for her clients, a practice that was very common among high end dressmakers in London at the time.[1] A 1914 advertisement published in The Times listed a number of couturiers with whom Handley-Seymour had agreements to allow her to reproduce their models for her clientele, including Paul Poiret and the Callot Soeurs.[5] Poiret was at that time considered one of the most avant-garde and daring couturiers, meaning that Handley-Seymour was catering to a clientele who expected to be offered the smartest, most fashionable Paris modes.[1]
Many of the gowns provided by Madame Handley-Seymour were co-designed and created by Avis Ford, who started out as an apprentice in the 1910s and eventually became chief designer and fitter. Following the retirement of Handley-Seymour and at the request of Queen Mary, Ford opened her own couture establishment in the early 1940s on Albemarle Street, and continued to provide clothing to the Royal Family.[6] While it was reported that Handley-Seymour retired before the end of World War II which broke out in September 1939,[6] she was still offering designs to the Duchess of Devonshire and Queen Mary in early 1940.[7][8] However Handley-Seymour Ltd. was not formally wound up until 1950,[9] following the deaths of Madame Handley-Seymour in 1948 and her husband's death in Buckinghamshire on 12 August 1949.[1][10]
Theatre design
One of Handley-Seymour's first high-profile clients was the actress
Shaw later criticised Handley-Seymour's costumes, declaring the print dress "horrible" and the Poiret-inspired ensemble "dramatically nonsensical," although Kaplan and Stowell suggest that Campbell was taking inspiration from the Edwardian feminist who used refined and elegant attire to counteract accusations of being a "hammer-wielding suffragette."[4] Through rewrites and revisions, Shaw would later attempt to diminish Campbell's contributions to his play and downplay the success of her Eliza dressed by Handley-Seymour.[4] Alongside Campbell, other actresses costumed by Handley-Seymour between 1913 and 1938 included Irene Vanbrugh and Diana Wynyard.[11]
Royal designs
In 1923 Handley-Seymour, at that time dressmaker to Queen Mary,
For the next 12 years Handley-Seymour remained the Duchess of York's favourite dressmaker, although by 1937 the Duchess – now
Legacy
In 1958 the Handley-Seymours' daughter Joyce donated a number of Handley-Seymour design books ranging from 1910 to early 1940 to the Victoria and Albert Museum.[1] The breadth and scope of the collection of 51 volumes of designs is seen as an "unrivalled" record of a court-dressmaker's work. [19]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Milford-Cottam, Daniel. "Costume design for Mrs Patrick Campbell in Pygmalion". Search the Collections. Victoria & Albert Museum. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
- ^ Staff writer (5 March 2013). "2012–2013 Ladies to Dine Evening". Rotary Club of St. Anne on the Sea. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
John's Great Aunt Lizzie was properly known as Madame Elizabeth Handley-Seymour, born in Blackpool
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ ISBN 9780521499507.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Foster, Elene (13 February 1949). "The Mysterious Miss Ford". The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW). Retrieved 9 April 2015.
- ^ Staff writer. "Maroon coat and dress ensemble designed for Evelyn Cavendish, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. First quarter 1940". Search the Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ Staff writer. "Design for a day outfit for HM Queen Mary. First quarter 1940". Search the Collections. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ Staff writer (12 December 1950). "Handley Seymour Limited (Members' Voluntary Winding-up)". The London Gazette. No. 39090. p. 6233. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ Staff writer (27 May 1952). "Notices Under the Trustee Act, 1925 & 1927". The London Gazette. No. 39552. p. 2924. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
- ^ Staff writer (1964). Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings: Accessions 1957–1958. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- ^ "The Duchess of York's Wedding Dress". Fashion Era. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-55002-391-6.
- ^ Bronner, Milton (24 April 1923). "Medieval gown for Lady Betty". The Toledo News-Bee. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
- ISBN 9781405048590.
- ^ ISBN 9781448150724.
- ISBN 9781405048590.
- Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 9781851778508.