Dresses By George! Interview by Grace.

Meet Georgina, founder and dressmaker for By George clothing, who sell reproduction 40s, 50s and 60s dresses. I first bumped into her at a boot sale in Chessington, where I commented on how much I loved her dress, a flouncy, floral fifties number, only to be told she was about to set up a website where I’d be able to get my own creation hand made by her. We caught up a few weeks later to discuss how By George came about, and to pick up mine and Aimee’s dresses for Revival!

When did you start dressmaking?

Well when I was young my mum made costumes for local film studios and used to make all our clothes for us. I started sewing at about 6 or 7, moving from dolls clothes onto rag dolls which I sold. I made my children’s clothes and sold wedding dresses, but it wasn’t profitable so I moved away from it for a while. People assume dress makers don’t require a lot of money, but a lot of time and labour goes in, and the cost of materials can really add up.

What inspires your designs?

My designs are created from original 50s patterns which used to belong to my mum, and in fact the other day I discovered that my brother has over 100 of my mums old pattern in his loft which I’d love to get my hands on. But the first patterns I used were from fancy dress shops. I generally pick and choose bits from patterns to make the dress look how I want.

How did you come about starting By George?

Back in April I hurt my arm, which meant I couldn’t work anymore. I went to a 50s fancy dress party where I wore a red and white polka dot dress which I loved, it felt so feminine and the cut was great. After that I made some vintage style dresses to take on holiday with me to go and see my son, and began wearing vintage cuts more often. I received a lot of compliments and requests from people asking me to make them dresses. Originally I didn’t want to make it into a business but after a while I caved and set up the website. Now we’re looking to set up a stall in Camden or Spitalfields.

Do you have any recommended vintage shops/brands?

I prefer to get lucky and find little gems in markets as opposed to shopping with mass produced brands. My latest find was a pink nylon pillbox hat and matching gloves in Brighton.

What are your tips for putting together a vintage look?

I like to start with the dress and match things with it, like little cardigans, vintage bags and chunky beads. I think 40s dresses require more demure accessories due to the tailored nature of the cut.

If you could make a dress for anyone, past or present, who would it be and what would you make?

I would love to design for Paloma Faith, whose style I love because it is so fun and cute. I think I would make her a burlesque inspired outfit and matching hat in keeping with her look.

The dresses are priced from £40 pounds upwards and are definitely worth the price considering the quality of the pieces, and are a bargain compared to a lot of repro brands who charge around £70 upwards. We were really pleased with ours, which we wore with pride to Revival, you can see the photos on our facebook page here :)

If you want to check out her stuff and find out more visit http://www.bygeorge-50sfashion.co.uk/ or go to the facebook page here!

Goodwood Revival 2012

2 weekends ago, sorry for the delay in the publishing of this post (blame Grace :D, not Aimee) us ladies drove down to Chichester for this year’s Goodwood Revival which, for those of you who haven’t heard of it before, is a weekend long motoring event featuring classic cars, planes and vintage fashion. We were blown away by this year’s turnout, the attendees looked absolutely wonderful. Everyone was dressed up in their best retro garb; men donning the uniforms of a soldier home on leave with his pristine wife and child being bounced along on a genuine vintage pram, or the jumpsuit of the original F1 mechanic.

On top of this the whole place was converted into a 1950’s race track complete with bomb shelters and tobacco shops. On the pop up high street several shops had been constructed including Kenwood and a retro Tesco, selling products in the special edition old time packaging (think more Marathon and Opal Fruits as opposed to Snickers and Starburst).

Within a few hours we found ourselves wholly consumed by the vintage vibes, adopting the mannerisms of a different society, at one point having to stop myself calling one elderly man “sir” as I asked to borrow his lighter. Everyone became a little more gracious and composed… If only life was really like this! We were also lucky enough to be with a racing team that weekend, gaining access to the drivers club houses, complete with grandstand seats and meals rationed by coupon books, very authentic. We even bumped into IT Crowd and Bridesmaids actor Chris O’Dowd (one of Grace’s favourites, loving Moone Boy by the way, anyone else?), looking very suave in a red silk suit, who was lovely enough to take a photo with us!

As for the clothes they were beautiful, everyone had made an effort (bar a few but they were all lost in the finery of the majority). If only people always dressed like this, because vintage cuts really do bring out the best in everyone, the men looked very dapper and the women, no matter their shape or size looked stunning. As I said before there was everything from mechanics to soldiers to sailors, but a lot people were simply and stylishly dressed in the outfits that they would have 60 years ago to go out to the races. Here’s a few of our favourite & best dressed looks from the weekend :)

There were also some, of course, who opted for  fancy dress, with big black and white polka dots and frilly socks.   We especially loved these 2 air hostesses looking wonderfully legitimate in their outfits, as well as this wonderful military lot and housewives.

 The hair was also done to perfection, whether this was just two pin curls on either side of the head or a full beehive. The makeup we saw was done in subtle shades to emphasise the contours of the face. Many of the men were wearing three piece suits which looked lovely, they were neat and well fitted which brought out the shape their manly figures, or created the illusion of a manly figure if there wasn’t really one underneath! Both of us commented on how refreshing it was to see a man who doesn’t wear his trousers (well, jeans) half way down his bum! We found ourselves surrounded by men with regular proportions, they weren’t made to look like they were waddling around on awkward little limpy leg stumps. Gents, learn from this! 

The Goodwood Revival is also a place to stock up on everything vintage, be it clothing and accessories or furniture. The market starts at 7:30am Friday and ends around 8pm Sunday, bursting with stalls selling genuine a veritable treasure trove of vintage clothing and accessories, furs, art, Vintage F1 mechanic jackets and team shirts, racing memorabilia and make up. There were also some pop-up shops which included Biba, The Cuban Cigar Co. and our favourite What Katie Did! We popped in to say hi to the lovely bunch and snap away at their little home away from home. Oh the temptation to just buy up the stock! You can find this season’s new collection here, and our experience of the collection release here!

Goodwood is a remarkable place to go, whether you’re a petrol head or can’t tell the front end of the car from the back. Even if you don’t like cars or aren’t that clued up on vintage fashion, we recommend you go at least once in even if only for an afternoon, simply to marvel at the transformation of fields into a 1950’s village, and the way in which such a large number of people come together and play along. It’s a vintage wonderland and a great outlet for anyone wishing they were born in another time. Leaving we really felt as if something great had ended, it was a car journey of mixed emotions and immediate nostalgia...you will definitely see us there next year and we hope to see you too!

If we have featured your outfit or stall on the blog and you would like a high res version of the photos, or you would like to use these photos somewhere else on the web, email us at ladieswhot@gmail.com. Please ask permission before using photos!

Click here to see the facebook album from Goodwood 2012 , we'd love to find you and tag some of these photos!