siren suits - the second world war onesie ?

Fashion trends…I love ‘em. Ra-ra skirts, puffballs, shell suits, darlings I’ve worn them all. That is with the exception of one trend that has so far eluded me – the onesie!. I have never been able to get my fibre-glass brain around this most peculiar item of attire, as hard as I try. Perhaps it’s the hijacking of what could be seen as a pure comfort garment by the fancy dress and stag party industry – retailers out there – you know who I’m talking about! I shudder at the prospect of sliding my cellulose sprayed limbs into a “Kermit the frog” all in one (with hood) – or similar fashion travesty!

Imagine my surprise then, when I noticed an order for a bustform going through the workshop recently, commissioned by the Science Museum to wear a siren suit at the newly opened Churchill’s Scientists Exhibition. Craning my neck to read the brief I discovered that this was infact a prototype onesie style suit dating back to World War 2!   

Taking its name from the omnipresent air raid siren, the garment in question was made by Turnbull and Asser; a fetching one-piece teal green velvet boiler suit that Churchill could literally slip on over his pyjamas to be ready for action in a trice! Apparently he became quite addicted to wearing this "comfort in a crisis" piece of clothing and had them made in all sorts of fabrics; pinstripe, velvet, with military embellishments! Roomy, comfortable and smart, Winston wore his at all hours and even for formal meetings. His example became so famous that the look was taken up by adults and children everywhere – pulling the suits on as they dashed to the air raid shelter in the middle of the night. So convenient, some versions even had a panel at the back to allow the wearer to use the facilities without stripping off! Imagine…no don’t!

Anyhow, I think Winnie could be dubbed a fashion icon – who knows, perhaps the next round of onesie designs will emulate the Science Museum exhibit and stitch a cigar into the breast pocket!  

See the Science Museum's revealing exhibition until March next year details here

Mr Selfridge

And so my darling readers, I trust you had a fabulous Christmas and New Year and are looking forward to the year ahead, as am I. I have plenty of exciting projects to report on, all will be revealed in due course so do continue to check my posts regularly.

Being the social butterfly that I am it is rather unusual that one would cosy up in front of the TV at Mannequin

Towers. However there is a riveting ten-part period drama that has had me glued to my seat and taking a dreamy trip down memory lane. ITV recently unleashed Mr. Selfridge onto our Sunday night screens and what a delight it was too! Telling the story of “Mile a Minute” Harry Gordon Selfridge – perhaps the first retail guru in the UK and the importance of his contribution to early 20^th Century retail, visual merchandising and brand marketing.  

In 1909 on the day that Harry Gordon Selfridge first swung his department store doors open, more than 100,000 people scurried through: by the end of the week more than a million had visited.  Harry’s aim was to make everyone feel welcome in his emporium and promoted Selfridges as being “Open to the world”.  The essence of Selfridges revolutionary approach to shopping is maintained by the store today, and much as was the case in 1909, Selfridges windows have become synonymous with the brand and furthermore have become as famous as the company and the Oxford Street location itself.

This period drama perfectly depicts how the store would have been presented in 1909, even the tiniest of details have been researched and replicated (I should know – my auntie Gloria was one of the original store mannequins) – fashionable brass accessory presenters and upholstered bust forms have been carefully selected to mimic the style of that era and were just some of the product that was featured in the first episode. I am happy to say that all the display equipment was either genuine vintage or supplied by my good chums at Proportion London. As the girls of the accessory department hurry to display everything on their glass counter-tops for the 9.00am grand opening, Miss Mannequin squealed with delight at the many Proportion London treats on offer – bag stands, jewellery neck forms, scarf presenters, miniature bodies and wooden articulated hands. These Vintage Style products are hugely popular with today’s retailers – proving that there are some timeless trends worth treasuring…

Similar to Selfridges – Proportion London have a heritage that dates back to the early 20^th century and many of their traditional manufacturing techniques are still employed to this day. Their papier-mâché bust forms and torso’s are still hand-crafted by an artisan team of specialists at the North London

factory in much the same way that they were when Selfridges first opened.  

I obtained a brief interview with Tanya Reynolds, Creative Director of Proportion London. She said; “It is a great honor to have supplied display product for this series and to be featured in what we believe will be one of the best dramas of 2013. The Vintage Style Accessory range was conceived using archive drawings from old directories, Edwardian original samples and we kept in our minds that the collection should look exactly as it would have the day Gordon Selfridge first opened his retail emporium.”

For more details of the Vintage Style collections click on the below links

Vintage Style bustforms

Vintage Style Accessories

Judith Clark's Museum of Handbags

Handbags ARE the very meaning  of life to most women (and a few men i know too dear readers)! So Miss Mannequin's ears pricked up instantly when she overheard proportion london's favourite avant garde exhibition curator Judith Clark discussing mannequins for her latest venture, the SIMONE HANDBAG MUSEUM due to launch in Seoul, South Korea this month.

Displaying a 300 strong collection of historically significant vintage and modern bags which date as far back as the 16th Century - Judith's team have collected, collated and detailed each - just the kind of job Miss Mannequin would relish.

Working with the project's brainchild, CEO of luxury handbag production company: Simone, the museum will provide a most relevant historic archive and creative inspiration for visitors from around the world.

Sadly dear reader, more than this i cannot divulge since the project is very hush hush - i can however give you a sneak preview of the beautiful bodies that the bags will be displayed against. If the expectation lives up to the exquisite design and workmanship of these bust forms, it promises to be an iconic moment in bag history and documentation. I promise to follow up with a report the moment the doors swing open! Stay tuned.....

To visit the Museum of handbags website click here

To read more about the inspirational projects of Judith Clark click here