Category Archives: Fashion and Clothing

Spotting Historic Shopfronts: Baldock

Posted on September 6, 2018 by

A plum spot on the Great North Road meant that the small market town of Baldock in Hertfordshire became an ideal staging post for people journeying north from London. From the 17th century onwards it was chock-a-block with coaching inns, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion and Clothing, Provisions Shops, Spotter's Guides, Streetscape | Leave a comment

The Story of Dunn’s the Hatter

Posted on October 3, 2017 by

Introduction Dunn & Co. was the most recognisable chain of men’s hatters throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century. By the late 1920s it was also a men’s outfitters. A failure to keep up with changing fashions – which … Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion and Clothing, Fashion Retailers | 44 Comments

The Story of Montague Burton – the Tailor of Taste

Posted on January 28, 2017 by

Introduction Montague Burton was not the first to establish a successful chain of tailor’s shops throughout Britain: Joseph Hepworth and his son Norris had opened their first shops in 1884. Nevertheless, between the 1920s and the 1960s, Burton was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Burton, Fashion and Clothing | 1 Comment

Burton’s ‘Modern Temples of Commerce’

Posted on January 28, 2017 by

Montague Burton began to build new shops – ‘modern temples of commerce’ – around 1923, when he had amassed around 200 branches. The next year the company opened in a wing of Woolworth’s new superstore in Liverpool where Burton’s architect, Harry Wilson, … Continue reading →

Posted in Burton, Fashion and Clothing | 2 Comments

A Spotter’s Guide to Montague Burton – the Tailor of Taste, Part 2

Posted on January 28, 2017 by

Art Deco Motifs Burton’s architect, Harry Wilson, had fully embraced art deco by 1930 and seems to have had great fun dressing façades in variants of this popular style. This involved the application of stylised geometric motifs, sometimes in profusion. By … Continue reading →

Posted in Burton, Fashion and Clothing, Spotter's Guides | 1 Comment

A Spotter’s Guide to Montague Burton – the Tailor of Taste, Part 1

Posted on January 27, 2017 by

‘The Tailor of Taste’ When Montague Burton became a limited company in 1917, it was registered as ‘Montague Burton the Tailor of Taste Ltd’. The slogan, as part of Burton’s name, formed part of firm’s logo, appearing on fascias, parapets, … Continue reading →

Posted in Burton, Fashion and Clothing, Spotter's Guides | Leave a comment

The Legacy of J. Hepworth & Son

Posted on January 15, 2017 by

For a full century, between 1884 and 1985, Hepworth’s was a thriving national chain of men’s tailoring shops, specialising in ready-made and made-to-measure suits. Rivals in the same field were Montague Burton, Henry Price The Fifty Shilling Tailor (later John … Continue reading →

Posted in Fashion and Clothing | 17 Comments