As part of my Master's degree research, I took a look into the history of an icon of the British high street - Marks & Spencer. This post is an extract from my dissertation and forms part of an occasional 'brief history of' series. Freelance writer and broadcaster Stephen Armstrong perfectly sums up the significance... Continue Reading →
As regular readers will already know, I am a massive fan of the M&S Company Archive in Leeds. I visited it in 2014 as part of the research for my Master's dissertation, again in 2015 to research a conference paper on M&S underwear in the 1960s, and I even gave a talk there last November.... Continue Reading →
Over the past few years, I have become rather fond of archives. As I wrote in my post The Joy of Archives, I've always had a fondness for old clothes as touching a piece of the past is a powerful window into history. Whilst looking at images of what people used to wear is fascinating;... Continue Reading →
Building on the research I did as part of my MA at London College of Fashion, I have a few exciting talks coming up in the autumn that will give me a chance to share my knowledge. On Saturday 17th October 2015, I will be presenting at the Costume Society's study day, held annually at... Continue Reading →
As part of the research for my MA dissertation, I headed to Leeds earlier this year to visit the Marks & Spencer Company Archive. Housed in the Michael Marks Building on the University of Leeds campus, the archive contains more than 70,000 items from the company's history, including clothing, packaging and company documentation. On my... Continue Reading →