Shopping in Edwardian London ("The Lady", April 1913)

Some years ago I acquired a battered copy of The Lady: A Journal For Gentlewomen, published in 1913.   The covers are missing and the staples rusty—but it is still full of lovely goodies, including over 50 pages of advertising, and an illustrated feature on the latest fashions available in the big stores of West London.  Altogether this magazine provides a fascinating glimpse of the big department stores and how prosperous women shopped for clothes in Edwardian London!

Before we go any further, I’d like to make a few notes on the money in use at the time.  (People who already know this stuff are free to skip ahead.)  A pound (£1) was made up of 20 shillings (20s.) which in turn consisted of 12 pence (12d.)  A guinea was 21 shillings—£1 1s.   Professional fees were traditionally paid in guineas.  The average wage in 1913 was around £67 a year—that is, £1 5s.  You can see from some of the prices I’ve quoted below that the goods on sale were definitely not for the average shopper!  The shops we're talking about here most definitely catered to an upper-middle class customer base—"the carriage trade".

By 1913 the well-heeled ladies who shopped in the big stores could expect to be surrounded by luxury.  The stores were equipped with the latest and the most modern fittings—plate glass, lifts and escalators.  (Harrods was first in this field, installing an escalator in 1898.  On its first day of operation they stationed an assistant at the head of the escalator with smelling salts lest the experience make anyone feel faint.)  The stores were well-staffed: customers could expect service from the moment they walked through the door (opened by a doorman) and they were met by a floorwalker (who'd gently encourage them to buy rather than just browse).  Purchases would be delivered to the customers' homes as a matter of course.

And if the customers chose to make a day of it, there was plenty else to do besides shopping.  To take Harrods as an example again, they provided a gentlemen's club, restaurants and a ladies' hairdressing court.  In-house fashion shows had also become fixtures at many of the stores.

At this date there was a growing trade in ready-to-wear clothing in Britain, even though clothes sizing was in its infancy.  Retailers were beginning to advertise the convenience of being able to walk into a shop and buy ready-made clothing.   At the upper end of the market, however, many customers preferred custom made  clothes.  It was sometimes possible to buy an outfit in either ready-to-wear or made-to-measure versions—for a premium ("Made to Measure 10/6 extra".)  Each of the big London stores had its own workrooms where they carried out dressmaking on a large scale.  They turned out clothes both for individual customers, and as stock for the shop floor.

OK, everybody.  Ready to go shopping?

 

Ribbons at Dickins and Jones.  UPON ribbons at their prettiest some of the smartest hats of the present season rely...  These and countless other novelties grace the ribbon department at Dickins and Jones's, Hanover House, Regent Street, W., which additionally boasts a fascinating array of lovely scarves of the newest type...

 

Harrods: Spring Tailor-Mades  It is quite refreshing to come upon a tweed suit that is really "tweedy" of aspect, for materials have undergone a rather severe refining down...  Five guineas is the price of this coat and skirt... On the right we have another of those most attractive of particularly plain suits at 98s. 6d. with which Harrod's excel...

 

Blouses of Useful Type at John Barker's, Kensington.  The veiled fashion in blouses, which permits the introduction of a second colour, either to tone or to contrast, continues in high favour.... Messrs. John Barker are distinguishing themselves with numerous variations on the theme.  

 

Graceful Gowns at Harvey Nichols and Co.'s.  Not only for its grace of line, but also on account of its really charming colour scheme would the left hand gown sketched above be readily singled out.  Only 11 guineas is asked for the gown... and actually but £4 19s. 6d. for the frock on the right....

 

New Tailor Styles at Peter Robinson's, Oxford Street.  TAILOR-MADE styles, a prominent feature of the spring modes, are the subject of much consideration at Messrs. Peter Robinson's, Oxford Street, W.  Some extremely smart suits have been prepared for the coming season, and two of them are illustrated on this page.

 

The Lingerie Blouse at D. H. Evans.  Of delicately fine white fabric, a triumph of hand-stitchery throughout—inset laces and all—the present-day lingerie blouse has taken up a unique standpoint of indispensability.  How triumphantly it fulfils its obligations no one need be told to-day.  Perfectly and appropriately it provides accompaniment to the smartest spring or summer tailor-mades, or in hot weather gives compelling note to the white linen or French pique skirt for tennis or river work...  This dainty group illustrated on this page has been selected from a most alluring collection at Messrs. D.H. Evans...

 

Dainty Silk Robes at Shoolbred's.  Spring raiment—or rather, the choosing thereof—declines to be put off any longer.  One necessary item is a pretty afternoon frock to supersede the velvet or cloth one that now wanes daily in its suitability, and poplin de soie proves a softly-draping fabric upon which one's choice may well rest.  It is smart-looking and dainty, but exceedingly durable withal, so those charming one-piece robes of poplin de soie for which Messrs. James Shoolbred are so widely known have everything to recommend them.

Distinctive Frocks at Robinson and Cleaver's.  ... The embroideries are beautifully done by hand (in common with most of the dainty enhancement of stitchery that is such a feature of Messrs. Robinson and Cleaver's productions)....  On the other hand, there are lovely lace gowns for summer, fȇte, and reception wear—of hand made lace throughout—price £12 15 s., and anything but expensive at that.

 

Charming Blouses at H. C. Russell's.  Plenty of novelties, many of them quite captivating, greet the eye in H. C. Russell's blouse showroom...  There are "curtain-ring" fastenings for instance—ivory bone rings that slip over the big coloured ball buttons so much in vogue.... Another novelty of the season is the extremely baggy fashioning of the sleeve at the Japonaise shoulder-line....

 

The Exclusive Note at Frederick Gorringes. ... The draped coat (left-hand figure) justifies to a degree the strongly avowed feeling this season for hand-beaded coats on a transparent foundation...  The coat in our sketch is very delicately sewn, as regards the upper part, with tine black bugles, which merge lower down into an encrustation of crystal beads and thence into gun-metal tone, with quite a waterfall effect...

 

Smart Spring Attire at Spence's.  ... A superior tailor-made costume of tan-coloured cord suiting is sketched on the right. The immaculately simple lines and excellent finish of this suit (it costs £4 19s. 6d) are augmented by a restrained scheme of braiding, narrow satin pipings, and a group of six "shot" glass buttons...

 

 Further Reading:

Alison Adburgham.  Shopping in style: London from Restoration to Edwardian elegance.  (London: Thames & Hudson, 1979)

Alison Adburgham. Shops and shopping, 1800-1914: where, and in what manner the well-dressed Englishwoman bought her clothes. (London: Allen & Unwin, 1964)

Elizabeth Ewing.  History of 20th Century Fashion. 3rd edition.  (London: Batsford, 1992)