From Britain with Love

One of my most enduring memories of childhood is the wonderful dressing-up box we had in our playroom… endless hours were spent with friends prancing around in my grandma’s old 1960s nylon nighties, transformed (if you really squinted) into bridal gowns and fairy princess attire.

So it was with great delight that I answered an invitation from Libby Boalch of The Dressing Up Chest to bring my two boys along to a fancy dress party where she would be photographing her latest children’s costume collection.

From her studio in Kew, Libby creates the most delightful handmade dressing-up costumes for children. From fairytale classics such as Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks, to Pirates, Princesses, Peter Pan and Dorothy (Toto not included!), her costumes are beautifully made using quality fabrics and with great attention to detail (I just love those applique bears on Goldilocks’ apron). Each outfit is really a work of art and is sure to be enjoyed by generations of children to come.

Libby can also make bespoke costumes to order – she very kindly rustled up a tiny baby pirate outfit when I told her I’d be bringing my 9 month old along (that’s Louis bottom centre, while big brother Sam is dressed as a Knight). So next time you need a costume for a school play or birthday party, why not browse the collections at www.dressingupchest.co.uk.

Photography courtesy of Kellie Spicknell (photographer and author of the blog HMade).

This guest blog post was written by Kate Hills of Make It British, a website dedicated to supporting British made clothing and accessories – visit www.makeitbritish.co.uk.

There are 80 billion new garments produced annually worldwide, most of which will end up in landfill. In fact, clothing makes up 1.5 million tons of the rubbish that we throw away in Britain every year. Such is our appetite for fast, throwaway fashion, that the majority of orders for clothing and accessories now go off-shore to enormous factories in the Far East, because the smaller, specialist units that were making our products in the UK just cannot compete on price or turnaround time.

The statistics tell the shocking truth; in 1981 the British clothing and footwear market imported 29% of the fashion that we consumed, by 2001 that figure had risen to 90%.

Many factories in the UK have had to close down in the last few years as a result of this decrease in demand, and as a consequence not only have skilled workers here in Britain been left without jobs, but there is no one left to train up a new generation of machinists and pattern cutters should we need them in the future.

With a desire to put things right, Make it British, a website dedicated to supporting British made clothing and accessories, carried out a survey to discover if consumers are starting to turn their backs on this mass-produced clothing, and the results were quite encouraging.

More than two-thirds of respondents do now look at where their garment is produced before they buy it, although they say that this information is not always easy to find. Not surprising then that nearly everyone surveyed would like to see clearer labelling to show the country of origin of a garment.

And whilst design and price are still the most important factors for the majority when choosing clothing and accessories, where a garment is made was the principal factor for more than 30% of those that answered the survey.

So the British public does care, and they want it made easier for them to discover more about the provenance of their clothes. That is why websites like Make it British and From Britain with Love are doing the best that they can to provide a resource to those fantastic brands and individual makers who are keeping their production here in Britain. So together, let’s make it British!

Clockwise from top left: Childrens knitwear by Pride & Joy, Leather bag by St Leonards, Boots by Celtic Sheepskin.