THE FAMOUS "LUCILLE"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE FAMOUS "LUCILLE"

FASHION'S DICTATOR PASSES AN ENTERPRISING GENIUS A pioneer in the world of Fashion, Lady Duff-Gordon, who as " Lucille," the famous Court dressmaker, revolutionised the dress of modern women in the course of a truly remarkable career, died recently in a nursing homo in Putney after a long illness. The daughter of an English engineer named Sutherland and of a. Canadian ranch owner's daughter, she began her dressmaking career by making dolls clothes when she lived with her grandparents in Canada, says a London correspondent. Not only did she design dresses for lier own dolls, but she established a " clientele " among her friends, dressing their dolls in return for pieces of silk or velvet. With her sister, Mrs. Elinor Glyn, she created a furore when she " carne out " in the 'eighties in London. At 18, she married Mr. James Stuart Wallace, but five years later divorced her husband, and faced the problem of earning more money to maintain herself and her little daughter. As she was making a frock for little Esme, now jLady Halsbury, she had the idea, " Why not design clothes for her friends?" She had a large circle of friends, among them Ellen Terry, the actress. No one had ever heard of a " Society " woman who ran a shop, and there was much shaking of heads when she discussed the project. But one of her friends, the Hon. Mrs. Arthur Brand, jumped at the suggestion and commissioned a tea gown. She wore it at a house party, and all the other guests came round to place orders. At first Lucille cut and sewed the garments in her own home in Mayfair. Six months later she employed four girls. Then she went to Hanover Square, and when the firm of Lucille was at the height of its fame there were some 5000 workers. Society women, actresses, members of the Court circle flocked to her. At first her customers were rather nervous about wearing the " filmy " underwear she designed because she disliked the idea of her gowns being worn over ugly fabrics, but " Lucille " won. She introduced diaphanous and silk " undies " to replace nun's veiling and linen; abolished high " boned " necks and introduced the " Peter Pan " and

" Quaker " collar; invented the " Merry Widow " hat; started mannequin parades; let the world know that women had " legs" and as a final touch of originality, gave names to her creations. The first man to attend one of her mannequin parades was Lord Oxford, then Mr. Asquith. Before long Lucille extended her business to Paris and New York. In 1900, she married Sir Cosmo Dufl'-Gor-don, and in 11)22 she severed her connection with her firm. Her efforts were all in the direction of making women clothes conscious. She admitted that her introduction of mannequin parades Mas to persuade women to buy more clothes. But although she introduced so many revolutionary changes into English fashions, she did not approve of many innovations, including bare arms in the mornings and universal short skirts. One of Lady Duff-Gordon's earliest royal patrons was the present Queen, then Duchess of York. On one occasion when Mollie, an Irish girl, was attending St. James' Palace for a fitting, the present King came into the room and Mollie dropped a whole box of puts, whereupon the King went on his knees and helped her to pick them up. Princess Mary when a young girl visited Hanover Square with Princess Patricia of Connaught and admitted to Lady Duff-Gordon that her dress allowance was only £SO a year.