The House of Mirelle was owned and run by women so it seems right to tell you about our first publication on International Women’s Day. Mira – pronounced Mirra – was an extraordinary woman famous in her own right before setting up and running Hull’s famous fashion house. An actress-entertainer she became a star on […]
Category: Social History
20th Century History | Fashion History Kingston upon Hull | Hull Retail History | Kingston Upon Hull History | Material Culture | Oral History | Social History
S.O.S. Give Your Memories Of Hull’s Co-Op BHS and 3 Ships Mural to SAVE OUR SHIPS!
As a child Esther’s father told his daughter stories of the deep sea waters he fished in and the rise and fall of the city of Hull that was their home. Sipping cafe drinks they sat in front of a building so large its front curved all the way left and all the way […]
Hull Retail History | Kingston Upon Hull History | Modern History | Oral History | Social History | The Hull Blitz
Retail History: We Remember Edwin Davis on Bond Street Hull
Bulldozers pointing towards Edwin Davis in the centre of Hull makes us consider its legacy. To some the square-shaped red bricks are an eyesore, a defunct relic but for others memories of the iconic landmark are as ingrained as shopping trips with their mothers, walks around the city centre and fond recollections of Hull’s past. […]
19th Century History | 20th Century History | 21st Century History | Books | Hull City Of Culture 2017 | Kingston Upon Hull History | Social History
If Walls Could Talk – 114 Coltman Street Tells Us The Story of Hull’s Charitable Past
Coltman Street runs at right angles from Hull’s Hessle Road up to the other running west from the city centre, Anlaby Road. In days past Hessle Road thrived, fuelled by shipping and fishing in the UK’s third port but the Cod Wars of the 1960s and 70s ran the area to ground, town planning eventually taking […]
1960s Fashion | 1960s History UK | 20th Century History | History Of Fashion Modelling | History of Sewing Dressmaking and Tailoring | Modern History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle
1969 Bunty Annual: The Story of Dressmaking and Sewing In the Classroom
Bunty was a teen comic grabbed from shelves in the local newsagents between 1958 and 2001. Pages were full of fictional stories for youngsters aged 14 years old and under. In the days before computers took over from pencil, pen and ink the comic strips were hand drawn. Girls and their friends, parents and teachers […]
19th Century History | Fashion History | Kingston Upon Hull History | Modern History | Oral History | Social History | Textile and Fabric History
Book Review: Life In Hull From Then Till Now by Kay Pearson: A Fascinating Look Back on Women’s Lives.
Kay Pearson loved music throughout her life, playing piano in music halls, theatre, dance halls and people’s homes. Her book was published in 1978 after a feature about her life in the Hull Daily Mail. She was asked to finish the book, people as tickled by her story as the ivories Kay played from childhood. […]
20th Century Fashion | 20th Century History | History of Sewing Dressmaking and Tailoring | Modern History | Oral History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle
Oral History: Witness2Fashion’s Memory Of Using Treadle Sewing Machines
Recently we’ve been chatting to the person behind the fantastic blog Witness2Fashion about all things ‘treadle sewing machine.’ Based in California you might expect a difference between the UK / Hull Yorkshire but I was struck by how similar they were. Treadles have the same charm wherever you were in the world when you sat and […]
1960s Fashion | 1960s History UK | 20th Century Fashion | 20th Century History | Fashion History | History of Sewing Dressmaking and Tailoring | Kingston Upon Hull History | Modern History | Oral History | Social History
Hull Social History: 3 Day Millionaires DVD by Dr Alec Gill
“My Dad was a skipper on the trawlers and if he’d had a good catch, he’d take Mum out and spend the money on her,” said Lynn. “Oh! A 3 Day Millionaire,” I said. “A what?” came the reply. “3 Day Millionaire,” I said. When there was no response from the other side, “um. When […]
1960s History UK | 20th Century History | Historic Research | Kingston Upon Hull History | Modern History | Public History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle
Social History 1968 to 1969: The Headscarf Protest, Fashion Inertia and The Years Of Change
The Headscarf Revolutionaries by Brian Lavery had been on the must-read list since the early days researching the House of Mirelle. From information about Hull’s Headscarf Protest I turned to the history of the fishing industry and the Cod Wars. Lavery’s book sketched in the details in a work of such imagination and feeling, history came […]
20th Century Fashion | 20th Century History | Historic Non Fiction | History of Sewing Dressmaking and Tailoring | Hull Retail History | Kingston Upon Hull History | Oral History | Public History | Social History | Textile and Fabric History
Social History: The Orphaned Singer Sewing Machine, Sewing Workrooms and The Culture Of Sewing Book
This week Harvard’s online Magazine published an article about a treadle sewing machine. The title was An Orphaned Sewing Machine and it was written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. The link’s there if you’d like to read it. Ulrich and her colleague Ivan Gaskell were given an old Singer treadle sewing machine as a means of teaching […]
Kingston Upon Hull History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle
Hull History: Save The Hull Braves Guild Building From Demolition
Social media is a powerful thing and the Hull History Facebook pages are no exception, particularly for community action. Jane Hitchin started a post on the Facebook page Old Hull about saving a building that’s been on Hull’s skyline since the 19th century; the Hull Braves’ Guild. The picture at the top was of a wonderful […]
Historic Non Fiction | Hull City Of Culture 2017 | Kingston Upon Hull History | Photographs | Public History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle | The Hull Blitz
Hull History: Picture Research Albion Street In 1939 and The Hull Blitz
In 1911 when Editor Tess Flanders said: “use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words,” she’d hit the nail on the head about the soon-to-be popularity of photography, videos and visual media that floods our lives today. A picture does speak a thousand words and picture research – looking at them closely and researching what […]
1930s Fashion | 1940s Fashion | Fashion History | Historic Non Fiction | History Of Fashion Modelling | History of Sewing Dressmaking and Tailoring | Kingston Upon Hull History | Oral History | Public History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle
Hull History: Model Florence Elaine Wiberg; The Start Of A Fashionable Family In 1930s Hull
“Aunt Freda is on the left – she was the oldest of 6 children and mother is on the right,” says Louise MacFarlane, “Aunt Dor [Doris] in is the center.” Louise MacFarlane is the daughter of 1930s model Florence Elaine Wiberg, known as Elaine. She was perfectly placed in 1930s Hull to be spotted and […]
1940s Fashion | 1950s Fashion | 1970s Fashion | Fashion History | History of Sewing Dressmaking and Tailoring | Kingston Upon Hull History | Oral History | Public History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle
Beatrice Betty Bartlett, Dressmaker: 40 Years Of Design and Dressmaking In Hull, UK
Anne Kettley talks of her mother’s dressmaking skills with pride: “she didn’t know how to do anything else,” she explains, “but working at the House Of Mirelle must have been the start of it all.” “She couldn’t do embroidery, knitting or tapestry, all she could do was designing and making clothes. “We never had to […]
1950s Fashion | Fashion History | Historic Non Fiction | Kingston Upon Hull History | Oral History | Public History | Social History | The House Of Mirelle | Vintage Fashion
Hull Fashion History: The House Of Mirelle Wouldn’t, So I Had My Wedding Dress Made By Elsie Battle Instead. A Story From 1952.
“I was born and worked in Hull,” says Marie Jubb as she starts her story. “I worked in a small office in a very big society on Lowgate but my bank was 3 or 4 doors away from The House Of Mirelle.” “I was a Jaeger girl, I loved their clothes. Working in the office I had […]
1940s Fashion | Fashion History | History of Sewing Dressmaking and Tailoring | Hull Retail History | Kingston Upon Hull History | Oral History | Public History | Social History
Hull History: Jackson’s Tailors In Whitefriargate Hull – Dressmaking Pins For A Farthing Change
An Hullensian called Alison had an interesting snippet of information. She said: “I don’t know if this is relevant but my Mum said if you bought something from a fashion house or haberdashers and your change was a farthing or a ha’penny, the assistant would ask you if you would ‘like to take pins’ instead […]
(The film is “Fashion House”, a collection of clips from British Pathé, 1950-1969. It has no sound.) Welcome to the House of Mirelle, a resource for you to learn about fashion history, social history and Hull’s fab fashion house! The House Of Mirelle was a high end fashion house that existed in the […]
THE HOUSE OF MIRELLE HULL 1938-1978 Forty Years Of Fashion History Want to learn more about the history of The House of Mirelle in an interactive talk or teaching session? The session includes research into Mirelle and Oral History – the voices of those who’ve contributed to the archive ‘in their own words.’ Subject areas […]