Christine Fisher-Lathwell – Buying new school uniform

Simon: Can you describe the process of what it was like going into Packs for your school uniform?

Christine: Well, it was lots of fun. It was lovely and it all smelt really nice because my old things had got really crummy and awful, and so it was really exciting when Maggie and I used to go with Mum. I had so much fun trying on … all the things were kept.

For instance, PE kits, blouses, skirts and dresses, summer dresses were on rails but all the rest of the things were in pull out drawers where you could see through the glass case to get your things and it was so much fun to show each other our clothes and what they looked like. But the worst thing was when somebody from the Convent came in at the same time as you because for some reason the Convent girls seemed to look down on the girls that went to Bishop Lovett (laughs) and Sandown. I don’t know whether Sandown Grammar was included but I remember feeling slightly embarrassed because I had the green summer dress of Bishop Lovett. However, but the experience was that a very nice lady who I remember called Mrs Brown, would come and measure you round the bust and round the hips and across the back to make sure everything was right, the blazer was right. It just felt really important getting that new school uniform and I remember many years later when trying to get uniform for my children, that I would have loved for them to have the experience of getting the school uniform from Packs, ‘cos I mean they’d done it for years and years. They knew what to do.

Simon: You felt special know that you were going to get …

Christine: Yes, absolutely special, yes.

Simon: Right. And how did the people treat you at sort of …?

Christine: When I was the child or going in when I first went?

Simon: As a child yeah. When you went for uniform.

Christine: The same way as they would treat a female customer who was going to buy. You know we weren’t called ‘madam’ but it was that feeling that we were special because we were being measured and did everything fit right and if the summer dress was too long, there was the offer for it to be taken up or altered because upstairs they had a wonderful Sewing Room which I came to see when I worked as Display.

So, it wasn’t kind of the production line.

You were treated … I can even remember my last summer dress having darts put in it because I had bust at last (laughs). It’s really weird but it was the fact that it would be shaped to me, which I thought was wonderful. It’s one of the services that I never really thought about until now.