Christine Fisher-Lathwell – Different materials

Simon: You were saying the materials were different.

Christine: Yes, everything … for instance I mean I remember polyester coming in in the ‘60s so everything was advertised as ‘drip dry’ and then there would be gradually a mixture of poly and cotton because a lot of people didn’t like the sort of sweating that polyester gave you, and crimplene.

I remember crimplene, awful material. My mum used to wear it (laughs). Again, it was very hot because it was basically plastic, polyester is plastic, and then I think gradually there was a move to more natural materials so you’d have a mix of polycotton which was more suitable I think, especially if you were very hot. And the clothes, there tended to be a lead by the teenagers in what would be in fashion so whatever came to Miss Pack’s we would gradually find that if it was yellow and pink that were in, then the clothes from Mrs Barrow would appear in those colours as well.