Pat gets dying wish to be buried in dress that made her famous
A PIN-UP girl from the Fifties is to have her dying wish honoured – and be buried in the spotty dress that brought her fame.
Pat Stewart became a celebrity when she accidentally flashed her underwear to a seaside photographer 66 years ago.
The snap, taken in Blackpool in 1951, became an iconic seaside image and Pat, who was just 17 at the time, became known as “the girl in the spotty dress”.
Jokes
It also helped launch her showbusiness career and she went on to work with Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, Joan Collins and Benny Hill.
The great-grandmother has died of heart failure aged 83.
Her daughter Rachel, 47, said: “She went into hospital with heart problems and was cracking jokes with the doctors right to the end.
“She wanted to wear her famous spotty dress at her funeral and her wish will be carried out.”
Pat was a Tiller Girl dancer at Blackpool North Pier theatre in 1951 when her picture was taken alongside her friend Wendy Clarke.
As the camera clicked, a sea breeze lifted Pat’s skirt. The saucy seaside snap, taken by legendary photographer Bert Hardy, went on to become an iconic image appearing on posters and greetings cards.
However, when the editor of the Picture Post magazine initially saw the snap he banned it for being too risque. It finally appeared two weeks later when Pat’s “underwear” was airbrushed out.
Pat, from Featherstone, West Yorkshire, revealed just before she died: “It wasn’t my knickers in the picture.
“I had a swimming costume on underneath the spotty dress.
“I was so young and free and the photo captured that moment.”