Why are my forebears wearing these clothes?
Q This photograph shows my great grandmother, Mary Hawthorne, and her parents, James Hawthorne and Edith Bailey, taken c1920. Can you help us identify whether their unusual clothes were worn for a particular event or reason? They always lived around the Talke Pits/Tunstall/Burslem area. Hannah Jones
A This lovely outdoor scene was probably taken by a local studio photographer, hired to visit your ancestors at home. I agree that your great grandmother’s and her mother’s outfits are distinctive. However, they reflect regular late 1910s/early 1920s modes, albeit in an unusually striking way. They don’t represent ‘special’ costumes denoting a particular event, but are an interpretation of ‘best’ dress.
James wears a respectable threepiece tailored suit, as kept by most working men for church as well as social and family gatherings. His jacket and waistcoat suspending a prominent watch chain express typical late First World War or early postwar style, so the fashion clues combined date to c1916–1922.
Your forebears will undoubtedly have commissioned this photo to mark an auspicious occasion, for example James’ safe return from the war in 1919/20 (if he served), a milestone wedding anniversary or even a move to this cottage. You could search for them in the 1921 census on Findmypast ( findmypast. co.uk) to try to identify the location. Jayne Shrimpton
1 DRESSES
Formal/dressy daytime frocks of the late 1910s/early 1920s were straight-cut, shaped with a simple sash/ belt and often incorporated contrasting layers, panels, collars and cuffs.
2 COLLARS
Large, flat collars were a key female fashion feature. Here Edith’s broad, tapered collar rests on a dark velvet dress, while Mary’s ‘collar’ is formed like a tabard extending over her shoulders.
3 STYLE
The creative effect of both females’ costumes suggests that Edith may have designed and personally made them at home, or had them sewn by a local dressmaker.
4 BOW
Mary’s large white hair bow, tied on one side, was an accessory worn by most young and school-age girls between c1905 and the early 1920s.
5 ORNAMENTAL DETAILS
Both dresses are embellished with bold white decorative stitching, pom-pom edging and neat appliquéd motifs.
6 JAMES’ SUIT
Men’s suits can be hard to date, but the long, moderately narrow jacket lapels are typical of the 1910s and early 1920s.