BACK IN TIME
It was a return to the 1950s at the weekend as the Marks & Spencer company archive in Leeds staged a celebration of the decade.
THE MARKS & Spencer company archive in Leeds was rocking and rolling at the weekend as it staged a celebration of the 1950s.
Jive dancing classes, musical entertainment, retro fashion displays and special screenings of cinema adverts from the decade were all organised for the free event, which took place at the University of Leeds-based archive building on Saturday.
Visitors were encouraged to dress up for the occasion and they could also turn back the clock by treating themselves to a 1950s-style hairdo, courtesy of Le Keux Vintage Salon.
Speaking ahead of the nostalgia-packed get-together, M&S archive and outreach officer Katie Cameron said: “The 1950s saw real social change and awakening as well as an explosion of popular culture.
“Fashion brought the wasp waist and full skirts, a major shift in post-war fashion, and glamour came bouncing back.
“M&S embraced the optimism of the decade, bringing new fabrics and the latest couture-inspired trends to the high street.”
Retail giant M&S famously started life as a penny bazaar in Leeds’s Kirkgate Market in 1884.
Its company archive relocated from London to Leeds University’s Michael Marks Building in 2012.