Dorothy Ward Label & Astor For Pat Buckle

[LilyLilac]

Hello
Does anyone know anything about this label and the buckle? I am guessing the dress is 50s or 60s. Not too sure when crimpolene went out of fashion! Thought the markings on the back of the buckle were unusual.

 

[vintagevixen]

This is a 1960s dress. Here's info Crimplene (says it was launched in 1959):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimplene

 

[LilyLilac]

Many thanks, for some reason I thought crimplene was a much earlier material .

 

[196t's]

This is a 1960s dress.

I agree, the hemline is way too short for a 1950s dress.

 

[bycinbyhand]

Definitely 60s!

 

[lkranieri]

I just did a fast search and found only these three references to Dorothy Ward LTD. When I clicked on each of the links, I found even less information than you see here. Note in the last citation that Dorothy Ward LTD sold mail order dresses.

 

[lkranieri]

From THIS SITE we learn that:

"A little further along Benfleet Road was Ballard Bros. shopfitters, who began their business there in the late 1940s/early 1950s...On the opposite side of the road was Dorothy Ward Ltd, a mail order house which had also been there since just after the war. The Directors of this company were all local people, Mr John W Carr had lived in Benfleet since 1924 and the business was named after his wife, Mrs Dorothy A Carr (nee Ward). In more recent years the building was demolished and La Quinta Restaurant was built there."

 

[LilyLilac]

Thank you so much for your answers, always interesting to read the history. I remember my grandmother having a catalogue but it was named Marshall Ward.

 

[Hoxton Arcade]

 

[Hoxton Arcade]

Above are a couple of adverts for Dorothy Ward mail order fashion - one from the Daily Sketch in 1958, and another from the Daily Mail in 1979. Interestingly the fashion style seems unchanged!