'The White House' Bond Street London Fashion any Info please

Hello all,

what a wonderful forum!

I have been searching through the threads (as well as getting showered in the fountains of knowledge) for information on the label to no avail. I do hope that I will be able to contribute to the forum too as have garnered knowledge mostly of the 90's designer period of fashion.

I understand from my internet scouring that 'The White House' has been open since 1906 selling Linen's and Towels but can find little to no information about the period which it sold fashion.

I have recently purchased a rather huge amount of vintage clothing (approx 100 pieces), which I assume has either come from a personal collection or been discovered at a warehouse, the majority of the items still have their original tags attached. The clothing seems to date from the late 60's through to 80's and includes better known designers such as Averardo Bessi as well as own branded (made in France/Italy for The White House) and mostly by designers I have never heard of and can find no info on.

I have included pictures of one item by "Pering'? (you can see some further items behind including two Stunning Bessi skirts) and intend to open a few threads with some of the lesser known designer names with the hope of gaining better insight but for now it would be super fantastic if anyone has more information of this period of fashion by The White House. I did find one image on google which seemed to show the store with clothing inside.

The current website makes no mention of ever selling clothing.

I am a seller of vintage designer clothing and have an ebay store, I would very much like to better understand this clothing in order to be a well informed seller. I know the Bessi clothing has a high resale value (fantastic prints!) and some of the other items have huge price tags, ranging from (vintage price £105-£950).

Thanks so much for reading, apologies for wall of text!

Gem

P.s I am currently checking weather I can become a seller member and think I am in line with all the requirements.

 

I hope this is ok to post here. I have found out a little more info on 'The White House' on New Bond St during it's high fashion clothing era. I will post some pictures which I found that are starting to build a timeframe. I couldn't see anywhere else to post this and hoping some other people might be able to chime in with new info and that it can be a useful resource for anyone also eager to learn about it.

It opened in 1906 selling Linens and Towels. The first fashion reference seems to be in the 1930's and I have clothing from there dating to the 1980's. The website makes no reference to ever selling clothing so i have to assume it has not just recently stop stocking it.

I have found adverts in 'Illustrated London News' by searching The British Newspaper archives. These all date between 1956-1964 and are a regular repeated advert for French and Irish Linens and handkerchiefs.

There seems to be some editorial pictures from a period I assume to be 1930's referencing 'The White House' in collaboration with a French design house (Maison L Giraud) who made the garments and then exported to their Bond st store...

EDIT: I have revised the dates for the images based on the expertise of the forumers 'metro retro vintage' and 'poppy's vintage clothing' commenting in this thread. Credit to them!




This Lingerie advert in black and white, 1950's



This seems to be the same French (Maison L Giraud) house with a dress 1920's



I also found an artists illustration of the interior of 'The White House' I'm not sure of the period but I did notice the sign for menswear and the figures to the rear of the shop which could indicate a separate area housing the Fashions.

 

That's some great sleuthing, Gem! Great information and illustrations.

I'm guessing that the Lingerie ad is later than stated and that the ad below it is earlier than stated. Bumping for more opinions.

 

Hello Gem, I just wanted to post to say thank you for your post. My father worked as an accountant for The White House, situated at 51-52 New Bond Street, from the early 1980s until the store was sold off in 1997 and the company moved to Surrey. That illustration is a fairly good representation of the the set up I remember - linens and striped upholstered chairs in the front as well as chinaware. Behind the double doors at the back were the clothes and an order desk being which there were huge rolls of coloured and striped fabrics that presumably the customers could choose from. I remember as a little girl seeing these racks of amazing OTT satin dresses in candy pink and buttercup yellow, with lace underskirts and big back-tie bows. The lovely lady who ran the floor told me that it had made outfits for several Royal children, including Prince William. It was a huge place, or seemed so to me, at 20,000 square feet. This NYT article from 1986 about the businesses on New Bond Street mentions "In scarcely less lavish mood, some might well consider spending $1,700 on a nightdress and negligee at No. 51 (not least for the satisfaction of saying they came from The White House)." So I believe they were still making clothing up until the end. The website doesn't mention clothing as they are sister companies with the same family owners - The White House (no longer trading) and The White House Linen Co., still trading, now with a sideline in supplying furnishings for luxury yachts. My pervading memory is of the creaky stairs leading to the upstairs offices and the amazing pneumatic tube system that sent cash, memos and other small items whizzing in these foot-long capsules around the building to different areas.

 

Hello Gem - a couple more for you. I really hope they help build the picture! If you want the full sized images then just PM me and I'll email them directly to you. Regards, Emma


1911.


1932.


1940.


.

 

*tries to press the 'love' button

Fantastic info, thanks for sharing.

 

I found this gem at the last chance before bailer shop in Florida
I have no children but could not see this beauty be discarded
The quality of craftsmanship and attention to details is just not anything like they have out there now

 

Dear All,
This may be too late to be of assistance as I was dreaming about clothig I had made for me at The Whitw House and how we used to run through to the childrens department when we arrived.
I randomly googled The White House and this came up.
During the early sixties, my mother had some outfits made for my sister and I at the shop and I remember going for fittigns and these fancy boxes arriving , big white boxes with lots of tissue in which our clothong nestled.
We had hairbands made to match the oitfits and my mothet must have bought some ready made things as well. 'Best coats' with velevet collars and we had matching muffs with fur bobbles on the tassles , much to my delight
If these recollections are of any help, email me and I will try to find pbotos.
Deborah

 

I will look, cant promise
It was a LONG time ago and sady my mother died soon aftet and life changes enorouslylp

 

Excuse my typos