Horrockses cream dress 1950s

Cotton waffle weave dress
1950s
England
By ‘Horrockses of London’
This pretty summer dress is made a waffle weave cotton fabric and lined with bleached white cotton muslin and an attached petticoat. The cotton fabric was produced in the Horrockses cotton mills in Preston, England.

Other information
This dress is in the New Look style inspired by Christian Dior’s La Corolle collection launched in February 1947. The skirt is given extra fullness from an in-built, but detached muslin petticoat.
Horrockses was a household name in the 40s and 50s producing off the peg summer dresses. John Horrocks set up a cotton goods company in Preston, England in the late 18th century (1791). The fashion collection was created as an initiative to use and sell their fabric. Celebrities and even royalty were noted fans and the brand was given a royal warrant in the 1960s. In the 70s and 80s, Horrockses dresses went out of fashion. The company has been resurrected and is selling a range of bed linen.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/house-and-homes-blog/gallery/2011/aug/30/horrockses-fashion
Horrockses was founded in 1791 in Preston, UK as a cotton manufacturer. In 1946 the company started Horrockses Fashions Limited and the Horrockses label was born. The clothing was designed by designers in London, using the cotton that was designed and produced by the Horrockses Mill in Preston. Most of their garments were made from their cotton, although occasionally they used other fibers that were bought from other cotton mills.
During the 1950s Horrockses was famous for their colorful cotton floral prints, which were made into full-skirted summer dresses. These dresses were popular not only in Britain, but they were also imported into the US, where they could be found at upscale stores such as B. Altman. The dresses were not cheap and were very well made. Clever dress construction in the bodice gave a corseted look although formal, rigid stays were never used to create the popular wasp waist. Horrockses set out to improve the image of cotton. They did this successfully. Women who couldn’t afford a Dior were happy to buy and wear a Horockses.
The company’s top designers left in 1958 and the company was sold to Steinberg & Sons in 1964. The label was discontinued in 1983.
Source: http://vintagefashionguild.org/label-resource/horrockses/

Other information
50s dresses and fashion
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50sclothes.html
http://www.fashion-era.com/1950s/
http://www.fashion-era.com/1950s/
http://www.20thcenturyfoxy.com/en/1950s/a32