Marshall and Snelgrove dress

Strapless dress worn with a sleevless jacket and both made of silver grey synthetic fabric. The jacket fastens at the back with a zip. The dress has a fitted and boned bodice and the fitted waist is emphasised with a bow trim. The skirt is lined with to support the tulip shape. The front of the skirt is embellished with two large flat self covered buttons on each side.

Purchased from Marshall and Snelgrove, which was a department store in Leeds. Opening, in 1870, the shop stood on the corner of Bond Street and Park Row, where a Lloyds bank stands today. Marshall and Snelgrove was the Harvey Nichols of its day and was best known for selling upmarket fashions.

The Leeds shop was one of many Marshall and Snelgrove stores across the country. The history of the firm can be traced back to 1837 and its first shop was situated on Vere Street, just off the highly fashionable Oxford Street, in London. One of the original founding partners of the firm was aYorkshire mann,named Mrr James Marshall. The firm had great success and opened up many branches outside of London, providing good quality goods for the rising rich Victorian middle classes.

In the late 1950s when this dress was purchased, Marshall and Snelgrove had merged with Debenham Freebody, another large firm. They continued to sell high end goods, however shopping trends had started to change and by the 1960s luxury stores such as Marshall and Snelgrove went into decline. The firm had to close many of its stores including the Leeds shop, in 1973.