Mrs Taylor's wedding dress

Many women practiced home dress making, and professional dressmakers often worked from their home. The Wall sisters grew up living next door to the most well remembered dressmaker in Bolton, Mrs Heaton. They have fond memories of helping her and learning from her.

Anne and Christina Wall lived at 42 Bark Street. The sisters were next door neighbours to Mrs A. C. Heaton, the Bolton dressmaker who specialised in bridal wear. They grew up in the 1930s and 1940s running errands for her, doing odd jobs and watching the best dressed women in Bolton entering and leaving her premises at number 44.

Heaton made bespoke clothes for women at a time when the selection of readymade clothing in the shops was not good. Christina remembers being in awe of the busy workshop:

"When you went in that sewing room, wow, you know, steam irons going here, and press going there, that one was doing that, and she had the big table cutting out, and it was really wow-wow-wonderful."

Their mother was a home dressmaker, making all the clothes for the family, using a treadle powered Singer. The sisters followed in her footsteps as young women making their own clothes. Whenever they completed a garment Mrs Heaton would inspect it and critique their work.

In 1953 Anne became engaged to William (Bill) Bain and, short of money, she decided to make her own wedding dress. Mrs Heaton cut the water mark satin fabric for her and showed her the technique for making pointed sleeves.

Anne and her mother Norah were up to 3am on the morning of the wedding day finishing the dress. Mrs Heaton lent Anne a veil and her own pearls to complete the outfit.

She was married in the afternoon on the 28th November. William, who was in the army, was soon after stationed to Korea. 

In 1957 Christina was married. Mrs Heaton repaid Christina for all her years of errands and help by making her dress for her, but true to their upbringing the two sisters made the bridesmaids’ dresses.

Christina received the full treatment from Heaton who brought the dress and the pearls over in the morning and helped her get ready.

Later, when her photograph album was ready, Mrs Heaton was disappointed with the way the fabric of the dress showed up in the photographs, and took her to another photographer to have her and her dress photographed again!

After the wedding Christina laid the dress out on a bed at her mother-in-law’s and all the neighbours came in to see it. It was then wrapped up and stored.

Unlike her contemporaries, Christina would never cut her dress up to make a christening robe or a ball gown, declaring “It’s too beautiful”. The only way she would have the dress altered would be under the condition that it was Heaton that did it.      

Recently Christina has been to a wedding where the bride wore her grandmother’s wedding dress. The idea struck her that perhaps one of her daughter’s might like to wear her dress. When she discovered that neither daughter had any intention of wearing her dress she told them:

“well you can bury me in it”!

Mrs Taylor:

“Well my material.… It was beautiful …and I always remember she said it’s the worst material that she’d ever handled because it was new. It was like leather…. when she put the pins in they all sprang out and when she was sewing it blunted all her needles.”

Anne and her mother Norah were up to 3am on the morning of her wedding day finishing the dress.