Alfred Gillett Trust News Category
Goodbye, Charlotte!
Posted on July 24, 2015
This month we said Goodbye to our Head of Collections, Charlotte Berry, who left the Trust to return to her hometown and take up the exciting role of Archivist at Hereford Cathedral. Charlotte has worked for the Alfred Gillett Trust for five years and has achieved a great deal in this time. She was instrumental […]
Syd Brak, Athena and Clarks
Posted on July 9, 2015
If you grew up in the 1980s and 90s, you undoubtedly know of ‘Athena’ and the posters they were renowned for. A recent article by The Guardian online came up with the 10 best posters from the time they were around. I was excited to see that one of the posters was by an illustrator […]
The Hardy Amies influence
Posted on June 30, 2015
Hardy Amies first gained recognition in the fashion business designing women’s clothes. He started training in the 1930s before starting his own business in 1945 and being appointed Dressmaker to H.M. Queen Elizabeth. He was eventually appointed as Design Consultant to the Men’s Division of Clarks in 1962, collaborating with Hugh Brooking Clark. Hugh believed […]
The Dilemmas of Collections Management
Posted on May 28, 2015
These ‘Duskdawn’ shoes were made in 1957, and are from the Skyline collection. This image exemplifies the inevitable consequence of displaying our collection in a museum case. Whilst the shoe on the right hand side has been held in a box away from any light, the shoe on the left has been on display in the museum, and has consequently sustained damage from the light used to illuminate […]
Measuring Feet in the 21st Century
Posted on May 22, 2015 1 Comment
The Archive often deals with enquiries about foot measuring at Clarks and a new initiative has just been launched by the company which builds on its long heritage of foot fitting. An article on the BBC News website shows how iPads have been adapted for foot fitting and shows several examples of gauges from our […]
Short hair for girls in the Clark family – can you solve the mystery?
Posted on May 19, 2015 1 Comment
Can you help with a mystery which has been bugging the Trust staff for some time? We have a large collection of photographs relating to the Clark and related families in Street, Somerset. Several of the young girls in the family wore their hair very short in late 19th century, and we have always been curious as […]
Major Exhibition Opens at the Museum of Bath at Work
Posted on April 13, 2015
The World’s Most Travelled Shoe: Celebrating 65 Years of the Desert Boot 10 April – 31 October 2015 Come with us on a journey from Cairo to Burma to Chicago and Jamaica, across Death Valley in California, to 1960s Paris, and Weston-Super-Mare! Clarks has sold more than 10million pairs of Desert Boots in over 100 […]
Digging in the Clarks Archives
Posted on April 9, 2015
Our Research Archivist Tim Crumplin was recently interviewed for the Clarks Originals website and gave a guided tour of our facilities and collections. He explores everything from the importance of archives and the significance of the iconic Desert Boot, to the future aspirations of the Trust. Read the interview here.
Killer Heels
Posted on March 27, 2015 1 Comment
The Alfred Gillett Trust not only takes care of Clarks shoes, but also shoes belonging to many other companies. World War II had a huge impact on footwear fashion through the 1940s, and continued to influence trends during the 1950s. High heels were banned in 1942 as part of the war effort, when there was a restriction on […]
The Trust Waves Goodbye to Eureka
Posted on February 2, 2015
Last Thursday, Neil Bollen (metal conservator), Neil’s son Rupert and Alma Rahat (University of Exeter) came to Street and took the Eureka machine away to be conserved and given lots of TLC in an AHRC project. Moving the machine proved rather a challenge. As shelving had been installed in the storeroom around the machine, it […]
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