Monday 10 October 2011

Kortex, Dagenham, Vintage Fashion & Strikes

 

I love this jacket.

PA080621   PA080618

It’s 1950s, made in Australia, black wool with a faux fur collar – what’s not to love?!…….

………It’s a size 10 – and I am not.  So it’s listed on my Etsy Store.

The jacket was made by Kortex, who had a factory in Brunswick, Melbourne.  The only information I have been able to find out about the factory is that 300 of their female employees went on strike for over a week back in 1981, looking for better conditions  and equal pay.  Not a happy story, but an important one, and one day maybe there will be a film like Made in Dagenham, the story of women striking at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham, England, during the summer of 1968.  The fashions are great (well maybe the underwear scene isn’t that great) but the dress Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins) gets to wear is gorgeous.

dag group

If you want to read more about the Kortex strike and part it played in improving working conditions for women in Australia, you can read about it here.

Have a Happy Vintage Day

Deb

 

Blogger Labels: jacket,Australia,wool,size,Etsy,Kortex,factory,Brunswick,Melbourne,information,employees,Made,Dagenham,women,Ford,Motor,Company,England,underwear,Rita,Grady,Hawkins

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