Romantic in concept and evocative of another age, the embroidered clothes illustrated on these pages were designed and made by Angela Salmon, while a design student at London’s St Martin’s School of Art, for her final diploma exhibition. Although painstaking embroideryis not commercially viable in the ready-made clothing industry, it is comforting to know that students of design continue to produce exquisite work such as this, adapting traditional techniques to modern design concepts. The lilac silk and black velvet dress, worn with pantaloons, has flowers and leaves of machine embroidered organza applied to the bodice with realistic-looking plastic blackberries to complete the motif. The caped coat-dress, made of olive-coloured chiffon, is worn over a strawberry printed chiffon dress. Strawberry flowers, leaves and fruit motifs, made of matt satin and machine embroidered organza, are applied with some of the edges lying free of the background fabric. The blue and white ensemble consists of a blue organza apron worn over a full-sleeved chiffon dress. The designer has chosen field flowers for her inspiration—poppies, buttercups, speedwell and wheat heads—embroidered and applied to the background fabric. Surface embroidery has been added to enrich the design.

Photographed by G Murrell.

Scanned from Golden Hands Magazine, Part 58 Vol 4. (1972)