Heather Firbank
Heather Firbank (27 August 1888 – 13 April 1954) was an English society woman, now known for her fine wardrobe of clothes kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London. Her father Sir Joseph Thomas Firbank (1850 – 7 October 1910) was a British Conservative Party politician and her grandfather Joseph Firbank (1819 – 29 June 1886) built the family fortune as a railway contractor. Her older brother Ronald Firbank (1886 – 1926) became famous posthumously for his innovative novels.
Heather Firbank was born in Britain on 27 August 1888, at The Coopers in Chistlehurst, Kent, the youngest of four children of MP Sir Thomas Firbank and Lady Firbank (née Harriet Jane Garrett). She had three elder brothers, Joseph Sydney (born 1884), Arthur Annesley Ronald (born 1886) and Hubert Somerset (born 1887).[1] She was schooled at home by a governess and was presented at Court on the 15 May 1908.[2]
Heather Firbank purchased her clothes from high-end dressmakers and tailors in London, including Lucile, Mascotte, Redfern, Frederick Bosworth, Russell & Allen, Kate Reily and the department store Woolland Brothers in Knightsbridge. The evening gown illustrated at right was designed by Lucile, one of the leading couturiers from the late 1890s to the early 1920s. The dress was named "El Dorado" and first appeared in Lucile's Spring 1913 collection.[3]
Firbank put her clothes into storage when her brother Ronald, the last member of her immediate family, died in 1926. Heather Firbank never married and her wardrobe was inherited by her nephew, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Firbank (13 June 1910 – 1 December 2000). The extensive collection was acquired by the V&A in 1957, forming the foundation for the museum’s world famous collection of 20th century fashion. Other items from Heather Firbank's extraordinary wardrobe survive in the Museum of London, The Gallery of Costume in Manchester, Nottingham Museum, Leicester Museum and Northampton Museum.[4]
An exhibition of Firbank’s clothing was held at the V&A in 1960 entitled A Lady of Fashion: Heather Firbank (1888-1954) and what she wore between 1908 and 1921. The collection is the subject of a forthcoming V&A publication entitled London Society Fashion 1905-1925: The Wardrobe of Heather Firbank by Cassie Davies-Strodder, Jenny Lister and Lou Taylor.
References
- ↑ Benkovitz, Miriam J, Ronald Firbank A Biography, (London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970)
- ↑ The Onlooker,London, 23 May 1908
- ↑ Bigham, Randy Bryan, Lucile - Her Life by Design (San Francisco: MavEvie Press, 2012), pp. 109-110, 286; New York Times, April 16, 1913; Harper's Bazaar, July 1913, p. 26.
- ↑ Heather Firbank archive, Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert, Museum, London
Further reading
- Adburgham, Alison, Shops and Shopping 1800-1914 Where, and in what manner the well-dressed Englishwoman bought her Clothes (Barrie & Jenkins, London 1964)
- Benkovitz, Miriam, Ronald Firbank A Biography (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1969)
- Bigham, Randy Bryan, Lucile - Her Life by Design (MacEvie Press Group, San Francisco, 2012)
- Davies – Strodder, Cassie, Lister, Jenny and Taylor, Lou, London Society Fashion 1905-1925: The Wardrobe of Heather Firbank (V&A, London, 2015)
- de la Haye, Amy and D. Mendes, Valerie, Lucile Ltd. London, Paris, New York and Chicago 1890s – 1930s (V&A,London 2009)
- Hobson, Anthony, Ronald Firbank: Letters To His Mother 1920-1924, (Verona, Verona, 2001)
Archive material
- Firbank, Heather, Letters to Ronald Firbank, Ronald Firbank Collection of papers, 1896-1952, The Berg Collection, (MSS Firbank), The New York Public Library, New York
- Firbank, Ronald, Letters to Heather Firbank, Fales Manuscript Collection ca.1700-2000, (MSS001), Fales Library, NEW York University, New York
- Heather Firbank archive, Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert, Museum, London