Fashion in the 1950s

Rene Smith was an ex-weaver who worked at Armley Mills in the 1950s. Rene started working at the mill in 1941 when she was 14 years old. She agreed to return to the mill to allow the pupils from St. Barts to interview her so that they could get a first person account of what life was life for the workers at Armley Mills in the 1950s.

The children devised a set of interview questions to pose to Rene, in order to find out what it was like to work at Armley Mills and also find out about her life ouside of work.

The video clip attached to this page shows Rene's answers to questions the children asked about fashion in the 1950s.

The questions the children asked on this subject were:

• What sort of clothes did you wear when you weren't at work?
• Were fashionable clothes expensive?
• Where did you get your clothes from?

Video clips of Rene's answers to questions on subjects such as entertainment, hobbies, working in the mill, family life and food can be seen in the other learning journeys in this series.