Remembering Laura Ashley…
n 1953, a young (twenty-eight) Welsh secretary, Laura Ashley, living in a small flat in London with her husband and two little children, was working on a quilt project; a craft she had learned from her grandmother. She was looking for certain kinds of Victorian fabric designs to use in her quilt but couldn’t find the colors and patterns she wanted.
nspired by printed fabric she had seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum, she designed what she was envisioning, which her husband, Bernard Ashley, then printed on a few yards of linen on a machine he made himself in their attic apartment. That was the beginning; the original investment was about $20. But worth a gazillion in display of faith and pluck.
ooking at her work, I think her fabric designs were inspired by the old quilts she grew up with; the clear yellows and blues, soft romantic pinks, old fashioned milky greens; and the simple florals and prints you see in vintage quilts. I think maybe she was also in love with old China dishes. These two inspiration assignments are just conjecture on my part, because these are things that inspired my watercolors and I always felt she and I must be some kind of kindred spirits when it came to the colors and patterns we love.
he cotton scarves Laura and Bernard made in 1953 were an immediate hit in local stores. People fell in love with their style and color sense. Soon Bernard left his job to print fabrics and run their blossoming business full time. They did it all themselves, built their business slowly, and at the same time, continued to grow their family. It was Bernard’s idea to call the business Laura Ashley; he thought it should have a feminine name.
Behind every great woman, there’s a great man (if she’s lucky), preferably one who cooks.
y the 1980′s, there were over 200 Laura Ashley stores all over the world, filled with the most wonderful things you’ve ever seen: cotton and linen dresses, crisp white blouses, nightgowns, straw hats, lampshades, flowery umbrellas, dishes, fabric, wedding dresses, sheets and comforters, and wallpaper all in the softest, most beautiful colors and classic styles. Laura Ashley was shabby chic before shabby was chic! Maybe she was a tad chic-er than shabby, but her things all had a very soft romantic feel to them. I still have decorating books she produced that show her classic design sense in the houses she and her family lived in. Laura and Bernard Ashley changed the way millions of people decorated and thought about the comforts of home.
discovered Laura Ashley when I first came to New England. Whenever I left Martha’s Vineyard, I was always lost on the roads, especially when I got into the bigger cities, but still, like one of those beach geiger counters, the beep-beep in my head got louder and stronger as I honed in on the Laura Ashley store on Newbury Street in Boston. I never missed an opportunity to visit; would go to Boston just to go to that store, to be surrounded in the fresh colors I loved. I wallpapered my bedroom in my first house on the island in a sky-blue Laura Ashley print, and loved to wake up, still dreaming, in that blue cloud and listen to the birds singing, or watch the snow falling outside my windows.
remember one spring day, it might have been the first mild day of that year; I drove to Boston because I had a hair appointment. The daffodils were in bloom in The Common; I bought new dress at Laura Ashley. I wore it out of the store, walked up the street (thinking myself adorable, like Diane Keaton), went to my hairdressers where I got my hair cut — all clean and shiny, I then took myself and my Country Living magazine to lunch at a sidewalk cafe. That day is fresh in my memory; I remember feeling so happy and free and lucky in the sunshine with my new dress and haircut!
he Laura Ashley store was small, very close to The Ritz Hotel. The first thing you saw when you walked into the shop, was a table in the window set with Laura Ashley dishes for a tea party, on a Laura Ashley linen table cloth, with linen napkins and etched glassware. A person wanted to sit right down, drape herself with a napkin, pour the tea, click the cups into their saucers, but you couldn’t stop because there was more…
Just behind that was the clothing, rows of pure white cotton blouses, fitted with details such as capped sleeves, darts, covered buttons, some of them slightly gathered at the shoulder, some with stand-up collars; labels reading "cotton," and "linen;" Made in Great Britain. The dresses were along the wall; skirts fluffed out like a colorful flower garden. The wedding dresses were toward the back in a glass case, like dessert, all whipped cream and lace; the furniture, wallpaper, and bolts of fabric, were up on a raised platform. It was heaven in there. I could’ve lived there.
ou won’t find Laura Ashley on Newbury Street anymore, because (big disappointment to find out, I’m quite against it) nothing stays the same; the store is gone. In 1985, there was a terrible accident. On her sixtieth birthday, much too young, Laura Ashley fell down a set of stairs at her daughter Jane’s house and died a few days later of a brain hemorrhage. Even though her name lives on, the Ashley family is no longer associated with the company. The heart had gone out of it for them; the designing woman, cherished wife, and mother of four children was gone, taking the color sense, the genius that was Laura Ashley, with her.
irls, if you never saw a Laura Ashley store you don’t know what you missed. I still have this wonderful hat, which I’ve never looked good in (I look like a bowling ball in it, it covers my eyes down to the tip of my nose). I knew I’d probably never wear it when I bought it, but I still could not resist such an adorable hat; it must be twenty-five years old now. I keep it in my studio, have painted it many times.
hen I think of inspiration, I think of Laura Ashley. She made the world a prettier place to live.
Are you a kindred spirit too? Comments…
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Thank you so much for the wonderful blog. I didn’t realize Laura Ashley died in 1985, the same year my daughter, Lauren Ashley was born. I shopped in several of her stores in New Jersey and still have many of the items I purchased. My daughter’s whole room was Laura Ashley when she was a little girl. I beleive the pattern was ‘Castleberry’, the soft pink & green design; I still have it in my guestroom. Miss her quality.
I just read this today…extra time on my hands awaiting the arrival of Irene.
Goodness, I remember that store, and one similar in Rhode Island. I had many Laura Ashley dresses and hats, and remember the jumpsuits? I still have mine somewhere with old clothes in the basement. Boy, now I really miss that store. The elegant simplicity of her designs.
I keep a “crafternoons” area in my home office where I work on homemade cards and other little projects, along with a sewing area (not used much, I am terrible) But now you have inspired me to look for some Laura Ashley fabric and make something! I guess the closest thing we have now to Laura Ashley are the fabrics by Vera Bradley. I do like her aprons. But nothing beats Laura. Thanks for the memories!
What a beautiful time in history! I absolutely love(d) the femininity of Laura Ashley. I will cherish my Laura Ashley straw hats, curtains, crisp white blouses, sheets, and comforters. I consider them my own heirlooms. I always felt like a little piece of heaven had been granted to me when I walked into the Atlanta Laura Ashley store. It always, without fail, lifted my spirit the moment I set foot in the door. I miss it terribly and now search for her products at thrift stores, online, yard sales and any other place I can think to try and find them. I love the way they make my home feel; just like they made me feel – pretty!
I fell in love with Laura Ashley as a young woman and furnished and built three homes based on the soft and gentle style of Laura Ashley. Upon my first visit to the Laura Ashley store in Birmingham, Alabama I was so taken with the fabrics, dresses and linens that I nearly went crazy trying to decide what I could afford to buy. My darling husband told me to get what I wanted as long as I did not go way over board and I left the shop with a dress, which I still have, a double bed set with two pillowshams and a bedskirt. I still have the set, white and trimmed with the most beautiful 100% cotton swiss or maybe french lace and double entredeux and embroideries. The set has been mended a few times and I know that Ms. Ashley would love that! As she said in her book, ” The Laura Ashley Book of Home Decorating ” ” I am more an applicator than a decorator, tending always to go for effect rather than a perfect finish.”
How much I have used that book for inspiration as well as practical application.
The back of the book has a section called ” Decorating and Soft Furnishing ” it was my guide for drapes, pillows, everything that I believed would make my home as beautiful as the photos and fabrics that inspired my efforts.
Many trips back to the Laura Ashley store and learning to do more on my own I can only hope that I have come close in achieving this wonderful style that is so close to my heart! How much I miss her, thank you Ms. Ashley for your amazing contributions in making a home.
Hello Susan I loved the post and love the site and all things Willard. I’m writing from the UK and I thought you might like to know the next chapter in the story. When Laura died the family settled back in their beloved Wales, a place that Laura always loved.
They founded a new company Elanbach http://www.elanbach.com and despite Sir Bernard’ death two years ago are still manufacturing fabric. They never discontinue a design as they undertand that fabric is part of the story book of our lives. Additionally there is a gorgeous hotel on site where you can stay when you visit.
Love Jacqui x
I have gorgeous white on white design tile in two of my showers in my home (both different designs). Just love the subtle feminine look without being to “sweet” if that makes any sense.
…and yes, those are Laura Ashley tiles! Seems I forgot to mention that :-/
I became a Laura Ashley fan in the ’80′s. I never missed a chance to visit a store. I couldn’t afford most of the things in them, but I loved to visit and look. I would buy a small handkerchief or some small item. When I got married in 1992, I chose a Laura Ashley wedding gown, and my bridesmaids had light pink Laura Ashley dresses — So beautiful! I wore her Dilys perfume that day, and it is still one of my very favorites, although you can’t buy it anymore. I decorated my daughter’s room in LA wallpaper and made nursery items for her out of LA fabric to match. I bought LA dresses for her ( which she did not like then and does not appreciate now) I have kept every one of them. My fancy was her Bramble pattern. I still like it today. I collect those clothes now that I could not afford back then, and I wear them almost every day. The petticoats, pinafores, nightgowns, robes, shoes, the beautiful suits and party dresses — AH! I even have a few of her earlier creations from the 70′s. I have even seen your green striped dress on vintage clothing websites. I have the catalogue it is advertised in — I believe it was 1985. I bought the catalogue in one of the London stores on a visit to Britain that year. I keep a LA fabric stash, and am constantly on the look for ANYTHING Laura Ashley. Just a bit of heaven right here on earth!
Oh, and my good friend and partner in crime made me a quilt out of YOUR fabric a couple of years ago. I LOVE it, use it every day, and take it with me on all trips!
I couldn’t have said it better myself. I was and still am CRAZY about anything LA. My husand and I had a lay-over at the airport in Atlanta. “I” hired a cab for the LONG ride to the LA store. The cab cost $40.00 each way!!! My hubby was seething…needless to say I didn’t buy anything.(spent it all on the cab:-() I saw her first dress in 1988 and it was ‘curtains’ from then on. BTW..my shower curtain is made of LA curtains. A friend(who named her third daughter Lauren Ashley) and I shared this passion and we were just shoppin’ fools! In 1987 my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, and my friend and I copied 2 different dresses from catalogs and made my LOVELY, GENTEEL, VICTORIAN, BEAUTIFUL dress. We’ve just celebrated our 50th anniversary and again wore my lovely, genteel, victorian, beautiful Laura Ashley dress.
I have a closet full of beautiful dresses, jumpers,scarves,and even a long navy wool coat. Still wearing her lovely perfume and admiring the beautiful floral bottles. Thank God that HE gave her to us, even though it was way too short a time.
A wonderful tribute to one of the most notable Welsh women of all time . . I grew up with Laura Ashley . . her ‘less than perfect’ handmade style was so quirky and original in a time when machine made perfection was so in demand by the masses . . nothing beats Vintage Laura Ashley . . sadly, I feel they have somewhat lost their way . . I treasure my tiny stash of original Laura Ashley scraps of fabric and will one day incorporate them into something truly special. Always on the hunt in charity shops and jumble sales for a vintage item or two. I cried the day I learned she had died . . she lives on in the hearts of those of us who remember the Laura Ashley heydays of the 60′s 70′s and 80′s . . Thank you, Susan, for this tribute . .
My pleasure . . . I was so happy to see how many people feel about her the way I do! Have enjoyed all the stories! As you say, I also loved her “less than perfect” handmade style.. real, human, soft and wonderful.
Susan, you never cease to amaze me. I have to hold back…I COULD comment
on ALL of your posts! ……. Laura Ashley will forever be (to me!) synonymous with great style and romantic charm.
I too went crazy over all things Laura Ashley….my little daughter, (“Ashley”, of course….now age 31) had Laura Ashley sheets and a comforter and a little round table cover in her bedroom. (my favorite fabric was the white
with little pink buds on stems with usually one leaf….forgot the name of the pattern). I had the pink chintz dishes…(well HAVE! why would I ever get rid of them! they are in the “rotation”….and you know what I’m talking about, we who love dishes for all reasons and seasons) …My husband made a table out of an old sewing machine and the top was LA pink and white tiles.
Thank you for the history and pics of Laura and her husband, I so enjoyed reading things about her I did not know. I still have some of her books and even
a few old catalogs on my shelf, endless and timeless sources of inspiration.
omygosh! I’m almost forgetting to tell you one of my “proudest” Laura Ashley inspired stories…..one time I bought a large LA sheet and made two little girl
dresses out of them for my daughter and my niece (I’m guessing they were probably 5 and 7 years old)….those dresses turned out SOooo amazingly cute and the
sheet fabric was actually a dream to sew on! They wore them for Easter that year and I felt just like Maria in the sound of music, making clothes for the children out of the curtains!! One of these days I’ll figure out how to get that old pic on my computer and send to you.
Just recently I FOUND….in my stashes of fabric…..a package of precut pink fabric squares I bought in one of the Laura Ashley stores a gazillion years ago…. (for making pillow covers or quilts) and ODDLY ENOUGH, never used! I plan on making a crib quilt for the world’s cutest baby, my first grandchild Molly who is now 3 mos old!
We still have many Laura Ashley stores locally (Norfolk, England) and the housewares are still excellent,but the clothes are no different from the boring stuff you can get anywhere.I loved the clothes,and still have some keepsakes,of household items I have many, dating back to the first beginnings of her career.So sad that it all ended too soon.
Susan, Your article reminded me of how much I loved shopping at Laura Ashley which I discovered on my first trip to London in the summer of 1985. On subsequent trips Edinburgh, I always went to the Laura Ashley shop on Princes Street. Living in Rhode Island, with its close proximity to Boston, as well as being married to a native Bostonian, I had many opportunities to shop at Laura Ashley on Newbury Street over the years along with the two RI stores.
My daughter wore a beautiful Laura Ashley dress when she was my maid-of-honor at my wedding in 1989. She, also, wore a deep teal-colored damask print dress to a college semi-formal in the 1990′s. Both dresses were very feminine, classy, and understated–unlike what so many young women wear today.
I still wear 3 beautiful wool sweaters I bought at least 15 years ago at a local Laura Ashley. I loved the sweater so much that I bought one in navy, dark green, and red. It’s a lower-hip length sweater with silver filigree buttons on the green and blue sweaters and gold filigree buttons on the red sweater. Actually, my favorite Laura Ashley item is a large blue-print canvas duffle bag that I bought, on sale, on Newbury Street several years ago.
Well, my friend in California directed me to your lovely website because I love train travel…but I spotted the Laura Ashley link, and was intrigued.
I still have, and cherish, a set of Laura Ashley curtains and the beautiful tie backs hanging in our little guest room that started as a nursery. Laura Ashley brightened my life too. I can close my eyes and remember walking into her shop and wanting to transform my home with her beautiful fabrics. Thank you for remembering!
Hi, We do not have her store here in Brasil… fortunally I happened to visit Laura Ashley store while traveling to Milwaukee!!! My uncle asked me to buy a parfum… number 1… I never forgot the smell!!! I worked for an american company in Brasil for a long period of time and had the oportunity to buy evry other time I had to travel to the US… Aparently they do not produce it anymore or sell in their stores and at ebay costs much to much!!! It’s a sin!!!! I love it!!!
It is a sin! The good things should last forever!
How lovely to read about and remember Laura Ashley! My first quilt was made entirely of Laura Ashley fabrics many years ago, and I still love it even though the quilting is a certainly very much less than perfect! It has been much used and washed countless times. Now it is your fabrics that I find myself buying, even from way over here in Australia!
I, too, have a lovely light summer dress circa 1970′s which I wish I still fitted into!
I had the same blue wallpaper print in my daughters room and loved it for many years. I must say you were an perfect model this the great green dress “sunglasses” and all. I do remember going in a store here in CA as I remember and her clothing line was terrific. Thanks for sharing her story, I didn’t know anything about her and her family just loved everything she did. Rather like YOU…
Dear Susan: Your comment and article about Laura Ashley was wonderful and filled me with memories when my Mom and I would travel to Vancouver Island (with my two children in tow)to visit my brother and his family. En route we would never miss an opportunity to “aim the car” in the direction of the Laura Ashely shop in Vancouver. It was magic to see fabrics and clothing that “belonged” in our homes! I continue to use placemats my Mom made, curtains that I “forged”, pillows and quilts that cover our beds with prints and colours that delight. Every now and then I pull out the basket of fabric that I haven’t used and wonder how I will create something new.
Last year I made “french bread bags”… reduce, reuse and recycle friendly for my sister, sisters-in-law, nieces and daughter for Christmas. On the side I printed in my best grade one teacher printing “La Baguette”. The wonderful Belgian bakery I shop at was delighted with the result; I was too!
Laura Ashley continues to be a mentor to me for her spirit of individuality and creativity. Her books remain on my shelves for easy reading; her ideas are still as fresh as ever; it was so good to watch her business grow and have her as a part of my life as a woman, wife, mother and homemaker.
Susan, your blog is wonderful and your musing of Laura Ashley bring back so many great memories. I, too, loved the Newbury St. store in Boston and visited it often. My favorite pillow is a faded lily of the valley print with a large wrap around bow that has always graced a bed in my home and will continue to forever.
I think you look ADORABLE in the hat!!…BTW–love your blog, am a new reader having only discovered it recently.
Nice to meet you Dinah! (soar!)
I’ve enjoyed reading about Laura Ashley and about everyone’s thoughts/memories of this remarkable woman. In the late 80′s, I was in search of the perfect wedding dress. Knowing that there was a Laura Ashley shop in San Francisco, we (my mom and mother-in-law), decided to take a jaunt into the city. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the city was, as always, beckoning with other adventures besides looking for a wedding dress. We ‘refrained’ and went straight to the shop, (I believe it was on Maiden Lane?). In the shop’s window, I was taken aback by the wedding dress that was on display. I was completely giddy as it was the perfect dress that I had been looking for……elegant, romantic and refreshingly classic…typical of all Laura Ashley designs! Fast forward as my wedding dress is in the attic and is ‘preserved’……maybe one day I’ll have a granddaughter or great granddaughter that will fall in love with just as I did so many years ago. Maybe I should put a note in with the dress as to the ‘who, what, when, why and where’? Thank you Laura Ashley and family for so many years of beautiful fabrics, designs and ideas! You certainly made my wedding memorable! P.S. The marriage continues to be just as amazingly wonderful as the dress! I’d like to think that Laura Ashley designed it with a young bride ‘getting off to a grand start’ in mind…….
Lovely….I like the idea of the note! So happy the marriage was as good as the dress! LOL!
Susan, thank you for the insight to Laura Ashley. Both of my grandmothers are from Wales. My grandmother is even named Laura. I just purchased another Laura Ashley book to leaf through on rainy days. It keeps the spirit alive. Thank you again janet
Yes it does Janet! Thanks for writing!
To Dear Susan You Couldn’t Have Picked A Better Subject Than The
Beloved Laura Ashley ! Thx
Thank you Cynthia! We have lots of people who agree!
Loved your article about Laura Ashley. My new daughter came home from the hospital to her Laura Ashley Bunny Jo crib ensemble. I still have the whole set. Maybe I will use it when grandchildren come to visit….
What goes around comes around!
Thank you for your loving memory album on Laura Ashley that so many of us have enjoyed. Your words echo exactly my own memories of transforming my home and wardrobe and my daughters’ wardrobes and bedrooms with her fabric, comforters, lampshades, pillows, shams, draperies and valances. When I was a young girl I had a sweet bedroom in a Cape Cod house with a dormer. It had the ugliest green wallpaper. After four years, my mother and I bought a soft yellow flower print wall paper. It brought such sunshine to my life to live in the glow of that pretty wallpaper. A young girl’s romantic dreams from reading Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. We moved from that house the next year so I was only able to enjoy that wallpaper for one year. I always thought it a shame that we had not fixed up the room and made it pretty when I was younger. Four years to endure something ugly only to have that yellow sunshine beauty for one year. Many years later my first daughter Chidi was born in l989. I was first introduced to Laura Ashley fabrics and beddings in l994, when Chidi was 4 and immediately decided to make her room over in the sunshine yellow and periwinkle blue print, Charlotte, and complementary wallpaper borders in the sweet pea pattern of and sheets of the confetti print with the same yellow and blue. The fabrics were just pieces of Heaven. I wanted to do it differently for my own daughter and give her many years to enjoy her happy sunshine yellow room. I don’t blame my own mother for not knowing what my soul craved in beauty. But I wanted to be a different mom who would use Laura Ashley fabrics and designs to create little piece of heaven for my little girl. My husband was a graduate student and we were poor. How could I afford it? I would escape to the Laura Ashley shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan and dream. Occasionally I would splurge. Then I discovered that TJ Maxx carried Laura Ashley comforters. I found a Laura Ashley outlet store in our state and had such a craving just to go in the store that I would drive the hour and a half north to the outlet to get my Laura Ashley fix. There I found the sunshine yellow comforter and confetti sheets to match. I discovered that there were a dozen or so Laura Ashley outlet stores around the country. I made an index card with their locations and phone numbers and would phone them periodically to check for accessories in the quartet pattern I had selected for my own bedroom, and for Chidi’s sweet pea pattern. Sure enough one store in some other state had a ruffled valance in the yellow and periwinkle confetti pattern. Then I found a lampshade to match in a garage sale for 5 dollars and confetti sheets on clearance at TJ Maxx. Now, 17 years and two houses later, the confetti valance, the original bedspread and lampshade still bring joy when Chidi comes home from college. Now I have discovered ebay and occasionally type in my favorite patterns and find a valance or lampshade or sheet to add to our home’s Laura Ashley themes. I highly recommend this for you ladies out there that still want to decorate with Laura Ashley fabrics. Laura Ashley culture is still alive and well. I have seen stashes of fabric from vendors in Australia, France and other countries. If you need it, it is out there. Jusst be patient. Last week there was a shower curtain in the sweet pea pattern listed on ebay. I have been dreaming for years of having a shower curtain in that pattern to complement the wallpaper border I had saved when we moved from house to house. The bathroom walls are painted in the Laura Ashley periwinkle blue and the bedroom is in the sunshine yellow matching the fabric. The auction for the shower curtain would end 5 days later at 2:30 am. I played my index card game of years ago, wrote down the time and date and put it up on my kitchen cupboard to remember the time and date. I set the alarm and got up to guarantee that I would get my wish and win the auction by bidding and clicking one minute to the end of the auction time. Getting up at that hour seemed a bit crazy to me, just for a shower curtain, but the pull that got you to the Newbury street Laura Ashley shop years ago is still just working its miracle for me through the internet. Now that is loyalty to Laura Ashley and a tribute to to affection and love that Laura Ashley shoppers share for the beauty she created! She has left a little piece of Heaven behind that we continue to tend, like a beautiful Welsh or English garden, using her amazing floral prints. I too have my stash of Liberty of London grade Laura Ashley cotton, matching sets for mother and daughter. I have kept the woven Moses basket with the Laura Ashley fabric in the ruffle and comforter, the matching lampshade and even unused left over wallpaper border that my second daughter, Chinonye, received at her birth. I too have a hat, a navy blue velvet with a large brim, matching a simple navy blue cordoroy sailor dress. I loved reading your blog with all the comments. It reassures me that my hidden guilt at spending money I did not have back then is now melting away. I had wondered if my being pulled to the Laura Ashely shops was not somehow compulsive. Was it an addiction? Your blog has realigned my thinking. I now realize that we all share something in common, something very precious and lovely in our appreciation for the heritage Laura Ashley left for the world. My home has been graced with her lovely prints for almost 2 decades now. the comforters, washed many times, are still like new and unfaded. I have no desire to decorate anew, redecorate and change themes and colors with each passing fad. Current muddy and gaudy colors and designs in many mall stores this year, using fabrics that are cheap, cheap, poorly woven polyesters blends make me appreciate the gifts Laura Ashley gave us. My prayer is that the fashion and decorative industry will turn again in their cycles, to recreate her true style anew. Paula
She was very special, and we are all a very good testament to her lasting impact!
I never had the pleasure of shopping in a Laura Ashley store, but I certainly read every article and book about her, and own several of both! Recently, I found a LA gown in the most beautiful pink, flowered fine cotton with a huge bottom ruffle…completely lined in pure white fine cotton. This was in a thrift store and because I sew doll clothing using vintage and/or fine, new fabrics, I was overjoyed! A woman nearby heard me reading the label and that it was made in Great britain, and said…”Ohhh, what a WONDERFUL Halloween costume that will make for you”, and I immediately said I was going to take it apart to use all the beautiful fabrics! The shocked look on her face was priceless! I think I will have enough to also make a fine, floppy brimmed hat for myself to wear next summer! Thank you for this great reminiscense about Laura…it is how we all live on, in the memories and experiences of others. I am new to your blog also, and just love the journey pictures from the train and your home and yard. You are indeed a special “sister”!
Thanks Anne! What darling dress (es!) for some lucky doll (s)!
Loved reading your Laura Ashley story. She was a marvelous designer of fabrics, clothing, wall paper, linens, dishes, and other treats for the home. When I think of the days of the Laura Ashely stores, I have a warm place in my heart. Her dresses truly did make one feel very beautiful and special! I still have some of her dishes and they are so much fun to use, very special. Thanks for bring back all these memories!
My pleasure, it’s been so fun, reading everyone’s stories!!! I never knew how many others loved her too!
Yes, Yes, Yes, I have loved Laura Ashley for a long time. I have several of her books. I have been in a Laura Ashley store. I did not want to leave. Her things to me are timeless, they speak to me. I see her fabrics, hats, etc and just want to clutch them to my heart. Her designs just make me feel happy and at home, comfortable and content. thank you for your article about her. We like so many of the same things. You are Gladys Tabor meets Laura Ashley.
Oh, I love that!!
Thank you!
Hi Susan: I so appreciate how you have enlightened and enlivened my life with your beautiful thoughts and creations these last few years. As I read your thoughts about England, Beatrix Potter and Laura Ashley, I am moved to thank you for confirming that I am not alone in this world! I have made the pilgrimage to Hilltop Farm as well as to Laura Ashley shoppes in London. I have a Beatrix Potter bathroom now. Though the Laura Ashley bedroom and bathroom is gone, I still have some of her linens and other fabrics. Thanks for spotlighting this timeless art. Krista
My pleasure Krista, you are definitely not alone!
I’ve just come across your blog, and I’m sure I’m going to be a “frequent flyer” here!
I have been a Laura Ashley fan forever! I used to walk over to the store on Newbury St and make purchases. I thoroughly enjoyed that store. I wall papered my bathroom in my apartment with her wallpaper! I have one book that of her’s from the 80′s that I still cherish.
I’ll never forget when she passed away. I was vacationing in Ireland, I was devastated. I’m sorry to hear that the family is no longer involved in the business. She died far to young.
Thank you for a lovely post on one of my all time favorite designers!
Mary
reading your blogs is such a great opportunity to see just how alike us women are. isn’t it great?? why can’t we run the world…..it would be such a great place and the white house would have such great fabrics….much softer and more romantic. (all this nonsense about wars and who gets what….and money.) WHY CAN”T WE GET ALONG???
This is the first I have heard of her death as well–so sad the family is not carrying on. When I first discovered LA I was a young housewife with no extra money for anything remotely like LA. So I sent away for her catalogs and copied the dresses with patterns from Joanns and felt I looked like an English country Maiden!! I also found a bedding set (pink floral, stripes) from Croscill that I could afford so felt like I had her in my bedroom as well! I still have the bedding as I never have felt like I wanted to part with it–it has traveled from Seattle to Alaska to Washington and now to Idaho and I finger its’ softness from countless washings where it resides in my linen closet. I still have all the catalogs as well–they have made all the moves as well. I still can’t afford to buy LA but maybe I will now look on EBAY as suggested by others! Thanks for your loving rememberances of her and all the other letters.
Was so fun to do, made even more wonderful by all these wonderful memories!
My girlfriend and I were talking about all the beautiful Laura Ashley clothes we used to wear in the 80s. We were students then and couldn’t afford much. We used to buy what we liked and then share the clothes. We each have honeymoon pictures where we are wearing the same aqua blue sundress with flowers. She borrowed it from me for her honeymoon. It was the classic sundress. Good times. I still have all my Laura Ashley clothes hanging in my spare room closet. I couldn’t bear to part with them as they are just too beautiful. Every now and then I take them out and try them on. Thanks to my time on the treadmill, they still fit!
I have the yellow bunny jo crib set, I am setting up for my new daughter that came with a lot of scrap material. It appears there are curtains and a shower curtain also. Does anyone have a picture of what it looks like set up?
Love the blog. I am still a great fan of Laura Ashley. I remember lining up in London to buy a dress in one of her first stores. Cost 7 Pounds. Everyone could afford one. I still have piles of vintage and new Laura Ashley fabrics in my stash and continue to use them in my quilt designs. Cheers
Cheers Lauren! Thank you!
I too am a Laura Ashley fan! I have many of her decorating books that I still use. I also was a lucky bride and got married in a Laura Ashley gown and veil. My honeymoon dress was also a Laura Ashley dress! She will always be a part of my life and an inspiration!
I had the pleasure of working for Laura Ashley from1985 until 1992. I started part time in Hackensak, NJ just out of college. Laura Ashley had just died and I quickly found a great place to work, enjoy and embrace a lifestyle. As my husband and I moved for his job around the country , so too did I and my Laura Ashley “family”. Each new city we went to I just relocated to the area’s Laura Ashley. In Chicago at the Watertower there was Barb, who ran a tight ship, but didn’t mind a new person. Charlotte’s store was run by Beverly and she was a real mother figure to all of us young twenty year olds under her care. I also got to run my first store there, a Mother and Child. Before we opened that store, a bunch a ladies came down from corporate and we sat on the floor of the store sewing curtains for the front windows. That’s when I learned you could sew without using pins (a trick I still use today). It was bittersweet when we had to move to Houston, but Laura Ashley went with us and not only did we decorate our house with the lovely designs, but still more new friends were made. There I worked at the Galleria and WestOaks. Catherine was our manager at WestOaks and she was such a character. A lovely person who embraced the Laura Ashley lifestyle and once again keptt all of her young charges in line! My final journey with Laura Ashley was to Los Angelos. I worked at two stores there, with the last one at the Beverly Center. I was made manager of that store and found wonderful friends there who threw me a babyshower for my firstborn. We were in the store during the riots of 1992, with those big plate glass windows and I was so afraid someone would break into our precious store. We survived those trying times, but I left the Laura Ashley family after that for my own.
As someone who served you all those years I know that you loved the products. There was nothing like them out there and when the company left the US they took a bit of loveliness with them. Enjoy all of your vintage Castleberry sheet sets, Lyme Regis wallpaper and beautiful dresses. I must be waiting for a return to ‘loveliness” because I have about eight bankers boxes filled with clothes. My hope is that one day my daughters will discover what all the fuss was about.
I think they will Nancy! Thanks for that, very interesting!!
Thanks for the wonderful story of Laura Ashley! I made a point of visiting Laura Ashley stores where ever we visited, from London to Hawaii! I have a collection of hexagon cut fabrics I always intend to make into a quilt. Now I am retired it must be time to start!!!
Sounds like it!
I loved Laura Ashley, too. Her stores were amazing! I named my daughter Ashley Lauren in 1988. Once I found a beautiful french blue cordoroy dress for a two-year old and both my daughters wore it. I still have it waiting for a much-longed for grandaughter. Thanks for sharing this about Lauren Ashley.
I became a fan of Laura Ashley when I was younger and I was addicted to her perfume, EMMA, which is no longer manufactured
I have never found a perfume quite as wonderful as that one. Tried similar things, but can actually say I am grieved that I have not been able to find its equal. It was the most delicate floral fragrance. Thanks for the opportunity to share my thoughts on Laura Ashley
Isn’t it awful when they discontinue something we love so much?
First of all, Susan, your website is wonderful. I love all the time and thoughtful
ness you put into it. I could spend hours here, but today is Christmas and my family is calling…I will be back. I want to order some things, especially your
beautiful calendar for 2012. I love all of the old movies you recommended and
watch them all the time. Did not know about Laura Ashley and I often wondered.
I still have some of her nightgowns and I take care of them faithfully. I love
them, the fabric is so soft and lovely. I am down South in Summerville, S.C. and
we put Christmas lights on our Palm trees!!!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve seen that, it’s very beautiful!
So there ARE other Laura Ashley kindred spirits alive and well!!! I love you all ~ Mmmmwah !!!
There was just something unexplainable about going into her store and purchasing a crisp, fluffy, white, billowy blouse and a cotton pinafore frock that just made everythng in the world right. It was bliss. I would go home fill my tub and pour a generous amount of ‘Emma’ scented bubbles and soak until I was all pruny. Then I would lavish on some Emma lotion and perfume and put on one of her nighties and curl up with some Earl Grey. I loved those days.
Laura Ashley is no longer the same. Not even close. I still have all of her old patterns with the beautiful puff sleeves and old romantic English country feel to them along with some cherished sailor dresses and a few velvet frocks that are family heirlooms (as far as I’m concerned!)
Just an FYI girls! You can get her original dresses on ebay that are still in fabulous condition. I have a whole new collection started just from my eBay, and so many of them coming from England.
LOTs of kindred spirits!!! Who knew? So fun to hear everyone’s stories!
I loved Laura Ashley and shopped at her stores all the time! I didn’t realize she was a real person. So sad to hear of her death. I miss her stores terribly. I’ve got a whole living room couch, chairs etc., in Laura Ashley’s “Chinese Silk” pattern. I need to replace some of the cushions, but of course, no place to find this pattern. She and I were kindred spirits!
Thank you for sharing with us!
I remember a Laura Ashley store in either Arcadia or Glendale, Ca. a number of
years ago & the lovely fabrics & that Chic design. Bring back that look I still love to have at least one cozy room, need a do-over this year. Thanks again
I always wondered what had happened to the Laura Ashley business. I went to the Portland, OR store many times, sometimes just for the ambiance. It was there I realized that there were others who also loved this style. I owned a few of her dresses and tea dishes. They were special to me, they enhanced the joy of being a woman. The year I married, my mom made me beautiful curtains from LA fabric. They are still in the master bedroom and in are excellent shape. The curtains have brought Laura to mind many times. It is interesting that Laura passed away the year I married and began creating a beautiful home that welcomes people. And now, 26 years later, my 15 and 20 year old daughters also think highly of Laura Ashley. It is delightful to see loveliness, grace and beauty passed on : )
I agree, she was a wonderful influence.
One of my first purchases when I got my very first job out of college..was a christmas dress from the laura ashley store in the Burlington Mall in Burlington MA.. It was to big for me (and thankfully still is) but I wore it faithfully for many years. It is in my closest still! One of the birthing rooms at my obgyn’s was the Laura Ashley room..
She probably would have loved that!
I got married in 1983 in a Laura Ashley dress. I still have it. I’m saving it for my granddaughter (due in February) to be able to dress up in. I loved her fabric. It was feminine, but not foofy.
I love Laura Ashley. I still have her comforters from my daughters rooms. I still have the tea set I bought in Annapolis, Md at the Laura Ashley store. We did bedrooms and bathrooms and my girls had Laura Ashley dresses for all the best occasions. We recently decided to sell our home of 40 years and had to give up my shabby wallpapers and pink and white tile floor. The dresses I’d saved for so many years went to the hospital resale shop. I cried when I let them go.
I will probably have to give up this house someday too, it must be SO hard!!!
I’m still getting to all of the pages on your website, and just discovered your Laura Ashley page this morning. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the blue and white daisy print across the page! Back in the 1980′s, my Nana bought a Laura Ashley sundress for me and it was the exact same print! We found it in a shop at Beach Haven, N.J. How I loved that dress, with the 3-tiered full skirt and ruffled top! I wore it so much that the straps became threadbare. My Nana repaired it with blue ribbons so the top would still stay up, and I wore a little white jacket with it after that. I could NOT part with that dress, so kept it all these years. I think it will remain with me for the rest of my life….I also have to say the same thing you did: “If only I could still fit into it!” Surely our dresses shrank, don’t you think?? LOL!!! I really miss the Laura Ashley stores, too. So sad that they are gone.
I love your website! Back in 1984 when I was extremely limited on funds, having just moved to a new apartment as a single Mom, I was trying to “decorate” my new bedroom. I found a comfortor in the Ming pattern for $20. I was in love with it! I also found king size sheets, but no full size sheets. I bought the sheets and took that material and made curtains, a bedskirt, pillow cases and 3 small throw pillows trimed with lace, the cutest being heart shaped. When I bought my house I reworked the curtains to fit my new windows. A close friend went to the Larua Ashley store on King Steet in Charleston,SC and bought me a lampshade for my nightstand lamp for Christmas. It was blue, but not a good match. When I went to the store,which I was in love with, to look for a better match the wonderful clerk told me about the shop, I think that was in Maine, that had all the discontinued patterns. I was able to use my store credit to get a bigger shade in the Ming print. I loved my Laura Ashley. But as with anything thing that is loved and used it wears out. I cried when the lampshade had cracked due to age and had to go. I carefully packed up my comforter, pillowcases and curtains that were so faded anyone but a true Laura Ashely fan would understand why I keep them and put them away. The throw pillows I keep on my bed so when I buy new bedding it has to in some way match the color and style. I have had 2 other Laura Ashley sets, and have enjoyed them. But they say you never forget your first! I spent many times browsing the Charleston store with my daughter and we even went to Hilton Head and found a wonderful silk blue blouse and a even more wonderful silk dress. My daughter lives in a differnt state, several years ago she called to let me know about a similar Laura Ashley pattern she had found. Next thing I knew I had a new set of sheets, curtains, comfortor and throw pillows at my door step. She too has the appreciation.
I always find more reasons why I am drawn to you and your books, Susan. I have loved Laura Ashley for quite a long time too. In fact, I registered for the Bramble pattern comforter, sheets, shower curtain and towels for my bridal shower (19 years ago!) and received all of them. Also, the first year my husband I were married, he got me a tea set from our local Laura Ashley store (sorely missed by many) in the “Alice” pattern. I love this tea set and use it for tea parties with friends and neighbors. My daughter, who is now 16, also loved having tea parties with these dishes, which I hope to pass on to her someday.
Thanks again for being such a great girlfriend!
I got a set of the pink rosebud bedding for my daughter many years ago and it set the bar for her as she was decorating her own place as an adult. We have not found anything as nice as that bedding. It was beautiful!!
Wasn’t there a LA perfume?
Looking through this wonderful website I just now found the Remembering Laura Ashley page — it brings so many memories! I had started working in London in 1985 and every step I took in ‘downtown’ London brought me to the historical events, and places I had so much enjoyed through literature – and then I found the Laura Ashley store – I think it was on Regent’s Street between Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. The clothes were so beautiful! The store itself was a revelation – Coming from Argentina, I had never seen a store decorated according to the fashion it was selling. Warm colors, feminine though traditional. I bought a Laura Ashley red corderoy jumper for my baby niece and shipped it to her in Argentina, and bought for myself a gorgeous flowing light wool skirt in tones of gold, old rose, and soft browns. I was sharing a flat with a few other girls, and one day the fire alarm went off. One of my roommates seemed to take her time “Bridget, Bridget, hurry, please!” “I’m ready,” said Bridget, a tall elegant young lady who appeared with her arms full of clothes “I’m not leaving my Laura Ashley clothes” — and she had a varied collection of the white, ivory, ruffled blouses, patterned skirts, and dresses piled high in her arms! I rush to say that when in a situation like that you do not stop to gather anything, but this is just one more example of how loved was her fashion! There were Laura Ashley stores in the DC/Northern Virginia when I moved there in the 90s, and I loved the ginger jar lamps, and the decorative velvet pillows, as well as the clothes and everything else!
Laura Ashley is such an icon. I have never gotten rid of any of my Laura Ashley dresses, several of which I puchased in England. A hat that I adore too. What a great tribute to her! She embodies romance and femininity
I remember walking into the Laura Ashley store the first time – it took my breath away & I felt like I’d walked into a beautiful, gardening book from England! The charming displays, sweet display of dishes ready for tea, gorgeous clothes, wallpaper designs, fabric………..and THE hat, of course I had to try it on – yup, bowling ball look here too! No other store has ever come close to Laura Ashley! Thanks for the memory! xoxo