What Wakefield Wore

In 2025, we'll be opening our New Library and Museum in the former BHS Wakefield building! 

Digital Volunteer Rebecca has been looking back at BHS Wakefield's history, and explores how it influenced 'what Wakefield wore' in this guest blog:

BHS Wakefield - at the heart of Kirkgate

The department store British Home Stores (commonly referred to as BHS) was founded in 1928 and ran for a total of 88 years. 

There were over 160 BHS stores, located at the heart of high streets across the country. They all closed in 2016.

BHS Wakefield opened in the 1930s on Kirkgate and quickly became popular with local residents. The store mainly sold home goods and clothing for men, women and children. It later also expanded to food. 

BHS Wakefield followed the ethos of encouraging local people to ‘buy British’.

 

Kirkgate in the 1970s - BHS is on the right

John G was a Manager at BHS Wakefield. He remembers that “BHS in the 1970s was very different to the store that entered the 21st century”. 

Over the years, the Wakefield branch underwent many changes. These included increasing the size of its sales floor, beginning to sell a wider range of merchandise and displaying their stock differently. 

Despite these changes, BHS was always renowned for looking after their staff members and creating a close-knit community.

Staff take to the stage

Throughout the 1960s and 70s BHS’s ‘ready-to-wear’ clothing made fashion trends accessible for everyone, including their own staff.

In the 1970s, the staff of BHS Wakefield staged their own fashion show to showcase the clothes available to buy in the store at the time. 

A member of the ‘You know you have lived in Wakefield when…’ Facebook group fondly remembers that the fashion show was held at Unity Hall and that it even made the local newspaper!

The fashion show featured many sought-after characteristics of 1970s fashion, such as floral prints, embroidery, synthetic fabrics such as polyester, athletic wear, different styles of dresses and a large array of nightgowns.

Photo courtesy of John G

In the photo above a staff member is wearing a neutral-coloured shirt dress paired with bold red accessories. 

Dresses in boxy styles such as these became popular in the 1970s. They followed the more ‘masculine’ style of women’s clothing which was seen in shirt dresses of the 1950s. 

Worn with heeled shoes and an on-trend neck scarf, they are showing how these dresses can be styled to look stylish, yet comfortable. 

Another popular trend at the time was bright coloured athletic wear, as shown modelled here:

Photo courtesy of John G

High-rise shorts are seen paired with hoodies and zip-up tops which show how sportwear began to be seen as fashionable rather than purely practical. 

Photo courtesy of John G

Fashion of the 1970s is known for its bold colours and prints, as in the photo above. 

Created in the 1960s, psychedelic prints, such as the one used to make this skirt, featured intense colours and flowing patterns. Here the swirls of different shades of purple come together to create the bold design of this long flowing skirt, also part of the stock at BHS Wakefield.

Photo courtesy of John G

One of the most prominent items of clothing showcased in the BHS Wakefield fashion show is their range of flowing nightgowns for both women and children. 

From long gowns made from satin fabrics with embroidered flowers, to shorter sheer styles with lace details, the variety of these nightgowns shows their popularity within Wakefield in the 70s.

Photo courtesy of John G

Special thanks to John G for sharing his memories and the photos featured in the article and members of local Facebook groups who gave details of their time at BHS.

We want to know ‘What Wakefield Wore’ in the 1970s! Were you inspired by the fashion show? 

What parts of 1970s fashion would you bring back today - or never want to see again? 

Let us know in the comments!

Click here to find out more about our New Library and Museum project