Not just a Dressmaker

A survivor's account of what working in the fashion/clothing industry is really like. From junior designer for chain-store suppliers in the Swinging Sixties to creating her own unique range of tweed country-wear, Jill Fitzgerald-O'Connor was part of the first wave of women entrepreneurs, and became the first woman business counsellor in the North-East for the Small Firms Service. When her business was wiped out by Thatcher's privatisation of the British Wool Marketing Board, she turned to vocational education, her passion for textiles and enthusiasm for passing on her skills leading her to create innovative methods of teaching which led the country, preparing students for the fashion industry, and enabling home-dressmakers to make clothes that looked shop-bought.