Laura Ashley,
Jessica McClintock
& Gunne Sax
Laura Ashley, Jessica McClintock & Gunne Sax
How Cottagecore found its niche in Vintage Fashion
SEPTEMBER 2024
This article is part of our A Stitch In Time campaign.
In the 1970s, there was nothing bashful about wearing your heart on your sleeve,
as romance and nostalgia emanated from the dresses popularized by Laura Ashley and Gunne Sax, later renamed to Jessica McClintock. As the new decade dawned, Laura Ashley had been running her namesake business with her husband, Bernard, for 17 years. A £10 investment in fabric, dyes, and materials to make tea towels would spark an entire industry.
Once back in her birthplace of Wales, Laura deepened her love for the countryside and sharing her unique floral prints with the world. “Our inspiration is totally with rural life as it can be lived,” she said. Her decades of McCall’s sewing patterns continue to channel her fondness of the 18th century with long silhouettes and feminine styles.
Meanwhile in San Francisco, Gunne Sax was started in 1967 by home sewists Carol Miller and Eleanor Bailey. The name was adapted from the phrase “sexy gunny sack” or “sexy burlap.” In 1969 Jessica McClintock invested $5,000 in Gunne Sax, she reminisced:
"My grandmother was a fabulous pattern maker and designer, and from 5 years old on I was sitting at her sewing machine, and I would make anything I could get my hands on."
In 1974, thanks to the popular TV show “Little House on the Prairie,” based on the 1930’s book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the quaint prairie dress went mainstream. Not just for girls running around playgrounds but also by women attending social and formal events, weddings, and especially bridal dresses. “Gunne Sax by Jessica” is released by Simplicity Patterns to compete with Laura Ashley and McCall’s success. Laura Ashley’s British floral and garden inspiration connected quickly with the prairie style at the forefront of 70’s American fashion.
Home sewists found entry into Laura Ashley’s world through McCall’s sewing patterns. The distinct envelopes were marked with the British brand’s bramble logo. The officially licensed designs guided sewists through several offerings, ranging from blouses accented with her signature squared yoke and Peter Pan collar to a princess-seamed jacket with a coordinated dress featuring a sweetheart neckline, lapped back bodice, and full tiered skirt.
Thus, the scene was set for the rising popularity of Laura Ashley and Gunne Sax. Though based on opposite sides of the world, the two brands shared a lot of similarities stylewise. The prints extolled flowers of all sizes and shapes. The romantic dresses usually draped to the floor and flattered figures with corset detailing. They shunned streamlined minimalism, opting for an abundance of puffed sleeves, sailor collars, ruffles, smocking, sweetheart necklines, off-the-shoulder sleeves, and gathered skirts. The variety of fabrics associated with prairie style were lace, brocade, Swiss dot, tulle, velvet, macramé, and printed cottons usually florals.
Trend Watch
✦ Garden Florals
✦ Prairie Style
✦ Princess-Seams
✦ Coordinates
✦ Sweetheart Necklines
✦ Lapped Back Bodices
✦ Full-Tiered Skirts
✦ Floral Prints
✦ Floor-Length Dresses
✦ Corset Detailing
✦ Statement Sleeves
✦ Sailor Collars
✦ Ruffles
✦ Smocking
✦ Gathered Skirts
✦ Lace
✦ Brocade
✦ Swiss Dot
✦ Tulle
✦ Velvet
✦ Macramé
Check Out
Laura Ashley
In 1987, Jessica McClintock secured her place in fashion history by renaming Gunne Sax after herself and expanding her brand globally. Gunne Sax by Jessica and later Jessica McClintock sewing patterns were included in the collections of McCall’s, Vogue Patterns, and Simplicity Patterns. In 2013 the schoolteacher-turned-designer retired at age 83, capping an illustrious career that spanned over 40 years.
Through licensing, Laura Ashley became a recognizable lifestyle brand with fashion, accessory, beauty, and home furnishing lines. “The Laura Ashley Book of Home Decorating” was published to show crafters and home sewists how to recreate the brand’s cottagecore style. The pioneering namesake died in 1985 at the age of 60. Her legacy carries on with McCall’s and Simplicity’s easy-to-sew patterns. The recently re-issued versions of her signature romantic and prairie style designs are part of the McCall’s Vintage 70’s and Vintage 80’s lines.
The sweet, sentimental styles proliferated by the late Laura Ashley and Jessica McClintock reaches new generations via the cottagecore trend. Devotees of vintage fashion scour secondhand stores and online searches for the original labels. Simplicity.com sewing patterns range from beginner to advanced, creating an accessible option for discerning “thrifters” who want to rival vintage pieces found online or by digging in a bin.