Lucile Duff-Gordon, born in 1863, was the daughter of Douglas Sutherland and Elinor Saunders. Raised in Canada and Jersey, she experienced poverty as a young girl and she yearned for a wealthier life. After Duff-Gordon’s father died, life was a struggle for her mother, who didn’t have much money and was dominated by her stern French-Canadian mother.
After Elinor married David Kennedy and the family moved to England, life became somewhat better money-wise.. Lucile Duff-Gordon’s late teenage years were not happy, however. She married James Stuart Wallace when she was 21. They had a daughter, Esme, but Wallace began to drink and became abusive. The young designer divorced him in 1893. It was unusual for women to divorce in those days but Duff-Gordon was strong and had an independent spirit.
Lucile Duff-Gordon’s Early Career
Duff-Gordon started making dresses at home in order to support her daughter. Her mother and her sister, the famous novelist, Elinor Glyn, helped her set up her business. Elinor Glyn introduced the young designer to her aristocratic friends who were impressed with Duff-Gordon’s elaborate and softly-draped tea-gowns.
Soon Duff-Gordon became very successful and opened a boutique in a fashionable part of London. Her use of colour, soft draperies, and delicate details, were admired by the aristocracy and the theatrical world. Her customers included Lily Elsie and the mistress of Edward VII, Lily Langtry.
Duff-Gordon was very innovative, using striking colors in her gowns, such as deep purple, although she also used the pretty pastel shades which were so admired by Edwardians. She was especially noted for adding sprays of hand-made silk flowers to her gowns.
Duff-Gordon liked to create ‘personality’ dresses for her clients. She called these creations, which she based on literature or culture or the client’s own personality, her ‘emotional gowns.’ The designer was inspired to make these gowns by the relatively new science of psychology which she liked to study.
Duff-Gordon was also very innovative in her marketing. She was one of the first designers to hold fashion shows and train her own models. Duff-Gordon’s fashion shows were almost theatrical performances. She paid great attention to music, lighting, and other details.
Lucille Duff-Gordon and the Titanic
Unfortunately, two events marred Duff-Gordon’s career. These were the inquiry into her and her husband’s actions after the Titanic sank, and a law case against her. It was a pity that these events affected such a brilliant career.
Duff-Gordon had married the Scottish landowner and sportsman, Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon, in 1903, and became a Lady. The designer had opened successful boutiques in America so the couple decided to travel on the Titanic in 1912, although Sir Cosmo had misgivings.
After the ship sank, the couple escaped on a lifeboat which only had twelve people on it although it was built to hold forty. The twelve were mostly crew. Duff-Gordon allegedly remarked to her secretary that it was a pity that her ‘beautiful nightdress was gone.’ A member of the crew thought that this was heartless and said that he and the crew had lost everything. Sir Cosmo then offered them money to help them while they were looking for work.
Rumors spread that this money was a bribe to keep floundering survivors away in case they swamped the lifeboat. The British Board of Inquiry, after a strong cross-examination of Sir Cosmo and cross-examining his wife, cleared the couple. However, Sir Cosmo never got over the smearing of his name. Lucile Duff-Gordon was better able to deal with the effect on her reputation.
The designer achieved great success in America where she had branches in New York and Chicago. She had also opened a boutique in Paris. Duff-Gordon designed for theatrical productions, such as the Ziegfeld Follies, wrote about fashion for newspapers, and even did a ready-to-wear line for Sears-Roebuck. She had a staff of over 1000 people by 1915. These included famous names, such as Edward Molyneaux, who also became a dress-designer.
Unfortunately, Duff-Gordon lost the use of her trading name in 1917 in the case of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. The judge found that she had granted the sole right to market her name to her advertising agent. Duff-Gordon’s success in the fashion world declined after this, although she still wrote about fashion. She had retired from her company which was now in other hands.
Lucile Duff-Gordon died in 1935 at the age of 71 from breast-cancer. The fashion world has been paying tribute to her in recent years. There have been new books written about her and an exhibition of her fashions. Duff-Gordon's granddaughter inherited her talent and designs lingerie.
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Lisa Sanderson - Lisa has been a freelance-writer for many years. She used to write for the topic, British Social History, for Suite 101 under the ...
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