WESPA Spangles - Made in Great Britain - Norman Hartnell Archive
WESPA Spangles - Made in Great Britain - Norman Hartnell Archive
Hurry, only 1 items left in stock!
Collector’s hanks of sequins with their original WESPA Spangles tags, “Made in Great Britain” printed on the back. From the archive of Mollie Welch, tambour embroiderer in Norman Hartnell’s workroom.
For collectors, not for stitching. These are museum-type pieces, to keep and display as rare survivors of British sequin making, with their tags still tied on. Loose British-made paillettes turn up now and then, but a whole tagged hank is something we have not found offered anywhere else.
WESPA was the trade mark of Arthur Weil Ltd, a spangle maker at 111 City Road, Cardiff, who advertised “spangles in all colours” at the 1947 British Industries Fair. The V&A holds a WeSpa sample card in its collection, dated 1940–1960.
The material: these sequins are unusually thick and glassy. They appear to be Perspex, the clear acrylic developed in Britain in the 1930s and best known as the material of aircraft cockpit canopies, including the Spitfire’s. The V&A records Perspex for its own WeSpa sample card too. Sequins made from it are almost never seen today.
Gold and silver, 10 threads, pink WESPA tag: two-faced spangles, gold on one side and silver on the other, so they change colour as they turn. The pink tag shows the firm used more than one label colour. Two hanks available.
Blue-grey, 10 threads, WESPA tag: a deep blue-grey hank that shows its age, so please look closely at the photos. One hank only.
About the Archive
This exquisite collection of mid-20th century dressmakers’ beads and sequins originates from the archive of Mollie (Marjorie Constance) Welch, an accomplished embroiderer who worked for Sir Norman Hartnell from 1937 onwards.
Mollie began her career at the prestigious Hartnell couture house on Bruton Street, London, where she contributed to royal and aristocratic gowns embellished with intricate beadwork and embroidery. Her early diary entries mention work on the Queen’s Coronation gowns, including the iconic feather bodice created for Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) in 1937, and she later assisted with the Coronation ensembles of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
After retiring in 1970, Mollie cherished her collection of materials — sequins, beads, and embroidery samples — intending to open her own atelier to teach tambour embroidery. Although fashions changed and her plans never came to fruition, these beautiful embellishments have remained safely preserved for decades.
The set offered here comes directly from the Mollie Welch archive, a tangible link to one of Britain’s most celebrated couture houses and the golden age of royal embroidery under Norman Hartnell.