Hippy/happy dress

 

I love the beginning of a new series of work, with a blank canvas and complete freedom to do.......anything!

E.A.S.T. textile group starts each new exhibition series with a workshop by a textile artist and tutor. In 2026 we were lucky to spend the weekend with Hannah Lamb.

Hannah asked us to take along a textile item which had some meaning to us. At least 20 years old, and preferably not something we had made ourselves.

I selected a dress I had bought as a student in Nottingham in the early 80's and which had been my party dress. My hippy/happy dress.

The dress brought back memories of a wonderfully carefree and happy time. Thoughts of late nights, dancing, singing, drinking, smoking and friendship. 

The dress is light and floaty and soft and bright - symbolic of those carefree days before life got serious with the need to build a career, marriage, children, mortgages and all the rest.

The dress is made from Indian block printed cotton and bears the label 'Ziggis Boutiques' where I bought the dress in Nottingham.

Research led me to the designed Ayesha Davar who designed for Ziggis and other fashion outlets in the 1970s and 80s and this dress with the square neckline, bell sleeves and full floaty skirt is very typical of her work.

The Ziggis embroidered label was quite scratchy and I remember almost cutting it out. Thank goodness I didn't as it has been crucial for the research, and also for the authenticity. Ayesha Davar designs are now highly soughtafter and command good prices (mine is not for sale)

Research into the bold geometric designs of the fabric and the colour palette of black and madder dyed cloth suggests that the fabric is very likely to be Ajrahk block printing and resist work from the Kutch region of Gujarat.

I tried this very same technique myself when visiting India in 2025 at the workshop of Sufiyan Khatri in Ajrakhpur.

What a coincidence!

The lightweight cotton fabric goes through several processes:

1. Mordant printpaste to attract the madder dye

2. Resist printing to keep the cream areas

3. Black dye print for the dark areas

4. Indigo dip

5. Boiled in madder

The printing is done on both sides and is highly skilled and complex.

My dress fabric is indeed printed on both sides

This is the sample piece of Ajrahk printing I did in India - not very good - but I love the personal link

I have no idea yet how this will lead to a piece of textile art. But I am enjoying the research, design work, exploration or fabrics and techniques on the way to finding my narrative.