Stunning tailored fit & flare coat by Lindsays of Halifax who were producing their own garments and stockists for high ends brands 
throughout the 1940s and 1950s, featuring in Tatler ads as stockists for several renowned companies. So definitely for the discerning customer.
The company were at 37 Commercial st in Halifax, a site currently occupied by high end independent dept store Harvey's Home dept. 
Prior to later 1930s it had been Crabtree and Hodgson also engaged in high end tweeds, furs etc. 
So the site & quaint facade was always associated with quality.
Difficult to tell what specific year this is, but it definitely has the Dior New Look influence of dropped shoulders and fit and flare body. Their
1947 ads have the Cherry label and padded shoulders, so a fair guess to put it at c 1949-1955.
 
Halifax in Yorkshire was the centre of the UK wool trade for centuries & the region famed for its tweed, indeed the Yorkshire mills still important
employers in the region, as well as home to top brands like Burberry Toggi & Crombie plus the weaver such as Abraham Moon etc. So no
surprise to see a high end fashion label & store in Halifax in the 1950s in area where much of the UK's considerable wool exports especially to the USA 
was based and had been many centuries. 
While the UK was exporting its wool & tailored tweed garments  worldwide from Yorkshire, we were importing style ideas from France such as Dior's
New Look, and music from the USA in terms of Blues & Rock & Roll. Mystery Train by Junior Parker & The Blue Flames released in 1953 was subsequently
covered by Elvis Presley in 1955, and as the cross Pennines train routes to the Liverpool & Hull ports were so important for the wool & rag trade, I chose 
steam trains as the backdrop theme to shoot this beautiful piece of fashion history. It's amazing to think this coat was sold and being worn in the 
Age of the Steam train and is still sturdy and beautiful today, 70 years later, and those sheep from which the wool came fed thousands of people too at the
time! Made to last and has. True sustainability must take such durability in to account. As well as warmth saving us fossil fuel heat.
And our character in the pictures, will have needed warmth where sh'es going....join us on Instagram to find out where she was going or it will remain a 
'Mystery' to you!
'Train I Ride....16 coaches long...'
Has such a lovely kick to it when you walk and move. Trimmed with astrakhan/karakul/swakara curly wool as a yoke it really is a special style not
seen anything quite like it before. The wool for that would have come from Afghanistan or Southern Africa where the sheep are bred.
It's a modern UK size 10: a large 8 or a small 12 may suit but message me for measurements.
Get that Dior New Look style at a fraction of the cost but true vintage form the period in a garments of real quality and in excellent vintage condition 
with few flaws apart from minor at the button holes as it has been buttoned a LOT! But done up barely noticeable.