History of Wilbro

The origins of Wilbro, which was much appreciated by new corset wearers in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, seems to be lost in the mists of time. Certainly the name seems to be a contraction of “Williams Bros” and there was, according to Gardarma, “a corset maker J. Williams & Sons, who had a shop in Blackpool, but whose main factory was in Manchester. named Williams in Blackpool”.

He recalled that it was patronised by women members of the north country branch of his family but again there is no definitive information. One former customer suggests the company was a successor to an old established firm that started trading as J D Williams in the 1890s selling ready to wear corsets by mail order. Moreover, he knows of a collector who has a J D Williams corset from the Victorian era in her collection. That business expanded into the home catalogue shopping market and was still going in the 1970s. He recalls that his mother had their catalogues which still had a huge corsetry section and boasted a 'specialist corsetiere' on their staff by the name of Mary Linden. Despite all that information a search of the BT telephone directories from the early years of the 20^th Century reveals no such firms in the Manchester area..

In fact, the arrival of Wilbro on the retail corset scene in the 1970s remains an enigma to the dwindling sorority, or fraternity, of serious corset wearers. That said, there is no doubt that Wilbro did help many diffident individuals to start on their personal regime of more regular corset wearing, which they probably would not otherwise have done.

What is surprising is that David Kunzle, who carried out what was laudably exhaustive research on corset wearing in the UK in the late 1970s, did not appear to have encountered Wilbro. The final, typewritten draft of the book included a whole chapter which did not appear in the first edition of the published version of the book “Fashion and Fetishism”, 1982 (revised edition 2004). Among the excluded sentences was the following:

"various mail order only firms, which no serious tight lacer would use, use Gardner’s products notably A.D. and Joan Maxwell of Axminster, Devon, who advertise ‘Ladies Gents and children’s corsets’ regularly in the ‘Stage’.”

In its first, or was it its penultimate, incarnation, Wilbro operated out of premises on 180 Oxford Road in Manchester. The telephone number was 061-273-5722. It was managed and probably owned by Margaret Beck. She probably purchased the name from the earlier enterprise, or started the firm, in about 1975, when she was in her mid-to late-30s. It is possible she was inspired by Waunita Monroe of Heaton Norris, near Manchester, who advertised corsets "that make you look like a million dollars" in the personal advertisements columns of the "Guardian" in 1973.

A partial transcription of the wording of some of the advertisements, each with the date of publication, is also shown below, except the name and address of the company is not given each time.

Wilbro also advertised in “Exchange and Mart” at that time and one of the co-authors Godet says “ I can’t remember the exact wording of that ad(vertisement), but one that stuck in my mind (said) 'The popping of the busk studs means that the tight-lacing can begin'. To use that would-be corset-wearer’s own words that phrase was “poetry indeed!”

Whether this advertising campaign was associated with the establishment of new management is unclear. As to the intended audience, given the gradually changing tenor of the advertisements, it is clear that they were aimed at inducing individuals, women or men, who had a latent predilection to try serious corset wearing, to patronise the firm. It is also noteworthy that the advertisements clearly encouraged another actual maker of corsets, Vollers of Portsmouth to place similar adverts in the same section of the same newspaper, sometimes in the same week, as can be seen by the last quoted reference in advertisement list). That said, Wilbro’s business plan , to use business school jargon of the 1990s, appears to have been to serve the needs of two groups of customers requiring foundation garments:

The first group were almost always personal callers at the salon, while the majority of second group were served by mail order. Personal appointments for an initial consultation for a corset, or fitting of a partially complete corset in the salon, were provided on advance payment of a fee “for a 30 minute session”. A comprehensive, 24 page mimeographed corset and lingerie catalogue and separate price list was produced. It included basic sketches showing the key features of the main types of corset sold. Inquiries were always answered by “M. Beck”.

In 1980 consultations were available “Monday to Wednesday, 10-4 and Thursday and Friday, 12 to 4". Delivery was approximately 3 weeks and “as much notice as possible“ was required for an appointment with a minimum of “7 days”.

Number 180 Oxford Road, Manchester, where Wilbro was located, was, and still is a large Georgian house located to the south of the city centre. There was a large and ornate front door which gave access to the building. Wilbro was one several businesses, in the building. Door bells on the jamb of the front door, summoned the business of choice with the door opened by remotely controlled lock. By 2002 the building housed an architect’s practice.

The Wilbro salon comprised a suite two rooms at the rear of the ground floor, a consulting room and a smaller back room. The suite was reached along a fairly long, dingy passage and was entered through a heavy panelled wooden door, which opened directly into the consulting room, which was about ten feet square. In the words of a customer by appointment it was furnished

“quite simply with a sofa at one end, one of those long Victorian free standing mirrors and a couple of dining room type chairs, all administration and correspondence taking place in the back room. The walls were adorned with pictures of corsets and lingerie of all descriptions.”

All discussions, measuring and fitting of garments took place in the consulting room which had no window of its own. To ensure privacy during fitting, a large key was turned in the lock of the entrance door. At such times, the dividing door leading to the back room was also closed because it had the only window in the Wilbro suite. The window looked out onto a small private yard at the rear of the building.

The back room served as an administrative office and stock room but was not adequate to store much more than sample boxes in each size of the entire range of over one hundred plus styles of off the peg corsets that were sold, (see Table 1) It is not known if the main stockroom was in the building or elsewhere or whether in the case of ready to wear garments or whether Wilbro relied on a fast turn round service from the actual makers.

Wilbro offered a very extensive of corsets. Excluding special offers, 113 styles of corset were offered in 1976, as indicated in the list, taken from the February1976 catalogue (see section 2).

Wilbro were also agents for Camp Corsetry and for Pulfront and Strodex made-to-measure corsetry for which no consultation or fitting fee was payable. It is thus likely that their corsetiere was, if not actually trained, at least approved by those companies to act as their agent and hence to measure customers and provide follow-up service.

It is also noteworthy from the “extras” how during a consultation one might see how a discriminating corset wearer find the price of their intended corset could almost double when compared to the basic price quoted in either Gardners or Wilbro’s the catalogue. Simply by requiring double boning, reinforcing eyelets, back steels and ten, rather than the basic four, suspenders would increase the basic price by about 80%.

By 1980 a new range of “Special Purpose Corsetry (Made to Measure had been added by Wilbro.

All the times are self explanatory except the Gents Bodice which was similar to a bra but without the cups. At 11 inches long front and back and 10 inch at the sides it can smooth the line between the top of a medium height corset and the male wearer’s shoulders.

It The ready to wear section was “a representative sample by leading manufacturers such as Twilfit, Excelsior, etc”

is likely that many of the ready to wear corsets were produced by firms like R.&W.H. Symington & Co. Ltd, which drastically reduced production in 1980 and that the reduction in Wilbro’s ready- to-wear range in 1980 was indicative of this.

A “new item” was really an old item - detachable suspenders of the “traditional style with clasp. Sold singly , Narrow or wide, Black or White, 70p each.“

Our source last saw Margaret on his last visit to the Oxford Road Salon in about 1984. He does not know the reason “loss of trade, loss of the premises, a desire to retire, illness - its could (have been) be anything. After that Wilbro moved first to Lincoln and then back to 204 Corn Exchange Buildings, Cathedral Street, M4 3BQ. However, by January 1989 the name was bought and Wilbro traded out of a PO Box in Wales. The owner was a Dr. Yvonne Cawcutt, who for some time produced a small very informative catalogue and a Wilbro newsletter from about 1991-93. One customer recalls that:

“The first catalogue that I received from her was a photocopy of some of the original Wilbro pages with several of the styles crossed out. In the beginning I think she only offered three or four styles. I remember from one of the newsletters that as a girl in the 1930s she was brought up in the colonies or somewhere and was subject to quite rigorous corset training by a governess which started her lifelong interest.”

In 2018, a reader sent in this letter that must be one of the last communications with Dr. Yvonne Cawcutt in 1992.

12th February, 1992

Dyfed, Wales

Dear M.D.

Thank you for your long letter. I send herewith our temporary No 3 catalogue as we're waiting for the print run of our Anniversary issue. It's a different cover with interior similar.

I took over complete control of Wilbro in June, 1990 and have been slowly growing since. The first year was Hell - to try and resurrect an almost dead firm, now slowly rising from sheer hard work in 15 hour days non-stop. I do all the work for myself from office to all my manufacturing all by hand where a corset can take an average of three and a half days or a "special" - maybe in silk with fine delicate embroidery rakes a week or more.

Enclosed details to give you about idea. Note I refuse too make stock sizes, and refuse to mass produce. I work all by "by hand" as only Bespoke - hence my numerous details in requirement of measures ET Alia.

I make Corsets for customers world-wide who require "specialls" for example : Corsets corsets from neck to ankles with about five lots of lacings etc: to neck corsets or posture collars and waist cinches. All my steels I make as specially required as I appear to be one who specializes in this service.

Since taking over Wilbro I've taken up from nothing - no customers too, but now totalling well over four hundred, about 80 percent of which are Ladies. Orders are steady at present, being seasonal, but very slowly they're increasing.

I run my own Newsletter side with 4/5 booklet issues per year too keep customers (Wilbro customers only) on all events/happenings at Wilbro.

Sincerely

Yvonne

Another letter talks about Yvonne Cawcutt:

I used to correspond with Yvonne in the late 80's, before she acquired the Wilbro name. This was as a result of my response to a personal ad placed by her. We discussed corsetry and it's wearing. I still have some letters, as well as the 1984 Wilbro catalogue and the first five copies of W.O.W. started by Yvonne.

Later I met Michael Garrod at a cafe near Bond Street, London in the late 90's, having been introduced to him by Anne Grogan of Romantasy. I recall asking him if he had heard of Yvonne Cawcutt and Wilbro and he had this to say. She had acquired the business with the clients and was initially modifying old stock to clients measurements, not making bespoke corsetry, then she abandoned the business and became involved with some church, Baptists, I don't remember much more. We lamented about the waste and loss of Wilbro and that was that, on that subject. Pity about Wilbro, they had some interesting ideas.