Mr Selfridge. Suits

24.09.2019

(Characters and prototypes.)

I'm watching the show right now BBC, "Mr. Selfridge"
Why him?
I have written many times that I love production novels and production films.
This is a production film. It tells the story of Harry Selfridge, a real person who came from America and revolutionized trading in post-Victorian England.
He founded a huge department store, which was to some extent the prototype of shopping malls, i.e. places where people came not only for shopping, but just to spend time, where there were many different services under one roof.
For example, restaurants. In addition, there, for the first time in England, goods began to be laid out freely on easily accessible counters, and not hidden from the buyer and given out only by vigilant sellers for review, as was the case before.
And finally, he was the first in England to introduce the formula: "The customer is always right." Then his first huge department store turned into a thriving chain of stores, and then ... he went bankrupt and died in poverty.
Although the network he founded still exists. But since 1941, she no longer belongs to him, and he died 6 years later, in 1947.
I watched only three episodes, but there are already a lot of questions for the directors of the series.
First, the question I put in the title.
Here is Harry Gordon Selfridge:

in the movie and in reality.

The real Selfridge, a typical Anglo-Saxon, even Kipling's appearance from Bear the Burden of the Whites.
By the way, he doesn't have a beard.

His cinematic counterpart in appearance is a typical Jew, and even with a beard.

I understand that the average viewer associates trading purely with Jews, everyone knows that Jews will even sell their own mother if they are paid.
(although I don’t know of any case of the sale of a mother by Jewish sons, but since people say ...)
Nevertheless, we are talking about a real and fairly well-known person, there was no smell of Jewish origin, and in trade the Anglo-Saxons were not inferior to the Jews in anything.
Why was Jeremy Piven cast as Harry Gordon Selfridge?
By the way, the Piven family lost the soft sign already in America, the surname of those who came to America from Ukraine, of course, was "Beer". This is a rooster in Ukrainian, if anyone does not know.
Here is Jeremy Piven, whose origin is beyond doubt, he is of course a Jew from New York:
WIKI:
Piven was born in Manhattan, New York City. He raised in a Reconstructionist Jewish household
plays his own role, walking around like a rooster, among the beautiful hens and covering those of them that he liked.
He probably knows what his last name means.
In reality, Harry Selfridge during the life of his wife was not a walker and did not rooster. Yes, and his wife would quickly pull his tail.
He went into all serious trouble after her unexpected death during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1919. Then, from this viral flu, or rather from complications, the flu turned into severe pneumonia, and there were no antibiotics yet, 50 million people died.
Everyone died, rich and poor. Rose was rich, but death did not spare her.
We have already found out that the real Harry and his cinematic counterpart, to put it mildly, bear little resemblance. But the real Rose Selfridge is even less similar to her cinematic appearance.

Rosalie Selfridge:

in film

in real.

In the film, she looks like a naive simpleton from the village "America". She has the face of a girl from the Arkansas or, if you like, Tambov outback. And she looks, if not an idiot, then a very naive woman.
Nothing like this!
It was this naive simpleton in the film that was the financial foundation of the Harry Selfridge case.
This marriage was a misalliance. He was a beggar, though unlike his cinematic image, a handsome, slender blond. Well, he was not stupid, even though he left school and did not even receive a secondary education, but he had a head on his shoulders, he made a good career in trade. But he brought back to England 400,000 pounds, a huge sum in those days, approximately equal to today's forty million dollars.
And with this money he started his business in London. For some reason, this is not mentioned in the film, they show that he successfully found investors, and he himself had very little money.
Heck, he had a lot of money. But this money was not his, but his wife's. Because Rosa was from a very wealthy Chicago family. Moreover, the money that she got, she multiplied many times over.
She was a real estate developer, bought a large piece of land in Chicago and divided it into plots built chic houses for the Chicago bohemia. Well, the one who had the money.
Her houses were fashionable and paid good money for them. She made very good money on this, but you yourself understand that she was an excellent businessman to raise such a construction, and then successfully sell everything, it is very difficult.
And her husband was doing well in general, only when she was alive.
Her real portrait confirms that the real Rose has nothing to do with the movie Rose.
This was the real Rose Selfridge.
Why did the authors of the film need to make a fool out of her and almost a communist, the cinematic Rose, for example, rides the subway like ordinary people and does not want to break away from the people at all, kill me, I don’t understand.
Those. these two characters in the film absolutely do not correspond to their real prototypes.

By the way, one of the daughters was named Rosa, in honor of her mother. Beauty, went to dad. Henry next to his daughter.

Well, the rest is roughly true. Let's focus on the women of the main character.
As I said, after the death of his wife, Harry went all out. Women, women, women. I understand that it was they who ruined him, if he had moderated his ardor a little, he would have more than had enough of what his shops gave him until the end of his days. Alas, he did not temper his ardor until he let everything he had into the wind. This is already in our opinion, in Russian, he did not live, a Jew would not have acted like that.
Moreover, it was not worth entrusting the role of such a walker to the Jew Piven.
But he had a specialization, he was not indifferent mainly to ballerinas and dancers. Speaking of Russians, one of those who helped him get rid of extra money was the famous Anna Pavlova.

Anna Pavlova appears like this in the next episodes.
But I haven't seen those episodes yet.

Another passion of Harry, no less famous dancer, the famous Isadora Duncan. By the way, Duncan, in my opinion, did not shine with special beauty and youth when she met Harry Selfridge, but how she danced!
However, in the first three episodes, another anemone is shown, also a dancer named Ellen Love.

This character didn't even exist in real life. Right here, in this video, it says that this character is fictional, but the name of the one who could be part of the prototype of Ellen Love is called: Gabi Deslys.

I heard it and googled it. An interesting girl in every sense. Including the beautiful one.
Look here.

In this photo, everything is quite strict:

but on this one ..., at that time it was almost pornography.

By the way, the actress who plays Ellen Love really looks like Gaby Deslys.
Those. in this case, the authors of the film were hit.

Despite the fact that the filmmakers showed Harry and Rose completely different from what they were in reality, I will continue to watch it, and I carefully recommend it to you.

Yesterday, the third season of "Mr. Selfridge" started on ITV, and with the kind permission of la_gatta_ciara, I publish two of her posts from last year: about costumes and scenery in the series.
And even for those who don't watch it, it can be interesting to see the beautiful work of the artists in recreating the era on the screen.

Warning: some plot twists may be mentioned in the text. Since I don’t watch the series and I learn about what is happening second-hand, I can’t assess the severity of the spoilers, but it seems that there is nothing concrete there. However, the author warns about this before each such paragraph, so you can skip it.

So, now let's talk about the costumes of the series.

First, I want to introduce you to costume designer James Kist. If you have been reading my LiveJournal for a long time (or you love British costume drama), then you are probably familiar with his work - the Elliott Sisters House series. He also made costumes for the series about the Pre-Raphaelites "Desperate Romantics", etc.

James is an experienced artist, so it is not surprising that he accurately placed the accents in the characters' characters, revealing them through colors and textures.

Harry Selfridge. Business style of the beginning of the century.

Of course, you need to start with Harry Selfridge himself, and here the interview with the costume designer given to the British issue of GQ magazine will help us.

James Kist: "The screenplay is based on Lindy Woodhead's book Shopping, Seduction and Mr. Selfridge, which tells the story of a department store. There are many photographs of the real Harry Gordon Selfridge. The book includes information about how and why he wore certain things, what and was my starting point."

The real Harry Selfridge

Screen Harry

"But you have to take into account that we were not dressing Selfridge, we were dressing an actor named Jeremy Piven and his appearance is not an exact copy of Selfridge's appearance. We were doing what works well for Jeremy, which helps him tell a story. The real style of Mr. Selfridge was very formal, he always wore business cards and tails in the evening.I followed this, but sometimes I tried to soften the character a little.There are episodes when you can see him as a person, and not as a "shop boss".

"Despite the fact that he is an American, he is dressed very well, in the British way. In fact, very rich Americans copied a lot of what was worn in Europe at that time."

Fashion 1912

It is very difficult to diversify the men's clothing of that time, the color in the suit was used carefully. But Kist did it masterfully:

The cage of the wonderful vest is repeated in the tie.

There is velvet piping on the lapels and a green tie. Nice little thing))

"All of Selfridge's costumes were made from scratch in workshops in North London, but from original fabrics," the costume designer continues.

"This included: striped trousers, double-breasted vests, starched-collared shirts, ties and several coats of various shapes to show different times - all based on the style of King Edward."

English King Edward VII

Harry Selfridge with his daughter

"You can't use vintage stuff for filming, because if something is 100 years old, then it looks 100 years old. And you want everything to look modern, edgy and fresh. I found these fantastically luscious silks for Harry's vests, which work beautifully for the camera and look like they are made from the most expensive silk."

"I've always gravitated toward this era," says actor Jeremy Piven, who plays Selfridge. "I love being in costume every day. It's really interesting, but it's kind of tricky. We're trying to get it right, I even have a big, gold pocket watch! "

The costume designer continues: "I have amassed a collection of vintage jewelry from auctions, thrift stores and eBay. I have about 40 pocket watches in my collection and I have one that looked very much like the watch he actually wore. ".

Henri LeClair. Creative person. (spoilers!)

The favorite of many viewers, the mysteriously romantic Frenchman Henri Leclerc is going through a personal drama in the 2nd season. The actor's costume changes accordingly: at first we see Henri lowered, in worn clothes, unshaven.

After an invitation to resume work in the store, Henri gradually returns to its former gloss. The starting point for this is a gift from Agnes - a fashionable shirt made of blue fabric with a white collar (I wrote about such shirts in a post about starched collars and pins)

Color and interesting textures return to Henri's costume, emphasizing the complex, artistic nature of the former head of the design department. By the way, velvet is very french textile. Once Napoleon even banned the import of English cloth into France and ordered the entire court to dress patriotically in velvet and Lyon silks in order to support local manufacturers. So, Henri's jackets also reflect his nationality.

Well, during times of testing, color leaves the character's costume again ...

Agnes Tauler. English rose. (spoiler!)

Time has passed. Agnes returned from the fashion capital of Paris, where she trained as a decorator at the Galeries Lafayette store. Now she no longer looks like a small, frightened bird. Agnes has blossomed in the literal sense of the word: in each of her outfits you will see flowers blooming.

"We don't have as much money in the UK as we do in America to shoot TV series," says James Kist, "besides, we mostly shot in a shop where there's a lot of black, because that was the staff's daytime uniform, and I wanted to enter some colors.

Rich ladies. Luxury is in the details.

"I focused on the details to show the differences between the classes - the richer the character, the clearer the details of the costume."

"For rich ladies, I used lace, flowers, beads, silk and satin. Woolen, cotton fabrics and linen - for everyone else. Most of the costumes were made, but all the trimmings are antique, I bought them at auctions and eBay."
Despite the fact that only 5 years had passed since the first season, by 1914 women's fashion had changed quite a lot. Even the silhouette is different."

Season 1 Costumes

If in 1909 the dresses seemed to slide along the body in a wave, "spreading like a puddle" below, then in 1914 they had a high waist, the skirts were narrowed down, and resembled a cigar in silhouette. It was difficult to walk in such skirts, so they were significantly shortened.

1914 Pay attention to how carefully the bottom of the dress is worked out, drawing attention to the graceful leg.

The women's toilet for visits began to resemble a modern business suit, based on the principle: jacket, skirt, blouse.

Lady May in costume

Rose in costume.

Rose. Keeper of the hearth.

And a few words about Rose's style. The creators of the series made the main characters more attractive than their prototypes.

Rosalie, Selfridge's real wife.

This is what Selfridge's wife looked like around the 1910s.

And this is the lovely Frances O'Connor as Rose.

In order to emphasize the softness, femininity of the character's character, the costume designer often dresses Rose in white (milky or ivory) color. An angelic color that we associate with purity.

The white lace blouse, popular in those years, fit perfectly here. Since cheap machine-made lace had already been invented, every young lady could buy such a blouse.

Agree, as Selfridge's wife (and an American), she could dress more richly and pretentiously. But the creators of the series wanted to show us other qualities of Rose: modesty and grace.

Well, our tour of the costumes of the characters of the series "Mr. Selfridge" has ended. Perhaps you still wanted to hear about Lady May's style, but there is nothing special to tell here: bright, expensive, catchy. But much better than last season.

If my story is not enough, you can watch the video:

And the last, almost an anecdote.
In one interview, Jeremy Piven told how once an excited lady jumped up to him in the Selfridges store (where he likes to go shopping, because the actor himself is a big fashionista) and began to make claims about the manicure done to her in the salon of the manicure store, finishing speech with the words: "Deal with your staff already!" Piven is terribly proud that the public began to blur the line between him and the real Selfridge))

Now I invite you to take a look at the set of the series and see how the magical world of the Selfridges store in the 1910s was created. I came across a selection of photographs with explanations by the production designer of the series Sonia Klaus, I translated the text, so - look and read!

Actor Jeremy Piven (G. Selfridge)

But first, a little about Sonya Klaus herself. She is best known as a set designer for director Ridley Scott, and her resume includes Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, X-Men: First Class, Prometheus, The Counselor, and more. Executive Producer Kate Lewis said: "Sonya has been Ridley Scott's decorator for many years and her attention to detail and design is phenomenal. To show what it would be like in 1914, Sonia collaborated with our lead director Anthony Byrne to make the store even more luxurious and elegant."

1. Store

In a velvet jacket - director Anthony Byrne, he filmed the series "Up and Down Stairs."

The search for gloves for the accessories department was made easier thanks to a generous gift from a British company. Dent and Sons(founded in 1777): 180 pairs of women's leather gloves and stands to display them. The rest of the gloves bought at the auctions for Season 1 were folded in pairs and were filmed like this.

This is what it looked like in the 1920s. twentieth century.

Klaus and her team designed the perfume department Selfridge, recalling the perfumes used by their mothers and grandmothers: Yardly, Guerlin, Floris, Shalimar, Caron, Penhaligon's and others. The designers were surprised at the generosity of the perfume companies, who went to meet them halfway and provided many valuable bottles from their archives for filming. The French house "Caron" even lent them a large urn made of crystal and 24 carat gold. Previously, customers often used their own perfume bottles, which the sellers filled with perfume right on the counter.

Klaus was especially delighted with a large bottle of perfume from Penhaligon's: "When you see one, you just don't want to buy a small one. You immediately think: I want one of those!"

Klaus has made significant changes to the restaurant palm court by adding a champagne bar at the entrance and building an outdoor terrace. But what she's most proud of is the semi-circular seating booths she installed, because on the other side of the wall is the women's fashion department, and it looks like they're changing rooms for the ladies. She explains, "Actually, I'm cleverly disguising the fact that they were the other side of the booths in palm court!"

store floor selfridges constantly changed (dismantled) to be filmed as other departments of the store. On the first floor was palm court and ladies fashion department.

2. Club "Dolphins"

For the color scheme and textiles, Klaus turned to the Edwardian period and the sense of "faded grandeur" that she tried to capture through peacock blue-greenish, poppy and terracotta with gold and greenery. She explains: “When creating an era, it is always very important to maintain a sense of authenticity. Therefore, one must study paintings. It is difficult to navigate photographs, since most of them are black and white. My sources of inspiration were Toulouse-Lautrec and the British artists of the late 19th century Alma Tadema and Frederic Leighton, because they used the colors that were popular at the time, and that lends credibility to our recreated era."

Toulouse-Lautrec Henri. Dance lessons at the Moulin Rouge.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Ask me no more.

Music Lesson by Lord Frederic Leighton

Klaus knew how to make "Dolphins" more mysterious and mysterious. Was the Dolphins club on the ground floor? On the second floor? In the basement? "When you go inside, you are disoriented like a professional player, you are not sure of anything anymore... there are many rooms and winding corridors, the space is like a rabbit pit. It was important to get a sense of confusion: you may be going up, but go down, maybe you are already in another building and go down again."

Klaus wanted to make the club as mysterious as the Dolphin character itself. Who is Dolphin? Klaus jokes: "She used to make fake passports and scam money... She can't just open a nightclub and have a couple of husbands. Oh no no, she's way more interesting than all that."

3. Selfridge House

For the second season, Selfridge's house was rebuilt: after all, five years had passed and Harry could not keep up with the styles and fashions of the time, since he himself was selling decor items.

Klaus has made many changes to Harry's house; she added a huge fireplace to reposition the dining room, which can now be served directly from the kitchen. She changed the wallpaper, lighting, furniture, and completely remodeled Rose's bedroom, adding a walk-in closet.

Klaus often uses fabrics she has bought on her travels and taken from other projects: Rose's bedspread, for example, is made from a piece of fabric Sonya saved from her job as a set decorator in the film Gladiator. When filming ended, the bedspread was thrown away, Klaus saved it from a dumpster and kept it for years. The series used another interesting fabric from Klaus' collection: a piece of beautiful silk that she bought for the movie "Lara Croft" with Angelina Jolie. When this fabric, which the artist had kept for over ten years, was used to decorate Rose's bed, Klaus sighed, "Oh, it was my dream to keep it for my home," to which Mike the upholsterer joked, "Never mind, maybe this is - the house of your dreams!

Video where the artist gives a wonderful tour of the set:

From the street, this building is an abandoned carpet factory, but inside is Harry Selfridge's home and iconic shop.
Production designer Sonia Klaus kindly took us on a tour of the set and told us how they created a great backdrop for the show. She explained that Season 2 of the show takes place in 1914 - 5 years after we last saw Harry. Sonia says: "People want to see every inch of the set that shows Harry is a millionaire." So Sonia and her design team made changes to the dining room and living room.
Jeremy Piven: "We have a female influence on set right now. Everything looks richer and more beautiful. I guess a lot of it needed a female hand." While we're impressed by Selfridge's house, the real joy comes when you enter the store through the revolving doors. selfridges. They are massive!
Amanda Abbington ( Miss Mardle): "It's like being in a toy store every day because you're playing with these wonderful props. You're transported back to 1914-1915 and it's wonderful!"
The series are filmed as real items that buyers could see in selfridges, and recreated by local designers - down to the smallest puffs.
Sonya talks about the tea salon, which in those years was a place to relax.
Executive Producer Sherri Gould: "That's amazing. I mean the artist is an absolute genius and her team of storytellers have really taken the series to the next level."

James is an experienced artist, so it is not surprising that he accurately placed the accents in the characters' characters, revealing them through colors and textures.

Harry Selfridge. Business style of the beginning of the century.

Of course, we need to start with Harry Selfridge himself, and here the interview with the costume designer given to the British issue of GQ magazine will help us:

The real Harry Selfridge

Screen Harry

But you have to bear in mind that we weren't dressing Selfridge, we were dressing an actor named Jeremy Piven and his appearance is not an exact copy of Selfridge's. We did what works well for Jeremy, which helps him tell a story. Mr. Selfridge's actual style was very formal; he always wore business cards and, in the evening, tailcoats. I followed this, but sometimes I tried to soften the character a bit. There are episodes where you can see him as a person and not as a "shop boss".

Despite the fact that he is an American, he is dressed very well, in the British way. In fact, very rich Americans copied a lot of what was worn in Europe at the time."

fashion 1912

It is very difficult to diversify the men's clothing of that time, the color in the suit was used carefully. But Kist did it masterfully:

The cage of the miraculous vest is repeated in the tie

Here - velvet edging on the lapels and a tie - one green color. Nice little thing))

"All of Selfridge's costumes were made from scratch in workshops in North London, but with original fabrics," the costume designer continues.

This included: striped trousers, double-breasted vests, starched-collared shirts, ties, and several coats of various shapes to show different times - all based on the Edwardian style.

English King Edward VII

Harry Selfridge with his daughter

You can't use vintage stuff for filming, because if something is 100 years old, then it looks 100 years old. And you want everything to look modern, sharp and fresh. I found these fantastically luscious silks for Harry's vests that work beautifully on camera and look like they were made from the most expensive silk."

"I've always gravitated towards this era," says Selfridge actor Jeremy Piven. !"

The costume designer continues: "I've amassed a collection of vintage jewelry from auctions, thrift stores and eBay. I have about 40 pocket watches in my collection and I have one that looked very much like the watch he actually wore ".

Henri LeClair. Creative person (beware: spoiler!)

Well, during times of testing, color leaves the character's costume again ...

Agnes Tauler. English rose. (Spoiler!)

Rich ladies. Luxury is in the details.

"I focused on the details to show the differences between the classes - the richer the character, the clearer the details of the costume.

For rich ladies, I used lace, flowers, beads, silk and satin. Woolen, cotton fabrics and linen - for everyone else. Most of the costumes were made, but all the trimmings are antique, bought by me at auctions and eBay."
Despite the fact that only 5 years had passed since the events that took place in the 1st season, by 1914 women's fashion had changed quite a lot. Even the silhouette has changed.

Season 1 Costumes

1914 Pay attention to how carefully the bottom of the dress is worked out, drawing attention to the graceful leg.

The women's toilet for visits began to resemble a modern business suit, based on the principle: jacket, skirt, blouse.

Lady May in costume

Rose. Keeper of the hearth.

And a few words about Rose's style. The creators of the series made the main characters more attractive than their prototypes.

Rosalie, Selfridge's real wife

This is what Selfridge's wife looked like around the 1910s.

And this is lovely Frances O'Connor as Rose.

In order to emphasize the softness, femininity of the character's character, the costume designer often dresses Rose in white (milky or ivory) color. An angelic color that we associate with purity.

The white lace blouse, popular in those years, fit perfectly here. Since cheap machine-made lace had already been invented, every young lady could buy such a blouse.

Agree, as Selfridge's wife (and an American), she could dress more richly and pretentiously. But the creators of the series wanted to show us other qualities of Rose: modesty and grace.

If my story is not enough, you can watch the video:

And the last, almost an anecdote.
In an interview, Jeremy Piven told how once he visited him at the Selfridges store (where he likes to go shopping, because the actor himself is a big fashionista) an excited lady jumped up and began to make claims about the manicure done to her in the salon of the manicure store, ending her speech with the words: "Deal with your staff already!" Piven is terribly proud that the public began to blur the line between him and the real Selfridge))

More of my posts about stylish characters - men:

"POIRO AGATA CHRISTIE". STYLE IN DETAILS. http://la-gatta-ciara.livejournal.com/72147.html

THE DUKE OF WINDSOR AND BERTY WOOSTER http://la-gatta-ciara.livejournal.com/2630.html

MALE COSTUME IN THE BEST DRAMA SERIES OF 2010 "BOARD EMPIRE"

Selfridges department store in London (London, United Kingdom) - detailed description, address, opening hours, how to get there. Popular brands and brands, reviews of tourists.

Last minute tours to Great Britain
Tours for May around the world

Selfridges is another famous department store in London.

Unlike many other department stores, Selfridges was originally created precisely as a department store: its founder, American Harry Selfridge, wanted to create a store of the same type that was then in vogue in the United States. He succeeded, and in 1909 Selfridges opened to customers in the same building in which it still operates.

The second largest store in the country (only Harrods is larger), periodically taking the place of the “best store” in one or another rating, Selfridges is famous throughout Britain and flashes in one or another British movie.

The building is unique, it is included in the List of National Treasures of the United Kingdom: this is the creation of a famous architect, created according to an innovative technology for Britain at that time - structures based on steel frames and with an interesting external design. The result was a very original building, reminiscent of both modern New York and ancient Rome in style, and decorated with the famous sculpture “Queen of Time” above the main entrance.

Selfridges sells women's, men's and children's clothing, accessories, shoes, cosmetics and household goods, but the main thing is still clothes and shoes.

Items from a variety of categories are sold here - from T-shirts for teenage girls to classic suits for women over sixty. A variety of brands are presented - from solidly expensive ones like Chanel to more or less democratic Joseph or Geoks.

Accordingly, the model range is very diverse - although with such a large area, different brands do not interfere with each other, and almost any buyer can find something to their taste. The store is huge, there are a lot of clothes and shoes, you can walk for a very long time.

Practical Information

Prices in this department store still fall into the “average” category, but are closer to high. Twice a year they have big sales, during which many customers drive home with the famous bright yellow bags that Selfridges only use during sales.

Address: London, W1A 1AB, Oxford Street, 400, the store occupies part of the shopping street of Oxford Street. You can get to two metro stations: "Bond Street" or "Marble Arch", the distance to them is approximately the same.

Selfridges is open daily, from Monday to Saturday from 9:30 to 22:00, on Sunday from 11:30 to 18:15, it has cafes and restaurants, a grocery department, delivery and many events take place - fashion shows, presentations etc.

Around the store

There are a lot of other shops on Oxford Street, but the restaurants are mostly mediocre - it's very crowded there. But there are many attractions nearby - Marble Arch (one of the English triumphal arches, there are several of them in London), the famous Park Lane and the beautiful huge Hyde Park with the "Speakers' Corner" facing just towards Oxford Street (in which everyone anyone who wishes can speak on any occasion), and the districts surrounding this street are like a selection, interesting and old.

There are two news: bad and good. The bad news: the 1st season of the British series Mr Selfridge has ended... The good news: the shooting of the 2nd season is already starting in April! The screenplay by Andrew Davis (whom many of you must love at least for 1995's Pride and Prejudice, but there was also Emma, Bridget Jones's Diaries, Brideshead Revisited and many other wonderful things) and the performance of the charismatic Jeremy Piven provided the success of this series, which was rated higher than Downton Abbey, hooray!

Of course, I wanted to know more about the life of Harry Gordon Selfridge and I dug around the Internet. British online publications just overwhelmed me with interesting information. I can not carry everything in myself, I will share with you.
Today I will tell you only about the department store.
Yes, it’s all true, there really was a man like Harry Gordon Selfridge, who coined the well-known phrase “The customer is always right” (it’s a pity that it rarely works in Russia) and founded it in London, on Oxford Street Department store selfridges, also known as Selfridge & Co.

G. G. Selfridge and D. Piven in his role.

It all started with the fact that in 1906 the American businessman Harry Selfridge went on vacation to England with his wife. And he drew attention to the fact that large stores in London work boringly, in the old fashioned way, not like in America. That's when he came up with the brilliant idea to build his own department store on the then unfashionable Oxford Street.

Harry Gordon Selfridge and his Selfridges (Alick P.F. Ritchie, 1911)

He approached this matter with his characteristic enthusiasm and scope.
In 1906, construction began on an eight-story neoclassical building on Oxford Street.
The new store was opened to the public on March 15, 1909, and this was preceded by a great advertising sensation in the press - today it is natural, but then it looked "provocatively somehow."

The excitement around its grand opening was such that thirty police officers held back the crowd outside the store.

Selfridge's opening day

Everyone who came in the first week after the opening of Selfridges received a small silver key as a gift, which was then fashionable to wear on a bracelet.

This pendant was supposed to remind customers that they can always unlock the door to the Land of Happiness (the story about the key is taken from the wonderful documentary film "City Temptations-Shopping History" , which tessitelli recommended me to watch, for which many thanks to her!).

So Selfridge and his store with a neoclassical facade laughed at the artist Robert Stewart Sherriffs.

The store was designed by architect Daniel Burnham, who designed the famous Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, the building had a steel frame, five floors and basements in three levels.

The construction took place in several stages, but according to a single design. By opening, the first nine and a half sections were built closer to the corner of Duke Street.

The store's westward expansion ended between 1924-29. The appearance of the department store, as it is known today, acquired in 1929.

main entrance

entry revolving doors

elevators

The signs of the zodiac are depicted on the elevator doors.

These Art Deco style elevators were installed in 1928, for the department store's twentieth anniversary. Panels with images of swans are a tribute to the passion for exotic Japanese style. Selfridges originally had young women as elevator operators, but after World War II, they were replaced by disabled ex-servicemen. The elevators were removed in 1970 as escalators became more popular.

But that is not all! Selfridge's ambition was to show in the 450-foot tower. He wanted his shop to tower over London! But the idea was not destined to come true ...

planned

and it became

In fact, I had no idea how much we are all constantly confronted with the innovations introduced by Selfridge! The mere fact that women today "treat nerves" with shopping is entirely on his conscience, he figured out how to turn shopping into a pleasure.

Selfridges in the 40s

"He thought that his customers should definitely be able to touch the products, smell them, taste them, and not keep them locked up in the window all the time, under glass," says Jeremy Piven (three Emmy awards and one Golden Globe for the role of Ari Gold in "Handsome"), who is simply fascinated by his character Harry Selfridge - the product had to affect all the senses, and be in its own way as exciting as sex."

frame from the series

selfridges

Everything has been created in Selfridges to ensure that the client stays in it for as long as possible. Not only the process of advertising and selling goods was thought out, but also care was taken for their customers. So, for their rest in the department store there were: elegant restaurants with reasonable prices; for women - beauty salon Elizabeth Arden; for men, a library where the husband could read the newspaper while his wife was shopping; first aid room, as well as a “silence room”, with soft lighting, deep seating and double glazing so that, tired of shopping, noise and hustle, you can sit, relax and unwind, and then continue shopping again!

By the way, the idea of a room of silence was revived again in Selfridges - you can’t talk in this room, walk in shoes, use mobile devices (avichka shared this news with me, for which I also thank her very much!).

Store employees were taught to always be on hand to help customers, but to do it unobtrusively.

frame from the series

"He put the cosmetics and perfume department right at the front of the store, exactly where it is now in every department store around the world," continues to admire Selfridge Piven,

If you are in barneys in New York or some other department store, they all follow Harry's model. selfridges was recently voted the best department store in the world. Again. And it's been over 100 years since it was built." Jeremy talks about it with such pride, as if he himself were Harry Selfridge. "I am completely involved in this idea. He (Selfridge) was a big fan of Barnum, and much in his concept of how to promote a department store was based on promotion and entertainment."
Well-known actresses were invited to the store, exhibitions, shows...

Harry Gordon Selfridge and actress Anna May Wong, 1937

Of course, Selfridge had a bright charisma, was a real leader. “The boss inspires fear, the leader - enthusiasm,” he said, and one cannot but agree with him.

The main attraction of the store was... the owner himself! Always smartly dressed, trim, with a pearl pin in his tie and a flower in his buttonhole, Harry became, in the words of one reporter, "as popular in London as Big Ben."

When he entered the restaurant at the department store palm court(destroyed during the war) for tea, the orchestra would play "I'm crazy about Harry!" and the adoring staff would applaud! How many leaders do you know?

Bennie Krueger Orch. "I" M JUST WILD ABOUT HARRY" (1922)

Of course, if Selfridge was the way Jeremy Piven portrayed him, then I understand the staff)) I also want to applaud him when I only see him enter the store in the film, there is so much energy and positive in him!

“I play him like a ray of sunshine,” Piven says. “He uses emotional kung fu on people to convince them. They say 'we are doomed - this will never happen' and he tells them 'everything will be alright!' He is a ray of sunshine on a rainy London day!

Selfridge believed that you can attract customers to the store if you introduce them there to the latest technological progress. In his store, in 1909, indeed, as you and I saw in the series, Louis Blériot's monoplane was exhibited, which attracted 12,000 people to the store.

There, in Selfridges, in 1925, the first public demonstration of television took place.

Harry introduced revolutionary innovations such as large mirrored glass and spectacular displays in the window. He believed that each of these 21 windows was "a blank canvas, waiting to be painted to perfection".

These professionally designed display cases were (and still are) masterpieces of sorts. Electric lights burned in them until 12 at night, and window dressing at Christmas and today is a tourist attraction in London.

shop windows today

Showcase dedicated to C. Louboutin and his shoes

This showcase and above is Kusama-concept's latest high-profile project for Louis Vuitton

Christmas - 2013

In the 1920s and 1930s, the store's rooftop housed terraced gardens, a café, and mini golf. The rooftop, with spectacular views of London, was a popular post-shopping destination and was often used for fashion shows.

During the Second World War, bombs hit the store more than once: in 1940, 1941 and 1944. After a devastating explosion at a department store in 1940, Harry vowed never to set up rooftop gardens again...
You can also shoot a whole series about a department store during the war years, I won’t bother you with this, I’ll only say that the basements were used for the headquarters of the American army.

But time passes, Selfridge himself is no longer alive, the department store has changed owners more than once, who have long hatched plans to revive the terrace on the roof. But in the end, in the summer of 2011, not a terrace was made on the roof, but an artificial river along which boats floated! Very in the spirit of Harry's creative decisions)) In the fall, however, this channel was dismantled ...

To open an organic cafe on the rooftop in 2012 daylesford and an Alice in Wonderland-style crazy golf course.

The Pearly King and Queen of the City of London and thier children officially open "The Big Rooftop Tea and Golf Party" at Selfridges on May 30, 2012

cafe

Jeremy Piven (he, like his hero - an American who came to conquer London) likes Britain, and even more - to star in the role of Selfridge. He was, of course, flattered by Prince Harry's recent admission that he adores The Handsome, especially Ari Gold, but Jeremy doesn't think this is the character he wants to be associated with. But to play such a bright, interesting personality, as the founder of "Selfridges", is another matter!

Announcement. "Mr. Selfridge" and "Ladies' happiness".