Simpson's Piccadilly
Filed in: Work
In the spring of 1973, I was waiting for Canada to approve my immigration papers, so I used the time to return to England to work in a prestigious fashion store in London. (My semester abroad was at the University of Oxford, two years prior.)
I had a visa to work at Simpsons-Piccadilly near Piccadilly Circus. If you ever watched the British TV comedy, Are You Being Served?, the store location was modeled after Simpsons.
At Kent State I'd studied fashion merchandising so it was pretty easy to qualify for the position of sales assistant. Back then, "shop girls" were not very respected. But I made 21 pounds a week which paid for my room and board at John Adams Hall.
Many famous people like Diana Rigg would come to shop in the store. Once I held the credit card of a female customer who had dated Prince Charles, Lady Jane Wellesley. The address on her card? Windsor Castle.
A year ago I came across an old journal from that period that I hadn't read in more than 45 years. At the top of one page were two names of women I had served that day. Maggie Fitzgibbon was an Australian stage actress who was well known for her character in a TV series, The Newcomers. The other name: Lady Bowles. To be exact, Lady Camilla Parker Bowles. It didn't dawn on me until 2019 that I'd had a brief conversation with Prince Charles' future wife. I must have helped her buy clothes.
I had a visa to work at Simpsons-Piccadilly near Piccadilly Circus. If you ever watched the British TV comedy, Are You Being Served?, the store location was modeled after Simpsons.
At Kent State I'd studied fashion merchandising so it was pretty easy to qualify for the position of sales assistant. Back then, "shop girls" were not very respected. But I made 21 pounds a week which paid for my room and board at John Adams Hall.
Many famous people like Diana Rigg would come to shop in the store. Once I held the credit card of a female customer who had dated Prince Charles, Lady Jane Wellesley. The address on her card? Windsor Castle.
A year ago I came across an old journal from that period that I hadn't read in more than 45 years. At the top of one page were two names of women I had served that day. Maggie Fitzgibbon was an Australian stage actress who was well known for her character in a TV series, The Newcomers. The other name: Lady Bowles. To be exact, Lady Camilla Parker Bowles. It didn't dawn on me until 2019 that I'd had a brief conversation with Prince Charles' future wife. I must have helped her buy clothes.
There's a little more to the story that will appear in the completed book.
___________________________
This snippet is brought to you by: My article on efficient wardrobe planning, Nine Pieces Will Give You Thirty Outfits. For order details click on the graphic: (PDF, $1.00) Wardrobe Planning: How to Make 9 Pieces Stretch to 30 Outfits
