Magda coat still good as new

BETTY LANGTON in her Magda coat

This Madeleine Russell coat is still like new over 30 years since it was bought at an Oldham showroom.

It belongs to Betty Langton of Greenfield who read last Monday’s Chronicle feature on Magdalene Rubel, the Hungarian refugee who founded the famous fashion brand in Oldham over 40 years ago.

Magda was famous in the 1960s and 70s for exquisite knitted coats and dresses made first in her home attic, then in the Bell Mill at Mumps, and finally at the Napier Mill, Oldham.

She died last month aged 92, and Betty is one of her loyal customers who remembers her classic styles.

She said: “I got the jacket in a sale at the showroom in the mill. There used to be queues out of the door for the sales.

“She tended to create classic styles and you didn’t see anyone else in them. In those days young women tried to look older and more sophisticated.

“I had a green suit from Madeleine Russell in my trousseau when I got married in 1960. You bought her outfits from shops such as Elizabeth Grey on Union Street, and House of Anna in George Street, Oldham.

“I still have this brown marl, knitted, three-quarter length jacket, and the buttons have not worn and it has not pilled, it looks like new, yet it must have been worn hundreds of times.

“It may only come out once a year, when I wear it with trousers, and I sometimes think it must be time for the charity shop, but then I take it out and it is still like new.”

Former factory worker Kathleen Wilcock from Lees also remembers many happy years working at the Bell Mill at Mumps with Magda in the 1960s.

She said: “I used to do a lot of beadwork by hand, which she taught me, and which has stood me in good stead with my own clothes.

“I remember Dora Bryan and some other famous people calling in.

“The factory was not very nice, but Mrs Rubel made it seem very nice. She was always very elegant and once brought me a lovely present when she went abroad.

“I only bought one piece of Madeleine Russell clothing, at reduced price, which was one of her jackets. All her clothes were beautiful.”