As a Nottingham girl, born and bred, Nottingham Lace was the only choice for our luxury wedding garters. I’ve always had a fascination with the local history of Nottingham Lace. The Lace Market area of Nottingham is now full of trendy bars and vintage clothes shops, but just look at the old buildings and cobbled streets to imagine what it was like a hundred years ago.
The only remaining Nottingham Lace factory of its kind, is only a few miles away from our studio and we have been lucky enough to have a factory tour by Kate, who’s family have owned The Cluny factory since the early 1700’s.
“As a Nottingham based company here at The Nottingham Lace Garter Co we aim to use local sources where possible, one of those is of course the Nottingham Lace which we use in lots of our products. We are proud to be able to do this as a company and proud to support the only remaining lace factory of its kind in the UK.”
The Cluny Lace Factory
The Mason Family, who still own The Cluny Lace Factory in Nottingham, originally started as framework knitters in the 1730’s and progressed into making lace in the 1760’s. Over the last two century’s they have built up a huge collection of lace designs. Many of the lace patterns used today were designed by Frank Maltby Mason and Francis Bowler Mason, the sixth and seventh generations of the Mason family. No other manufacturer in the world produces the same range of patterns and these patterns are unique to Cluny Lace Company Limited.
Factory tour
I first started to use Nottingham Lace from The Cluny Lace Factory for my bridal handkerchiefs when I launched my sister company Extra Special Touch in 2009. When I launched by luxury garters in 2014, their was no question that I would continue to only use locally made Nottingham Lace.
A few years ago, we were lucky enough to be invited for a factory tour and Kate, showed us the amazing, historical building and lace machines. The videos below are just an example of what we saw on the day.
Royal weddings
Nottingham Lace is has an amazing history of being used for Royal Wedding Dresses, such as Kate Middleton and Princess Diana. It is also used for Haute Couture fashions all over the world, inducing Dolce & Gabbana, Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood and Burberry.
luxury wedding garters
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