EXCLUSIVE: Corrie outfits at International Fashion Conference

Yesterday, Tuesday April 10th 2019, I had the absolute pleasure of spending a day in Manchester. Up early for the train and armed with butties and a banana for brunch en-route, I boarded the train for a very special day. I'd been invited to Manchester by ITV and Manchester Fashion Institute to see an exhibition that's not open to the public. I wasn't even sure I would be allowed to blog about, but confirmation came through once I arrived there that I could blog and tweet and sing and shout about it as much as I wanted to. And oh boy, did I want to share this with other fans!

The exhibition I went to view was part of an international conference, the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI). Each year the IFFTI conference is held in a major city around the world and this year, the conference was held in Manchester and hosted by the Manchester Fashion Institute, which is part of Manchester Metropolitan University.

And as part of IFFTI this year, there was an exhibition entitled Coronation Street - A Female Northern Identity. It was curated by Jackie Rayner, a Senior Lecturer and Maria Malone, a Principal Lecturer. Both Jackie and Maria work at Manchester Fashion Institute and not only are they passionate about fashion but they're passionate about Corrie too.

Here are a couple of my pictures taken from the Corrie exhibition at the conference. The first Corrie episode was playing from one of the small black and white screens.

While on the other screen, a video played showing interviews with fans. Each fan talked about some of their favourite Coronation Street women and why they enjoyed watching them.

And our own Coronation Street Blogger Sophie even made an appearance on the video too!  We had been contacted some time ago by the Manchester Fashion Institute and Sophie was keen to take up the challenge to speak on video about characters she loves.

And so on to the exhibits of clothes.  I asked Jackie Rayner and Maria Malone why they felt that fashions from Coronation Street deserved to be shown at an international fashion conference.

Maria told me: "When I'd attended the IFFTI conference in other countries in previous years and told delegates that I work in Manchester, their usual response was 'Ah! Coronation Street' - it's the universal language of Corrie!"

I can certainly vouch for this. At lunch at the conference, I sat happily chatting to a Dutch fashion designer about Coronation Street. He knew the cultural references after watching the show for 20 years in Holland. When I told him why I was attending IFFTI, he was excited to hear about the Corrie clothes and my writing involvement about the show in books and this blog.

Carla Connor's outfit along with Hayley Cropper's clothes

Jackie Rayner told me that the Corrie exhibition is all about identity, how an individual Northern identity can be viewed within a global community. And certainly, while I was there viewing the clothes and exhibits and chatting to Jackie and Maria, many overseas conference delegates came to see the clothes, intrigued to know more about the show and the women who wore the outfits on display.

Liz McDonald's outfit

Carla, Hayley and Liz's clothes from the Corrie set

Hayley Cropper's iconic red anorak on loan from the People's History Museum in Manchester

"In the style of" clothes
Bet Lynch's leopard print coat, Hilda Ogden's pinny and Elsie Tanner's fur coat and no knickers were on display.

"In the style of" Hilda Ogden's pinny

"In the style of" Bet Lynch's leopard print coat

"In the style of" Elsie Tanner's fur coat

Carla Connor's size 5 black high heels

Carla's outfit

Carla and Peter wedding photograph. I wonder what was tippexed out?!

And then it was farewell, Manchester.  But my day was not yet done. I came out of the exhibition onto Oxford Road and ran slap bang into Coronation Street extra and all round lovely man Johnny Grimshaw! What are the chances of that happening when I know all of about six people in the whole of Manchester and should run into one of them on the street? It wasn't the street, but a very busy thoroughfare through the city. It fair made my day!

Farewell Manchester, until the next time!  I had a smashing day.

Glenda Young
Author: Belle of the Back Streets

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Fat Brenda's Cream Horn

Sorry I've not been on here for a while loveys but there's nobody at this flamin' cab office nowadays so I've been working every shift going! That Cheryl has gone to work at the bistro so she can bore everyone to death in another location, me beloved Eddie has suddenly discovered a work ethic and disappeared to Germany and Steve is running The Rovers and ruining Streetcars. There's just the three of us now: me, Lloyd and Lloyd's new hair-do!

I'll tell you what confuses me loveys, are we supposed to like that Chris now? I mean, apart from the fact his flamin' clothes seem to fall off every ten minutes, I'm sure he used to be the same fella that hit Cheryl! He told me he understands how Maria feels being the victim of someone who can't control his urges (how?) and then threatens Frank for not being able to control his urges when he should understand Frank more for not being to control his urges rather than Maria who is the victim of urges (like Cheryl). Has he moved in with Maria an' all? He wanders in and out of that flat without a by yer leave... and then his clothes fall off again. Then he's mister sensitive and upset that Dev sniggers at him for looking at a wine tasting poster and then his clothes fall off and before all that he arranges for Janice to be burgled and then his clothes fall off and then he's sensitive again and then he's not... I'm in a right pickle over it all loveys! I was one of them ignoring him cos of what he did to Cheryl but now everyone reckons he's alright. How can he be when he used to hit her all the time whenever his clothes fell off?

Gail must be right peeved that her dad, Ted, hasn't been around for a while cos it seems to have turned her all homophobic! That lass needs therapy to get over the rejection and maybe it'll stop her hanging round her poor son and trying to work with him! Poor Nick, what a choice for bar manager - the most boring lass on the planet or his own mother!

Sean said he had a belting time in London although I did see on the news that the teddy bear he left on a bench was designated as a potential terrorist threat and blown up in a controlled explosion by the army! That poor flamin' bear, guilty of nowt more than turning up in London when Violet was suffering from PMT!

Becky came in the cab office last night wearing what appeared to be Liz McDonald's cast-offs! She was all, "I'm gonna get leathered cos of summat that's happened an' that!" Within ten seconds of the conversation starting I'd fallen asleep face down on me Bella. I've heard it all before loveys, "Wake up Bren" she kept shouting, "Brendaaaaa! I'm gonna get so drunk cos of summat that Steve's done, just watch Bren, proper drunk I'm gonna get. Watch! Bren! Bren! Wake up Bren! BRENDA!!!" I finally mustered up the strength and courage to listen to her, "I'm gonna get well drunk and it's gonna be some fella's lucky night!"

"Lucky? Flamin' lucky?" I said, "There's no fella on the planet who'd consider 'emselves lucky to be saddled with you!"

She didn't answer loveys, she just started drinking from a vodka bottle in front of me. I was so shocked! Vodka? I prefer gin! I can drink twice the amount she can and I can do it without making big song and dance about it! I tried to give her some sleeping tablets an' all, just to finish the job off properly, but she wouldn't take 'em. Typical! Still, them biscuits she made were alright though.

I think in this world of failing public services and public sector job cuts it's heartwarming to see the immigration inspector who interviewed Xin and Graeme working on a bank holiday, completing his assessment out of office hours and managing to post it over the weekend to get delivered on another bank holiday! That is what I call a belting employee!

Ken's grandson's moved in this week. It must be bursting at the seams in that house! It's a good job Ken and Deirdre have an en-suite cos I've heard Tracy spends hours in that bathroom practicing her evil glares and sinister smirks in the mirror. Amy likes it in there an' all cos it's the only place not contaminated by Deirdre's ciggie smoke and her mother's evil vibes!

He seems like a nice enough fella though, does James. I said hello to him this morning. "I'm James and I'm gay" he said, "That's right! You heard me, gay! Yer just gonna have to deal with it!"

"Lovey," I told him "what you get up to in the privacy of yer own leather underpants is nowt to do with me... why don't I introduce you to Gail, she flamin' loves the gays!"

Right, I'm off. Tweeter here, complain below and for the love of Cliff be flamin' nice to each other cos it's a short life we've been given on this planet... unless yer trapped with Cheryl or Eileen, ten minutes with them feels like a flamin' eternity!

Preview of tonight's Coronation Street - Monday 17th October 2022

Monday 17th October 2022

HARVEY TELLS LEANNE SOME HOME TRUTHS Whilst Nick and Sam prepare to mark the anniversary of Natasha’s death Leanne says she is going to the cash and carry whilst secretly heading off to visit Harvey in prison. Leanne is shocked when Harvey tells her that Sam has been writing to him and he wants Leanne and Nick to stop him. Leanne tells Nick what she has discovered and the pair confront Sam who gets upset and says he just wants to know why Harvey killed Natasha. When Sam suggests that he’ll stop writing to Harvey if he can visit him instead, Nick and Leanne are horrified. But Sam’s adamant that it’s not their decision and he’ll find a way.

BRIDGET ASKS A BIG FAVOUR OF STU Having found out that Lucy and Bridget have both been charged, Stu masks his anxiety for Eliza’s sake. Alya’s awash with guilt but Dee-Dee assures Alya that she did the right thing. Bridget calls Stu from prison and tells him that she and Lucy have pleaded guilty to murder and she’d like him to take care of Eliza for her. Stu and Yasmeen reel in shock.

FERN’S KEEN TO KNOW IF BERNIE GOT THE JOB Ryan rifles through Bernie’s record collection. He’s excited to find a white label promo disc and tells Bernie it could be quite valuable. Masquerading as Bernie, Fern attends an interview with the high-end cleaning agency. They offer her a job there and then. Fern arrives for her cleaning job at the jewellery shop. Assuming her to be Bernie, the owner leaves her to lock up when she’s finished.

SUMMER KEEPS BUSY In the corner shop flat, a pensive Daniel tells Daisy that it’s time to clear out Sinead’s clothes for the charity clothes swap as she approved of recycling. Daniel hands over a bin bag full of Sinead’s clothes to Summer. Esther thanks Summer for all her help with the charity clothes swap. Summer admits that she was recently dumped and it’s been good to focus on something positive

TIM AND AGGIE TRY TO MAKE AMENDS. Sally is shocked to discover that Tim bought Aggie a necklace admits to Aggie how hurt she is to think that Tim prefers her company and suggests that in future she should focus on Ed and leave Tim alone. Aggie calls at the builder’s yard and apologises to Ed for keeping her friendship with Tim a secret.  

Glenda Young

Novelist published by Headline

Twitter: @Flaming_Nora

Facebook: GlendaYoungAuthor

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Coronation Street Weekly Update, February 25, 2008

Greetings and welcome to another weekly update. The update’s a bit late this week as I was out on the razzle last night and have only just caught up with Corrie now. The update will also be a day late next week as I’m off on my spring jollies. And so, as we’re late with the update already, let’s crack on and without any further ado, here we go with this week’s Coronation Street update.

This was the week when Corrie had one baby with two dads and one mum with two sons and everyone got into a pickle of sorts. First off, let’s talk about the babe with two dads. Pregnant Violet decides to do a runner darn sarth with Jamie and they plan their escape. Unfortunately their plans to get away from Sean before the baby’s birth are scuppered when Violet goes into labour in the bar of the Rovers. Jamie’s on his way to a mate in London in the discrete getaway vehicle they’d hoped would take them away from the cobbles without anyone noticing. But a bright orange, clapped out banger of a car might not have been such a good idea after all. So as Jamie’s driving off, Violet’s giving birth in the Rovers with Sean supporting her head and Marcus at the business end. After the regulars had been thrown out and the birthing process started proper, there was panting and screaming, hyperventilating and clenching of teeth and Violet wasn’t much better. At the bar, Eileen and Liz looked on, awed by the wonder of the womb while Vernon came over all peculiar and had to disappear for some mixers. As Marcus is a trained midwife the baby was brought into the world safely and then bundled off to t’hospital. Sean’s loving being a dad, has taken paternal leave, wants his name on the birth certificate and dreams of teaching his new son, Dylan-James-Wilson-Tully-Barlow, show tunes to his heart’s content. But Violet and Jamie have other plans and while Jamie still wants to leave the Street and Sean behind, Violet’s starting to feel that she wants to stick around. Oh go, just go.

And now for the mum with two sons. Yes, this is Michelle Connor and she hasn’t got a clue. Not content with the son she’s got, she takes it upon herself to offer a home to Alex, the son she’s just found. It’s a plan that’s not going down well in the back room of the Rovers. Steve rolls his eyes, tuts and expresses his exasperation. Ryan stays out of the way and feels disenfranchised (I have no idea what that means but I wanted to use it). Steve does his best to like Alex and asks him to look after Amy but when Amy skips off down the ginnel, Steve loses his temper with Michelle’s golden boy who locks himself in the Rovers. There’s a crowd of thirsty regulars wanting a pint but they can’t get in as they’ve been locked out. In the back room, Michelle tries to get through to Alex while Steve searches for Amy. Norris turns out to be the hero of the hour when he finds Amy wandering the Street with her dolly while Alex turns out to be the villain of the piece. Boo hiss, etc. However, mum Michelle asks him to stay in the Rovers for another week. “And then he’s out, I promise,” she tells Steve, who rolls his eyes, tuts and expresses his exasperation once more.

Elsewhere this week, LiaMaria returned from honeymoon in Venice. One minute the new Mrs Connor is sipping a champagne breakfast in a posh hotel alongside a canal, possibly watching pigeons from her window, and the next she’s got her hands in rubber gloves in Audrey’s salon, cleaning hair balls from the sinks, and possibly watching pigeons from her window.

Emily’s charity at th’ospital got a bonus load of clothes this week. The Friends of Weatherfield General have never had it so good. First off she was given a load of Violet’s old clothes when Vi and Jamie have a clear out in the flat and then a tearful Jack handed over Vera’s clothes. With Molly’s help, Jack decided it was time to go through Vera’s things and he mused over her shoes. She had four pairs. Her shoes, her other shoes, her good shoes and her best shoes, and Jack always knew which ones she meant.

Meanwhile, David and Tina make Gail’s life even more miserable than it already is. They move in, take over, mess up and leave Gail to clear up after them both, which she stupidly does, so really, ladies and gentlemen, she’s only got herself to blame, I’m sure you agree. When Tina told David that she was still mates with one of her ex-fellas, David went into a strop. “I’m not in a strop,” he said and then regaled Tina with tales of his ex-girlfriends, like, um, ooh, who was it again… oh yes, Tracy and Maria. He’s mental that David.

Over in the Rovers, the pub underwent its big revamp this week which left it looking like the old vamp it always was. Builders Mick and Sam did the job after drinking tea with five sugars and a bit of encouragement from Vernon with his “bish, bash, bosh”. I don’t know what that was but it seemed to do the trick as the two builders were in and out of there quick-sharp.

Also this week, Carla asked Eyeball Tony the Catalogue Man to move into her flat with her, so he did. He’s too scary for my liking but at least it takes her mind off brother-in-law Liam and his new wife, the other Mrs Connor. But would Tony be so keen on Carla if he knew the truth?

And the bookies had a bit of a storyline this week when Dan the Bookie Man paid out Jack’s win of over £3,000 to Paul. He knew Paul hadn’t told Jack that he’d found the missing betting slip and blackmailed Paul to give him a share of the cash. Later, the older and wiser Harry offered Jack payment on his yankee as a gesture of goodwill but when Dan found out, he told Paul he wanted all three grand of the cash back that he’d given him earlier. Both of them squared up to each other on the Street, both of them less threatening than squaring up to Amy Barlow. “I want me money back. So there.” said Dan, trying to be tough. “Shan’t! Nah-nah-ne-nah-nah” replied Paul before sticking out his tongue and skipping away, a bit fey.

Coronation Street writers this week were Martin Allen, Damon Rochefort, Chris Fewtrell, Jan McVerry and Carmel Morgan.

And that’s just about that for this week.

Glenda

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Blogging away merrily at http://flamingnora.blogspot.com/

Video: Behind the scenes at Coronation Street

British Forces Broadcasting Services radio went backstage at Coronation Street just before Christmas and there's a wonderful video on YouTube now.  Interviewed is the Head of Wardrobe who reveals how they pick clothes for a character, how they deal with viewer queries who want to know where to buy clothes seen on Coronation Street and the challenges they face in dressing a character ahead of the season.

Lance said that there are at least 12 people working in the wardrobe team. The video takes a peek into the racks of clothes, which is a real treat as it's something we never get to see.  We get to meet Margaret who does all the ironing and has worked on EastEnders in the past. Ever the diplomat, Margaret says there's nice people working on both soaps!

We see thermal underwear for the actors and have a peek into the bra drawer where some saucy secrets are revealed. Watch this fab video, below.





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Corrie's Minnie sells off her clothes online

Poppy Jhakra, who plays Minnie on Coronation Street, is selling off a selection of her unwanted clothes on celebrity clothes website, Starlotts.

You can have a look at the goodies for sale here.

Corrie weekly update – A Not-Pot and an Uber-Duber

Corrie weekly updates from 1995
All the wit and warmth of Weatherfield
None of the waffle
Available from http://www.corrie.net/updates/weekly/

It’s Johnny Connor’s 65th birthday but the OAP has more on his mind than his free bus pass. He’s got Aidan’s inquest to attend, an upsetting experience for the whole Connor clan. Eva walks into the inquest and gives a tearful testimony before finally leaving the Street in a cab with baby Susie in her arms and tears in her eyes. Adam stays behind, only too aware that Eva’s heart still lies with Aidan. I’ll miss Eva, I liked her a lot and can only hope that one day she’ll return.

Meanwhile in the Rovers, Gemma and Henry are allowed to run the place again as a test to see if they can manage if they buy the pub. But Gemma orders too many bottles of Dubonnet and it comes in by the box load. Cue the cut-price cocktails called Uber-Duber resulting in a clash on the karaoke, and a fight in the pub. The till might have been ringing but as Leanne rightly pointed out: Half-price drinks equal half-price profits. Gemma also moots the idea of a vegetarian hot-pot – a not pot.

HOSPITAL KLAXON! David follows Josh to a pub and stalks him. He knows that Josh is meeting with a young man and David is scared that Josh might try to rape him in the same way as he drugged and raped David. But Billy follows David and finds out what’s going on. He warns the lad away from Josh but later word reaches Weatherfield that Josh has been beaten up and is in intensive care.  David gets into the private room where Josh is lying connected to tubes and machines and air and there’s a bit of a moment where you wonder if David really would pull out the plug on a life support machine, but he doesn’t in the end.

Over at Underworld, Daniel brings in a bag of second hand clothes he’s bought to stock Sinead’s vintage clothes shop. But there are moths in the bag and they start laying their eggs on Underworld material. Alya’s not best pleased, as you can imagine, and has to bring in the pest control man. If only he could have rid the place of nasty Mr Hanlon, the biggest pest of all, while he was there. Anyway, the vintage clothes shop idea has gone now that Sinead’s pregnant. Daniel tells Brian that he and Cathy can have the shop if they want it but Brian declines the offer and sets to earning a living as a childminder, staring with young Joseph, Chesney’s son.

Homeless Sean gets beaten up, has his money nicked, is nasty to Eileen when she shows concern and he's still living rough.

And that’s just about that for this week.  

Remember, you can sign up to get these Corrie weekly updates by email at http://www.corrie.net/updates/weekly/subscribe.htm

This week’s writers were Carmel Morgan and David Isaac (Monday); Jonathan Harvey and Simon Crowther (Wednesday); Jan McVerry and Jayne Hollinson (Friday). Find out all about the Coronation Street writing team at Coronation Street Blog: Exclusive: All Current Corrie writers online

Fancy going on a tour of the Coronation Street set this summer? Here’s all you need to know > https://coronationstreetupdates.blogspot.com/2018/06/our-visit-to-coronation-street-tour.html

Glenda Young
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Blogging away merrily at Flaming Nora
Website: glendayoungbooks.com

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