Shopgirls: The True Story of Life Behind the Counter
Miniseries
Dr Pamela Cox presents this three-part series following the journey of the shopgirl from an almost invisible figure in stark Victorian stores, to being the beating heart of modern shops.
Where to Watch Shopgirls: The True Story of Life Behind the Counter • Miniseries
3 Episodes
- Here Come the Girls
E1Here Come the GirlsIn the mid-19th century, shops up and down the country were owned and staffed by men, and the idea of shopping as a pleasurable experience was still a world away. As jobs opened in factories, shops lost their ready supply of young male apprentices. Groups promoted women's employment, shrugging off the notion that shop work was somehow 'unladylike'. By the turn of the century, nearly a quarter of a million women were employed in shop work. They had forged new kinds of work for women and even helped transform the experience of shopping itself. The shopgirl was here to stay. - Revolution on the FloorE2
Revolution on the FloorVenturing behind the scenes of some of our most iconic department stores and high street chains, Pamela reveals how feisty shopgirls rebelled against their poor working conditions and started to demand more from their jobs. No longer content to just be servants on the shop floor, they were becoming a respected workforce - professional young women at the heart of the nation's blossoming love affair with shopping. - The New CoolE3
The New CoolDuring the London Blitz, shopworkers rescued evacuees and served customers from bomb-damaged premises. The war created flexible working opportunities on the shop floor and gave rise to a new concept, the working mum. By the 1960s, teenagers emulated the beautiful shopgirls working in trendy boutiques like Mary Quant's Bazaar in London's Kings Road. Shopgirls were crucial to the success of stores like Biba, where their jobs were more about modelling the clothes and hanging out rather than giving customers the hard sell.
