This collection is an extension of the research compiled for the Piquet Restaurant, Fitzrovia commission. (A Newman Street Tale), see commissions.

It looks at the significant number of girls who lead double lives as prostitutes whilst working as a shopgirl. Although social change in Victorian life at the time, facilitated the opportunity to work outside of the mill/workhouse for the first time - nevertheless, working conditions were far from satisfactory in shops such as haberdashers, milliners etc.  Long hours in cold rooms, standing most of the time in corseted clothing, breathing in a constant dust and fibre filled air, resulted in a myriad of health problems and on occasion early death. They were so poorly paid, a percentage of them were forced to turn to prostitution.

'Some of them were leading a double life. It wasn’t all street prostitution; a lot of it was the ‘respectable’ end of prostitution in the big towns and cities, with MPs, dukes and earls frequenting the Burlington Arcade in London. The place was almost designed around that. If you worked there at the time, you must have known the score.'
Social historian Dr. Pamela Cox.

Prostitution among Victorian-era shopgirls was indeed widespread, although ultimately, there is no real way of establishing how many. Census taking at the time, listed 'shopgirl' as a profession extensively and the number of prostitutes operating generally was considered a major social problem at the time. Figures from the 1850s suggest somewhere between 80-100,000 prostitutes operated in London alone. Police on Regent Street introduced a rule that any woman out after 10pm at night would automatically be considered a prostitute and arrested.

The birth of rights and recognition for women were still a while off at this time. The idea that the males in society were in some way doing them a service, by 'allowing' them to work outside of a mill or a match factory is as unpalatable now as it would have been then to the women concerned at the time, let alone when we add enforced sex work to the mix.

Artist's note:
The structure and colour of the spacing and background elements are indications of the interiors of the newly opened department stores of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Gold and silver leaf, continental peacock blues, rich ochres and regal purples imply opulence, wealth and travel. The typefaces used are of the period, the names are the actual arcades and large stores.

The quotes are from Dickens first impressions of prostitution and the wealthy Regent Street and Piccadilly areas of London. The names of the shop girls are from ‘Harris’ List’ of Covent Garden Ladies – a directory of prostitutes for rich merchants visiting the capital.

The style of painting and the colour palette use emphasises the flushed and unhealthy nature of the girls. Pollution in the West End, combined with dust inhaled during long hours spent standing on cold shops floors have an unsettling effect of the girls pallor.

Their white clothing represents their innocence in the lives forces upon them.