Emily Clapham

{{short description|English couturier}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Emily Clapham

| image = Photo of Emily Clapham.jpg

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| birth_name = Emily McVitie

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| birth_date = {{birth date|1857|12|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cheltenham, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|1952|1|10|1887|11|15|df=y}}

| death_place = Cottingham, England

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Emily Clapham (1857–1952) was a dress designer. She is known for clothing she created during the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Clapham, née McVitie, was born on 22 December 1857 in Cheltenham, England. In 1886 she married Haigh Clapham (1854–1950). The following year the couple opened a dressmaking shop in Hull. She began referring to herself as "Madame Clapham".

In the late 1800s amid complaints from workers about long hours and few breaks, she was fined for violating the Factory Acts.{{cite ODNB |title=Clapham [née McVitie], Emily Maria (1857–1952), couturier |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-109541 |date=2016 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/109541 |access-date=19 August 2023 |language=en |last1=Capes |first1=Susan }} Her dressmaking was in high demand and by 1914 the shop employed around 150 workers, most of whom were women.{{cite web |title=Madame Clapham: Hull's trailblazing dressmaker inspires new generation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-60139933 |website=BBC News |access-date=19 August 2023 |date=29 January 2022}} During the period of her greatest popularity, high society clothing was informed by the strict rules for Victorian and Edwardian dress.{{cite web |title=Madame Clapham's Fashion |url=https://www.girlmuseum.org/madame-claphams-fashion/ |website=Girl Museum |access-date=19 August 2023 |date=26 December 2016}} The best known of her clients was the Queen Maud of Norway.

Clapham's popularity waned with the change in style of dressing after World War I and suffered further with rationing during World War II.

Clapham died on 10 January 1952 in Cottingham, England. Her shop remained open after her death and was run by her niece Emily Wall. It eventually closed in 1967.{{cite web |last1=Stephenson |first1=Robert |title=Madame Clapham's dress |url=https://www.hullmuseums.co.uk/homepage/128/madame-claphams-dress |website=Hull Museums and Galleries |access-date=19 August 2023 |language=en}}

She is the subject of the book and exhibition Madame Clapham : Hull's celebrated dressmaker.{{cite web |title=Madame Clapham : Hull's celebrated dressmaker |url=https://onesearch.fitnyc.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma990001126550204829&context=L&vid=01SUNY_FIT:01SUNY_FIT&lang=en&search_scope=Physical&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=LibraryCatalog&query=any,contains,Madame%20Clapham%20:%20Hull%27s%20celebrated%20dressmaker |website=onesearch.fitnyc.edu |access-date=19 August 2023 |language=en}}