SHUFTY’S, the boutique was called. It was unusual, and not just because it had a bulldog named Emma, which greeted every customer at the door.

These 1971 fashions are modelled here by Joan Sanderson and Betty Smith, who between them ran the shop in Glasgow’s Park Road. The dresses were made on the premises by the two women, with the help of their machinists, Margaret and Maureen.

“Every single item in the shop,” wrote Evening Times journalist Margaret Milne in her column, The Young Look, “has been designed and made by the girls. Nothing on the rails is priced over £11. There’s an added bonus as well. No finished outfit is ever copied - unless the customer asks for another.

“Dresses, suits, coats, beach-set, all in midi, maxi or mini - you can take your choice - come in practically any kind of material you care to name.”

Read more: Herald Diary

The owners could make up to seven outfits each day, starting from scratch. “We don’t want to make a lot of money,” said Betty Smith, “and we certainly aren’t interested in bulk production. If we did produce dozens of outfits all the same, all the fun would go out of our creations.

“Not long ago, we had a marvellous week designing a gold lame ballgown with matching evening coat for the wife of a commander who was to attend a naval ball in Monte Carlo. We designed, made and finished the outfit in a week and the customers was delighted. We charged £20 and the next day she was back ordering another day dress and matching coat.”

Among the typical fashion adverts in that day’s Evening Times was one from Lewis’s Argyle Street, which spoke of its ‘pretty look- dresses - puff sleeves, pussy bows and soft, beautiful sheers. Come and see.”