About a century ago, starch collars were an integral part of the English male wardrobe, but gradually lost their significance, as they were recognized too tight. Today, thanks to the TV series "Dounton Abbey", this garment has received its second birth. Matthew Barker, the laundry owner in Bournemouth, traditionally specializing in the manufacture of starch collar, says that television serials spawned demand for specialists in this skill: his company produces about 80,000 starch collars per year for its customers around the world. Among them are representatives of the royal dynasties, employees of judicial institutions and military departments. Matthew Barker specialists supplied collars of costumes of Sherlock Holmes and Titanic films, as well as TV series "Poiro Agatha Christi" and "Dounton Abbey".
"It's pretty bizarre - turn on the TV, see the starch collar and think: But this we made it, - Laugh Matthew Barker. - But it's great. "
In order for his staff to become real professionals, Mr. Barker asked him to give them a few lessons of mastery of a well-deserved laundry facility, 80-year-old Alcell, who had long been retired. Alice has 57 years of experience in this production, starting to specialize in this direction from 13 years. Mr. Berker paid for Ellen a few trips to Bournemouth, and she taught him the team to all that he knew himself.
"The process of manufacturing a collar consists of 60 stages. If you miss at least one of them, it will be low-quality at the exit. Each stage is absolutely critical, "says Matthew Barker. - If you explain to simple words, it should be accurate to begin with, then it is then brought to a certain humidity and dried. After that, the collar is passed through rotating rollers heated to a temperature of 200 degrees, stroke and polish so that the tissue becomes smooth to shine. Then the collar is turned over the face down and carefully ventilate. We have made quite a decent products until 2002, until I introduced me to Alice. She did this all his life and perfectly knows the subtleties of the craft. We learned a lot and thanks to her reached the level that we have today. When I started business, we made about 10 collar per week, and sometimes less. Today we release them up to 1500 per week for our buyers from the UK, Europe, America, and last year our first client from Tokyo appeared. "