Lucie Clayton Charm Academy
Encyclopedia
Lucie Clayton College was founded by Sylvia Lucie Golledge in 1928 as a finishing school
which expanded into modelling two years later and turned into Britain's top modelling agency during the 1950s and 1960s.
In the late 1960s, Lucie Clayton added secretarial training to its curriculum
which already consisted of cookery, flower arranging, make-up, deportment, and style of dress.
The modelling agency closed in the late 1970s but the school went on preparing young ladies for marriage, society and The Season.
In the early 1990s, Lucie Clayton reinvented itself as a successful secretarial and business college. The courses themselves range from a few days up to a full year, are pitched at a number of levels and may include anything from shorthand
to IT
to budgeting, marketing
, public relations
, law
and personal development
. Along the way, students may pick up the odd City & Guilds or London Chamber of Commerce & Industry professional qualification, but at the end of the course they will leave with Lucie Clayton's very own certificate. The list of employers associated with the college reads like a Who's Who of London's corporate beau monde, with the likes of Amanda Wakeley
, Arthur Andersen
, Hermes
, JWT
, the BBC
, Vogue
, and Schroders
.
In 2007, Lucie Clayton College merged with two secretarial colleges to form Quest Business Training, and moved to another location nearby. Lucie Clayton House in South Kensington
, London
was converted into six furnished apartments.
The etiquette side of Lucie Clayton is now handled by The English Manner
.
Finishing school
A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...
which expanded into modelling two years later and turned into Britain's top modelling agency during the 1950s and 1960s.
In the late 1960s, Lucie Clayton added secretarial training to its curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
which already consisted of cookery, flower arranging, make-up, deportment, and style of dress.
The modelling agency closed in the late 1970s but the school went on preparing young ladies for marriage, society and The Season.
In the early 1990s, Lucie Clayton reinvented itself as a successful secretarial and business college. The courses themselves range from a few days up to a full year, are pitched at a number of levels and may include anything from shorthand
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
to IT
IT
-Organizations:* Institutes of Technology in Ireland* Intelligent Transit, a public transportation service in West Virginia* Intercity Transit, a public transportation service in the state of Washington-Media:* The Irish Times...
to budgeting, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and personal development
Personal development
Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...
. Along the way, students may pick up the odd City & Guilds or London Chamber of Commerce & Industry professional qualification, but at the end of the course they will leave with Lucie Clayton's very own certificate. The list of employers associated with the college reads like a Who's Who of London's corporate beau monde, with the likes of Amanda Wakeley
Amanda Wakeley
Amanda Wakeley OBE was born in 1962, and educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College. She is a self-taught designer who worked for Go Silk in New York before launching under her own signature label in 1990....
, Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen
Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young and KPMG, providing auditing, tax, and consulting services to large corporations...
, Hermes
Hermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
, JWT
JWT
JWT is one of the largest advertising agencies in the United States and the fourth-largest in the world. It is one of the key companies of Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP Group and is headquartered in New York. The global agency is led by Worldwide Chairman and Global CEO Bob Jeffrey who took over the...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, and Schroders
Schroders
Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company with over 200 years of experience in the world's financial markets. The company employs 2,905 people worldwide who are operating from 32 offices in 25 different countries around Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East...
.
In 2007, Lucie Clayton College merged with two secretarial colleges to form Quest Business Training, and moved to another location nearby. Lucie Clayton House in South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
was converted into six furnished apartments.
The etiquette side of Lucie Clayton is now handled by The English Manner
The English Manner
The English Manner TM is an international protocol, etiquette and hospitality consultancy firm based in the United Kingdom.It was founded in 2001 by Alexandra Messervy, formerly of the Royal Household of Her Majesty The Queen and the Lucie Clayton Finishing School.As well as providing etiquette...
.
Notable Lucie Clayton Girls
- Jemma Kidd - countess, make up artist, fashion model
- Tara Palmer-TomkinsonTara Palmer-TomkinsonTara Palmer-Tomkinson also known as T P-T, is an English socialite, "it girl", television presenter, columnist and model...
- socialite, tv presenter - Anne DunhillAnne DunhillAnne Dunhill M.A. is a novelist and Italian translator. She is also a former debutante and model.Anne is the granddaughter of Alfred Dunhill. Her parents were John Dunhill and Marjorie Brown...
- novelist, Italian translator, and granddaughter of Alfred Dunhill - Celia HammondCelia HammondCelia Hammond was a model in the 1960s, and has since become known as a campaigner against fur and for neutering of cats to control the feral population.-Modeling career:...
- campaigner and founder of Celia Hammond Animal Trust - Joanna LumleyJoanna LumleyJoanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
- actress - Paulene StonePaulene Stonethumb|right|200px|Paulene StonePaulene Stone is a former Vogue cover girl who embodied Swinging London in the 1960s.A top English fashion model of the sixties, she gave birth to actor Laurence Harvey's only child, Domino Harvey. A 1960 image of her that ran in the Daily Express helped to launch...
- former VogueVogue (magazine)Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
cover girlCover girlA cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a magazine.... - Samantha JusteSamantha JusteSamantha Juste , became known on British television in the mid-1960s as the “disc girl” on the BBC’s Top of the Pops. In 1968 she married Micky Dolenz of the Monkees. Their daughter is the actress Ami Dolenz....
- former Top of the PopsTop of the PopsTop of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
tv presenter - Sandra HowardSandra HowardSandra Howard, Baroness Howard of Lympne is an English novelist, former model and the wife of Michael Howard, a former leader of the Conservative party....
- novelist, wife of Michael HowardMichael HowardMichael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005... - Vicki HodgeVicki HodgeVicki Hodge is an English actress and Model. She has appeared in a few films, including Confessions of a Sex Maniac , as well as appearing in the TV series Hazell.-Life and career:...
- actress, model, and former girlfriend of Prince Andrew, Duke of YorkPrince Andrew, Duke of YorkPrince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh... - Lorna McDonaldLorna McDonaldLorna McDonald was a blonde fashion model from the Lucy Clayton agency who, in the 1960s, became famous, though anonymously, as the young woman who jumped into Simon Dee’s white open-top E-type Jaguar car at the end of each edition of BBC television's chat show, Dee Time .-Dee Time closing...
- former model - Jean ShrimptonJean ShrimptonJean Rosemary Shrimpton is an English model and actress. She was an icon of Swinging London and is considered to be one of the world's first supermodels....
- model, actress