X Harness — Pimpernel in Salmon (William Morris)
X Harness — Pimpernel in Salmon (William Morris)
William Morris designed Pimpernel in 1876 — coral poppies, scarlet pimpernels, sage tendrils on a charcoal ground. The Morris archive's most colour-confident decision, on an X Harness in the Alpha 30 Archive.
Pimpernel is the Morris archive walking into the room with a colour story. Salmon-coral poppies dominate against a charcoal-grey ground, with scarlet pimpernel flowers studded across the field for rhythm and pale sage and chartreuse tendrils carrying the connective foliage. The X silhouette catches the print on the diagonal across the chest — the most graphic silhouette in the archive, where Morris's botanical layering runs across the body's lines rather than aligning with them. Sage green stitching pulls from the print's tendril register. Sourced from Dalston Mill Fabrics in Hackney on polycotton — one of three Pimpernel pieces in the Alpha 30, the H/X/Y silhouette set for this colourway.
Specifications
| Fabric | William Morris Pimpernel (Salmon) — multi-colour print on polycotton |
| Origin | Dalston Mill Fabrics, Hackney, London (Morris design archive's commercial range) |
| Stitching | Sage Green thread from G and A Haberdashery, Queens Market — pulled from the print's tendril foliage |
| Hardware | Silver — rings and buckles from F Martin & Son; rivets and eyelets from Trimming Shop |
| Construction | Hand-finished in East London at the Harnessed LDN studio, sewn on a Singer Heavy Duty 4423 |
| Weight | ~0.45 kg |
Sizing
Adjustable across a 34–50 inch chest. Universal sizing across the Alpha 30 Archive — broader than most fashion harnesses cap at.
Care
Spot clean only. Hand care preferred. Do not machine wash.
Once this is sold, this exact configuration — Pimpernel in sage green stitching, silver hardware on an X Harness — won't be reproduced. Future drops may revisit the print with different finishes; this combination exists once.