Betty Jackson

Betty Jackson, (born 24 June 1949) is an English fashion designer based in London, England. She was born in Lancashire. In 2007, her success in British fashion was recognised with first an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1987 and later with a CBE for "services to the fashion industry." She is also known for designing many of the costumes worn by Edina and Patsy on the 1990s hit television comedy Absolutely Fabulous. Early life Jackson was born in Bacup, Lancashire on 24 June 1949. Her father, Arthur Jackson, owned a shoe factory, and her mother, Phyllis Gertrude (Rains), shopped 'for the season' at Kendal Milne in Manchester. One leg was amputated at the age of six as it failed to grow following a dislocation during her birth. A car accident caused further complications and she has walked with a stick ever since. She was educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. She studied fashion at the Birmingham College of Art under Zandra Rhodes, and started her fashion career as a fashion illustrator during her senior year (1971) at college. She learned her trade in the later 1970s as a designer for the Quorum line of Ossie Clark. Career In 1973, Jackson joined Wendy Dagworthy as her design assistant. She moved to further positions at Quorum, then Coopers, before setting up her own design company.