Autumn Midicine

1970s, Adrian Mann, Alan Rodin, anello and davide, Angela at London Town, autumn, biba, charlotte martin, clobber, elisabeth novick, georgina linhart, gladrags, Honey Magazine, Inspirational Images, Jolly Boy, Louis Feraud, Pourelle, Russell & Bromley, Sacha, simon massey, terry de havilland, Vintage Editorials

LEFT: Zig-zag Dralaen midi shirt dress, 8 gns., with a charcoal grey ribbed waistcoat. 4 gns., both by Georgina Linhart; pale grey leather boots, Sacha, 9 gns. RIGHT: Swirly skirted printed Dicel crepe dress with tightly laced wide wet-look belt, Simon Massey, £12 5s.; tightly laced suede boots, Anello and Davide, 16 gns.

This is definitely the Season of the Midi, which involves a whole new set of fashion rules. Midis look best without an inch of leg showing, which means either long tight-fitting boots to take over where the midi finishes, or coloured tights matching clumpy-heeled shoes. So keep gulping; daily doses will keep you in the pink, fashion wise.

Aside from all the dreamy autumnal clothes and the fact that the blonde model is Charlotte Martin, it’s so lovely to see Terry de Havilland’s early and legendary three-tier wedges. As so often with Terry’s shoes, they are erroneously credited to the stockists (here ‘Jolly Boy’), but it’s still lovely to see them.

Photographed by Elisabeth Novick.

Scanned from Honey, August 1970.

LEFT: Giant sunflower•printed drawstring Acrylic knitted midi dress, Clobber, 7 gns.; silver clover-leaf buckled belt, Fifth Avenue. 77s. 6d.; lavender tights Mary Quant, 9s. 11d.; snakeskin wedge-heel shoes, Jolly Boy, 9 gns. RIGHT: Wavy banded pink printed wool midi dress, Simon Jeffrey, 8 gns.; dusty pink tights, Twiggy, 7s.; two-tone wedge-heel snakeskin shoes, Jolly Boy, 9 gns.

LEFT: Tubular rollneck diamond jacquard midi dress, Clobber, 7 gns.; circular suede and leather thonged belt. Adrien Mann, 84s.; pale pink tights, Twiggy, 7s.; co-respondent snakeskin shoes, Jolly Boy, 9 gns. RIGHT: Slender zipped-up jacquard wool-mixture midi dress, Gladrags, £9; olive green printed chiffon scarf, Sara Jane, 59s.; pear-shaped leather linked belt, Ian Mankin, 80s.; plum tights, Mary Quant, 9s. 11d.; two-tone snakeskin sandals, Jolly Boy, 9 gns.

LEFT: Petrol blue and yellow side-split jacquard jersey midi dress, Angela at London Town, 10 gns.; knee-high navy canvas boots, Biba, £7 105.; dusty blue tights, Mary Quaff, 9s. 11d.; black leather belt with oval gilt eyelets, Strides, 84s. RIGHT: Bottle green micro-speckled jacquard jersey zipped-through midi dress, Gladrags, 10 gns.; Neapolitan printed silk scarf, Chester Martin, 63s.; black canvas boots. Biba, £7 10s.

Kaleidoscopic fluted Dicel crepe midi dress, Simon Massey, £11; purple tights, Twiggy, 7s.; leg-hugging lace-up suede boots Anello and Davide, 16 gns.

Random rose-printed Shetland cowl-neck midi dress. Georgina Linhart, 13 gns.; waist-cinching silver buckled belt, Fifth Avenue, 77s. 6d.

LEFT: Terracotta and create button-through Courtelle neospun jacquard coat dress (with matching trousers not shown), Alan Rodin, 15 gns.; sheer smokey brown tights, Berkshire, 9s.; swirly rust and cream printed silk scarf, Chester Martin, 63s. RIGHT: Maroon and beige jacquard jersey midi dress with plain jersey skirt, Angela at London Town, 11i gns.; sheer black coffee tights, Wolford, 13s.; pearlised brown strappy shoes, Mary Quant, 75s.

LEFT: Toffee and grey striped wool midi vest dress, Kadix, £7 10s.; tan’ wood and leather thonged belt, Adrien Mann, 90s.; burnt orange tights, Mary Quant, 9s. 11d.; tightly laced rust suede boots, Anello and Davide, 16 gns. RIGHT: Chevron printed Cossack dress in black, brown and grey Courtelle jacquard knit, Georgina Linhart, 13 gns.; beige leg-hugging boots, from a selection at Russell and Bromley.

LEFT: Leather tasselled bitter chocolate angora wool jersey shirt dress, Miss Feraud, £13 10s.; brown and pink geometric printed silk scarf, Chester Martin, 635.; rust suede lace-up boots, Anello and Davide, 16 gns. RIGHT: Clingy plum and cream honeycomb-printed wool jersey vest dress, Pourelle, 10 gns.; triangular suede linked belt, Adrien Mann, 65s.; tight-fitting beige boots, from a selection at Russell and Bromley.

Where It’s At

1970s, anji, autumn, Bermona, biba, Browns, Etam, harold ingram, hats, Honey Magazine, Hope and Eleanor, Inspirational Images, John Craig, kadix, Make-up, mr freedom, ravel, roger stowell, Russell & Bromley, Saxone, shoes, stirling cooper, Sujon, Tommy Roberts, Vintage Editorials, Wild Mustang Co.

Plum spotted baker boy hat by Mr Freedom.

Looks: Eyes, hair, lips, the way they are now.

Clothes: Pink and purple and plum – the length is midi of course

Props: The right accessories make the look come right

Mood: How to wear your feelings on your face

Basically, this editorial is everything I wish for from my autumn wardrobe, colours and textures and shapes, complete with a mouthful of chocolate…

Photographed by Roger Stowell.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Honey, October 1970.

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 j

Choker from Browns.

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 f

Left: Lavender shirt with matching midi skirt by Sujon. Canvas boots by Biba. Centre: Parma violet dress by Stirling Cooper. Leather butterfly choker from Browns. Shoes by Saxone. Right: Rose and lilac sweater by Harold Ingram. Jersey midi skirt by Etam. Crochet cloche by Browns. Shoes by Saxone.

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 g

1. Crochet flower cloche by Browns. 2. Plum leather satchel by Wild Mustang. Brooches from Mr Freedom. 3. Conker brown bag by Fenwicks. Leather belt by Wild Mustang. 4. Purple suede shoes by Ravel. 5. Belts from Browns, Wild Mustang and Adrien Mann. 6. Maroon suede boots by Russell and Bromley.

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 a

Crushed velvet cloche by Bermona

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 b

Cloche and dress by Anji. Badge by Mr Freedom.

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 c

Floor sweeping crepe dress by Kadix. Choker from Hope and Eleanor.

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 d

Sweater by John Craig.

Where it's at - Roger Stowell - Honey Oct 70 e

Peasant shirt and midi skirt by Sujon.

Tweedy Autumn Perfection

autumn, bill klein, daywear, kangol, petticoat magazine, seventies fashion, stirling cooper, Vivienne Lynn, wallis

Skirt by Sujon. Polo by John Craig. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from Van der Fransen.

This spread is everything I love about Autumn and Winter, and how I am often attired. Interesting clothes: textures, colours and embellishments; hats, scarves, tights etc. But sometimes I seem to forget to post more daywear spreads, I suppose because they were often less interestingly photographed and displayed; sometimes even borderline chaotic. But I don’t see why that needs or needed to be. Daytimes can be the most expressive times for me…

This shoot is particularly beautiful and, for me, inspirational.

Photos by Bill Klein. Petticoat, November 1974

Skirt by Wallis Shops. Polo by John Craig. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from Van der Fransen. Shoes by Saxone.

Skirt by Wallis. Sweater by Mushroom. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from Van der Fransen. Sox by Kickers. Saxone shoes.

Skirt by Left Bank. Sweater by John Craig. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from “208″ SW10. Shoes by Saxone

Skirt by City Swingers. Sweater from Leaves. Quant sox. Shoes by Elliott.

Tweed skirt and hat from Bombacha. Polo from Dorothy Perkins. Shoes by Saxone.

Velvet skirt by Stirling Cooper. Shirt by John Craig. Waistcoat from Dorothy Perkins. Beret from Marida.

Psssst…..

autumn, barry lategan, granny takes a trip, Inspirational Images, Make-up, mr freedom, Ms Peelpants' rants, platforms, seventies fashion, suede, Vogue

Vogue. September 1970

…is it wrong to secretly be longing for it to be autumn?

Perhaps I bore too easily. More likely, it’s because I can’t bear being too hot. And, also, because I bore easily. I love my summer dresses, and there’s nothing quite like being able to leave the house without a jacket, cardigan and sometimes even sans shawl. But that very human tendency to want what you can’t have means that I start looking longingly at my long-sleeved crepe, velvet and polyester dresses, all taking a well-earned summer holiday. I keep having to bare my legs to the world. I miss tights! I also long to come out the other side of ‘ironing season’. Because I’m extremely pernickety and I insist on ironing all my cotton dresses, so that is rather my own fault. But still…

It also means that, gripped by the blindingly bad mood of a Really Bad Week (last week), I somehow wander into the shops and somehow buy the pair of buckled suede purple platforms I’ve been coveting since they appeared in store in June (when I was, officially, looking for a pretty pair of sandals for my holiday). Somehow I justify this by the fact that I waited three weeks, and that they might disappear by a more appropriate buying time. It’s less ridiculous to buy them in July than in June. I’ve had my summer holiday, ergo I can start thinking about an autumn getaway and the pretty suede shoes I might need for that. Ahem.

On a more practical, businesslike level, it also means I am gripped by confusion on what to list over at Vintage-a-Peel. Summer is pretty much silly season for vintage. No one is around and no one is really buying summer stuff once mid-July hits. At least, that’s always been the received wisdom. But, as a business, I cannot take a school holiday-length break from the world and come back in September with all my velvets and crepes. So I have to keep going.

High Street and designer shops are horribly clever. They know, that you know, that they will ensure that the most covetable pieces are going to sell out before you are ready. And so you pounce, and they can actually make money in hot and stinky August (after they’ve made their money in hot and stinky July when you’re throwing money at their summer sales. Often featuring items which have been in the summer sales for three years running as well).

I still haven’t come to any conclusion about this, in case you were wondering whether I had discovered the answer, I am just musing aloud. But, in case anyone feels the same way, I just wanted to make my confession. I’m really looking forward to the autumn.