celia birtwell

Alice Pollock and a Vintage Holy Grail

1960s, alice pollock, british boutique movement, celia birtwell, ossie clark, website listings

There are a few holy grails in the vintage world. Some you start to suspect don’t exist, others you are lead to believe absolutely do not exist by the numerous tomes written about the history of fashion. I certainly never thought I’d see the day when I encountered an Alice Pollock-designed piece bearing a Celia Birtwell print. We all know how jealously Ossie guarded Celia’s work, and Alice’s work lent itself more towards plain block colours or more graphic prints than Celia’s.

But, this is an Alice blouse and it is a Celia print (shown in the V&A’s Ossie Clark retrospective book on page 120 and described as one of Celia’s earliest. It is, as yet, the only time I’ve seen this print in real life!).

That it’s an early Celia print is very apparent. It’s much more regimented and restrained than the flowing, weaving florals we usually see. The floral butterflies are contained within frames, rather like framed butterflies on the wall of a Victorian study. The blouse is pure, understated Pollock chic. Those ‘in-the-know’ know that often a Pollock piece can be ten times more wearable than an Ossie, perhaps because Alice knew what women needed in reality (not just in their Ossie-fuelled fantasies). Two of my favourite vintage pieces are Alice (both blouses, both crepe and both wonderful) and this piece is only available for sale because, as regular readers will know, I can’t wear this colour to save my life. It’s weird, most people I know can wear it with aplomb, but not me. So here it is, one of the rarest creatures you’ll ever see…much like the butterflies within the frames who so inspired Celia’s print.

Available over at Vintage-a-Peel.co.uk

Ossie Clark’s Sons May Sue….

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My flatmate left this article out this morning for me, and I must admit that I punched the air a little bit. I can’t even begin to imagine how painful this all must be for them, it’s painful enough as a fan of the great man himself, to see your father’s memory being tainted and exploited by a tacky relaunch. I also read an article with Celia in the Independent where she skirted around the gross insult that this relaunch is with her trademark steely tact. Yet, in an article in the ES magazine (which oddly fell into my hands on the tube on Sunday night, and entertained me when I noticed the fallen frayed hem on one of the dresses in the background) the twosome spearheading this revival bleated on about how Celia had come around to the idea.

“Celia came along to meet Av and she was absolutely fine with it.”

Not the impression I got, that’s for sure. Especially in light of today’s news.

Anyway, to the collection itself. The snippets I have seen have proved to me that a substantial proportion of the collection is a poor remake of some of Ossie’s original designs. The yellow plunge neck which seems to be being used as the key image so far, more resembles one of his Model T Ford plunge necks with some of the neckline stitched up (you see them on ebay occasionally, courtesy of some very modest original owners). Like they designed with the big plunge in mind, but chickened out at the last minute (either that or poor cutting meant it didn’t sit properly on the body and modifications needed to be made).



Everything else? Yawn. Sorry, most of it looks like bog standard attempts at avant-garde-inspired-by-Ossie (like this puffball of a piece below). The designer is not, as some lackey who posted on my blog a while ago likes to insist, showing any independence of thought or proving to me that he is a creative and powerful new talent in the design world. He may well be, but how am I suppose to know that from all this bobbins?



Oh and that brings me to the prints. Now I know Celia couldn’t or wouldn’t be involved, and I’d have been just as aghast if they’d attempted to duplicate her work but…..seriously? Is this the best they could get? Smudgy, tie-dyed blobs in super dull and dreary colours? I don’t suppose I’d particularly notice the prints in any other collection but when it’s attempting to recreate the Ossie Clark magic, they really do draw the eye and then beat it with a big, dull stick.

I’m a cynic I know, and cynical folks out there will smirk and comment that I always set out to loathe this collection. They’d be right. But I’m also prepared to admit when I’ve been wrong. But this time, I wasn’t wrong. My instincts were all right. This wasn’t about the creation of new and beautiful works of art inspired by the legacy of Ossie. This wasn’t even the duplication-fest I thought it would be. It’s worse than that, it’s fallen between the two stools very, very hard on its bum.

Nice try, but no biscuit.

Price on request? Please! Spend your money on an original. They’ll be a lot cheaper, last a lot longer and you know what? Ossie Clark actually designed them.

Eye Candy: Ossie Clark in Vogue

1960s, british boutique movement, celia birtwell, eye candy, Inspirational Images, ossie clark, Vogue


A little visual fondant fancy to take away the bad taste left by news of the tacky Ossie Clark label relaunch, here are some originals and proof that the magic will never be recreated (not least because Celia’s prints are contracted to Topshop these days). Save your hard earned money and buy an original, who knows which fabulous Sixties beauty might have once worn it?


Ooh, it’s Rachel Weisz in Ossie Clark!

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The lovely Cherie over at Shrimpton Couture is normally the first to post celeb vintage spots, and I have to admit I’m not normally one to be spotting them (unless they’re Ossies it would seem). So I was interested to see Rachel Weisz over at Gofugyourself, wearing a Celia print Ossie.


Now, I will admit that it looks pretty hacked and the stunning Miss Weisz should NOT be wearing anything with a beige base to it (I speak from bitter experience here, and it looks like she has a similar skintone to mine…) – but I’m going to give her a break because she’s wearing an Ossie and she’s a pretty fabulous girl. Next time I’d suggest stronger colours and a longer length. What sayeth you all?

Must See Vintage Films: There’s a Girl in My Soup

1960s, alice pollock, british boutique movement, celia birtwell, goldie hawn, ossie clark, peter sellers, quorum, vintage fangirl squee
Or, There’s a Girl in My Ossie….

If you haven’t already seen the fabulous There’s a Girl in My Soup, please do so immediately! Quite apart from its general Swinging Sixties fabulousness (Goldie Hawn, Peter Sellers and a very groovy soundtrack), Ms. Hawn’s entire wardrobe was designed by Ossie Clark AND Alice Pollock. Quite how a poor American girl living in a basement with her sleazy boyfriend could afford Alice and Ossie to start with, I’ll never know – but I guess that’s why we watch films.

We first meet her in a very sassy little yellow ruffled crop top, navy blue calf-length crepe skirt and an astonishing blue and yellow high collared cloak.

On their jaunt to France, she gets sozzled in a see-through green chiffon mini dress with plunging ruffled neckline, buttoned back and matching green knickers (quite clearly visible even before she disgraces herself and gets carried around on his shoulder).

Next she dons a gorgeous cream chiffon blouse (the ruffles do the concealment work of a bra, apparently), flippy cream maxi skirt and a trailing chiffon trimmed straw hat.

We briefly see what looks like an incredible pink crepe maxi overdress and a floppy pink felt hat which is trimmed with a distinctive Celia print chiffon.

Then she happens to run across a Boutique in which she finds the most incredibly vibrant Celia-print halter neck maxi (if only t’were that easy these days) in which she dances the night away with a garland of flowers around her neck.

Finally, her new found confidence and savvy is reflected in a super sharp black skirt suit with a cream silk sharp collared blouse (and some serious hair!).

Girl, I want your wardrobe!

If you can’t afford the car, try this instead…

1960s, alice pollock, british boutique movement, celia birtwell, ossie clark, radley, twiggy

Certainly a worthy recipient of the name Lamborghini, just look at the sleek lines and general aesthetically pleasing-ness of it all. Ossie was one of the main proponents of the trouser suit, and this swiftly became one of his most iconic pieces once Twiggy wore the ‘couture’ original. It was also produced for Radley in the first year of their collaboration with Ossie and Alice Pollock, successfully showing that their designs could easily be manufactured more affordably.

It’s a real stunner. From the classic Ossie suit tailoring (often overlooked in favour of the dresses) in champagne satin, to Celia Birtwell’s chinoiserie print trousers. I must confess that the chinoiserie is one of my favourites, it just works so well on satin! Although obviously Ossies are born to be worn, this beauty is certainly a collector’s dream and a rare museum quality piece by one of the most revered designers this country has ever had. Wearable art.