Ossie Clark (model on the right is a young Anjelica Huston)
Once upon a time, Miss Selfridge used to stock clothes by the likes of Ossie Clark, Thea Porter and Gina Fratini… If only t’were still the case!
The Ossie advert is scanned from Cosmopolitan, May 1972, the Thea Porter and Gina Fratini ones are from April 1972.
Thea Porter
Gina Fratini
Front row left to right: Jean Muir, Alice Pollock, Thea Porter. Second row: John Bates, Tim Gardner, Gina Fratini. Third row: Bill Gibb, Zandra Rhodes. Top: Mary Quant, Ossie Clark.
So many egos, so little space… I’m placing bets that Quant and Bates didn’t speak to each other for the duration. But it’s also nice to see Bates sitting with his friend Bill Gibb, and now I like to think that Alice Pollock and Thea Porter must have been quite pally as well.
It’s oh so quiet…
…over here, isn’t it? I haven’t turned to ice, or been out enjoying the snow too much to blog. No, I’m back in the West End, with my latest one-woman show….. ahhh, just joking! I’m back at the ballet, dressing the newest version of The Nutcracker and the schedule is a bit punishing for all involved. So I’m grabbing moments when I can, to post out my wares and try to keep on top of things. But sadly, it means that I’m barely able to keep up with all you lovely bloggers and get half of the things done before Christmas that I needed and wanted to do. Argh! Anyway, to keep you going until I have time/energy to blog again, here is one of my all-time favourite Vogue shoots from December 1975. Beauty and grace personified…
Apologies to any coulrophobes out there!
By John Bates
By Gina Fratini
By Jorn Langberg
By Bill Gibb
By Thea Porter
By Zandra Rhodes
Main dress by Hanae Mori
By Nettie Vogues
Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe
Just to let you know, I can still post out before Christmas although I wouldn’t recommend relying too heavily on the postal service, given current weather issues and Christmas rush. But even if it doesn’t get there in time, remember, a vintage piece is not just for Christmas…
Dress by Miss Polly
I’m not a particular fan of Britt Ekland for the most part, but I am rather fond of this autumnal shoot she did for Vogue (by Patrick ‘Yeah Baby’ Lichfield). It’s so rare to have such a lovely feeling of space in fashion photos. You’re looking at the frocks, no doubt about it, but you’re also taking in the atmosphere of the location. The clothes are perfectly dreamy and her hair is completely and utterly covetable, in each and every shot. I worship this crimping.
Dress by Miss Bellville
And why do I not own this John Bates for Jean Varon dress? How has this happened? Something is clearly very wrong with the world...
Dress by Marrian McDonnell
Dress by Harriet
Outfit by Gina Fratini
..on the website this week are:
A jersey and sequin confection by Biba
An adorable smock dress by Gina Fratini
A gorgeous little floral mini dress by Louis Caring
A very rare early Jean Muir piece
A gorgeous couture Hardy Amies grey silk dress
A fabulously forties-styled dress by Mary Quant’s Ginger Group
and finally, a superb print culotte dress by Lee Bender
I was a misunderstood teenager. When I was fourteen my long dark hair, pale skin and propensity to don long jingly jangly skirts, boots and big jumpers was perceived as gothic. I actually resented being called a Goth, I knew I was really a hippy. I’ve been through plenty of styles since then but it usually comes back to the same thing, no matter how much the likes of Sienna Miller may kill the look through over-exposure.
I still burn incense, I still have long wavy (normally fairly unstyled) hair and I still favour chiffons and appliques and beads…oh my. But now I’m a grown up (!) I prefer the luxurious look, I take inspiration from the designs of Thea Porter, Janice Wainwright (in the Poland Street era) and of course from Ossie Clark.
I have worn my flares with pride throughout this whole skinny jean phenomenon (although I’m not averse to them either, I only wear them Jo Grant style – tucked into my Seventies boots) and my burgundy velour Louis Caring frock coat with the too-short sleeves has suddenly started to garner compliments from strangers. Despite the fact I’ve been wearing it to death these past four years.
Flicking through my Vogues once more for inspiration, both for my listings, my personal style and in an attempt to update this blog more regularly, I was entranced by two fashion spreads in a July 1969 Vogue. The first I will post now, the second I will post tomorrow I hope (too much eye candy rots your teeth!).
Photographed in Wales by Norman Parkinson, clothes by Gina Fratini, Thea Porter and Susan Small (who’da thunk it??) in the most astonishing surroundings. This is luxe hippy at its finest, like a dressing up box of styles, fabrics and moods…..
…and Gina Fratini has a dress to match. So says the London Fashion Guide of 1975. I can’t help but agree with them. Fratini is a criminally underrated designer. She has her fans, me being one of them, but rather like John Bates has been overlooked in favour of the real exhibitionists of the era.
‘As a child I dressed everything from dolls and Teddy to my dog. I never though about a career – I just did it.’ The words float over a studio that looks like a rainy-day dress-up box, full of Victorian dolls, whimsical plants and miles of lace laid out like a daisy chain.
‘When I design a dress it gets half made, then I add a bit here and there. When I’m working on a dress I’ll rummage and play with the lace all day, and suddenly I can feel it coming together.’
She salvaged a basement full of antique lace from shops which were closing 
down in the Sixties, and used this and predominantly natural fabrics in her work. Fratini was never about practicality or minimalism, she was truly a girl’s girl. Her motto is as apt for today as it was back then;
‘One works all day, and afterward there should be a time to really take off. That’s why I love doi
ng these fantasy dresses. You’ve got to dream – these days more than ever.’
Liz Eggleston 