Jim O’Connor

Barnstormers

1970s, Browns, Crocodile, gordon king, Honey Magazine, Ian Stokes, Inspirational Images, Jim O'Connor, Joanna Jacobs, John Craig, louis caring, Ronnie Stirling, stirling cooper, Two Generators, Vintage Editorials
Left : Mexican peasant printed cotton Aertex crew-neck sweatshirt with contrasting ribbing, Browns £8.50, from Browns. 27 South Molton Street, W1. Right : Rich chocolate brown cotton stretch velour shirt with elasticised waist and cuffs, Gordon King £14, from Gordon King at Peter Robinson Top Shop, Oxford Street, W1.

Stretch out and take life easy in these comfy, great-to-wear American-style sweatshirts.

Photographed by Ian Stokes.

Dark haired model is Joanna Jacobs.

Scanned from Honey, August 1974.

Ice cream cornet printed cotton jersey sweatshirt, Louis Caring £3.95.

White cotton fleecy-lined sweatshirt with green, brown and orange printed golfer design, John Craig £7.50. Chocolate brown chiffon scarf, from a selection at John Lewis.

Left : Olive green V-neck soft cotton velour sweatshirt, Stirling Cooper £7.95, from Ronnie Stirling, 94 New Bond Street, W1. Long flowered Liberty print cotton scarf, Fenwick £2.50. Right : Rodeo printed cotton Aertex button-through shin’ with ribbed collar and cuffs, Browns £8.50, from Browns, 25 South’Molton Street, W1. Cotton kerchief, Herbert Johnson 32p.

Navy blue and white filmstar-printed, fleecy-lined cotton sweatshirt with side slit pockets, Crocodile £15, from Crocodile, 98 New Bond Street, W1.

Texas Ranger printed cotton sloppy sweatshirt, Jim O’Connor £3.50 from Two Generators, 17 Oakhill Court, Upper Richmond Road, Putney SW15. Rayon scarf Fenwick 75p.

Taking it on the run

1970s, Architecture, Brutalism, Converse, elisabeth novick, Inspirational Images, Janice Peskett, Jim O'Connor, mr freedom, Pringle, South Bank, Tommy Roberts, Vogue

Taking it all away from complications, planned decorations, many of the clothes you know, into a new world of white — where the action is. Clean-limbed clothes, marvellously young and free. Like this worksuit, above, red buttoned, red stitched white canvas jumping ahead into the sportslight. Jim O’Connor at Mr Freedom, £9.90. Pink suede cap, blue spotted visor. Janice Peskett at Mr Freedom, about £3.90. White cashmere sweater, by Pringle, £11, at Hills’ Cashmere House. Running shoes, Converse All Star sneakers, red flash and white, £4.99½, at Jack Hobbs, 56 Fleet St, E.C.4. Take it from here. Get clean away.

I do love a bit of South Bank Brutalism with my boutique clothing!

Photographed by Elisabeth Novick.

Scanned from Vogue, April 15th 1971.

Landscape in Leather

1960s, Adrian George, elton john, Gervase, Jim O'Connor, Julian Cottrell, Mensday, menswear, mr freedom, ossie clark, patrick procktor, Tommy Roberts, Vogue
Simply sky, cloud, tree and grass sewn on the back of a brief bright jacket, pilot shape, all leather, buttoned both sides, worn with high-waisted trousers, sky blue silk shirt.

The RCA’s School of Fashion is a great forcing ground for young designers. This year’s show proved the point again, with looks both space-age and romantic, the best in fashion for men… the man in the landscape is Gervase, pop singer with new release, “Pepper Grinder”. And the man responsible for the leather landscape, Jim O’Connor, made a gold lurex evening suit that could outshine Elvis Presley; a memorable droopy satin dressing gown and pyjamas silk-screened in rainbow colours with the words “there will never be another you”.

I would walk over hot coals for that jacket. Jim O’Connor would go on to design for Tommy Roberts’s Mr Freedom boutique and created the legendary winged boots (as worn by Elton John) amongst many other iconic designs.

There’s not a huge amount out there about Gervase Griffiths, what there is mainly relates to his time with Patrick Procktor and those creative circles (see here where there is also a connection to Ossie Clark), but here’s a link to the aforementioned Pepper Grinder which is all the baroque psychedelic whimsy you would expect from 1968.

Photographed by Julian Cottrell-Adrian George.

Scanned from Vogue, September 1968.