We are not the first, and we will not be the last…

1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s, biba, bill gibb, british boutique movement, bus stop, catherine buckley, cosmopolitan, ossie clark, yves saint laurent, zandra rhodes

I think it is safe to say that I love old clothes. I dream them, I live in them and I covet the ones I don’t have. But I am under no illusion that there is anything inherently unique or radical about this. The uniqueness comes from the impression of your personality in whatever you choose to wear. The fabrics, the colours, the shapes, these are the expression of my inner self in one, superficially superficial, way.

It is important to remember this: each generation thinks it invented sex, and I fear the same goes for ‘vintage’ clothing. This article makes for fascinatingly familiar reading. Commercialisation is the death knell each time, but in turn becomes the coveted piece of history for the next generation of disillusioned people (see the mention of Catherine Buckley’s old jacquard fabrics in the text of the article. My Buckley skirt is one of these pieces). The irony does not escape me; I wear clothes by Ossie Clark, Biba, Bus Stop… all of who were creating clothes heavily inspired by their own childhoods.

Just wanting a period look is not the important part, anyone can buy a reproduction and plenty of people will, the expression comes from the colours, fabrics, shapes and accoutrements you pick. There is absolutely nothing wrong with new clothing taking influence from old, although my thoughts on direct duplication are well known, but why would you limit yourself to the prints they have chosen this season? There are limitless possibilities when you look around you and take inspiration from a variety of sources other than from conventional fashion magazines or ‘how to’ guides.

That is partly the aim of this blog, and I hope to continue in such a vein for a long time yet…

The Cosmo Girl’s Guide to the Cast-Offs Cult… Cosmopolitan, August 1974.

Vintage Adverts: Zodiac Klonk etc

1960s, 1970s, Illustrations, petticoat magazine, Vintage Adverts

Zodiac Klonk, 1970.

Another selection box of those wonderfully illustrated black and white adverts in the back of Petticoat magazine. Nineteen shillings for a polished teak Zodiac ‘Klonk’? Bargain… Also good to know you could ‘improve’ yourself by learning key punching.

Girls Can Earn, 1970.

Tan Appeal, 1969.

I don’t know about tan appeal giving her man appeal, but she appears to have squirted some into her eye.

Capricorn, 1970.

The Lacy Look, 1969.

Spotlight boutique, 1969.

Inspirational Images: Inca Metrics

1960s, Dolores, Inspirational Images, norman parkinson

‘Inca Metrics’. Dolores near Cuzco, Peru, 1965. Photograph by Norman Parkinson, scanned from Norman Parkinson: Lifework.

Mensday: Cosak is Orbiting

1960s, dormeuil, Mensday, menswear, nova magazine, space age

You all thought I’d forgotten about Mensday, didn’t you? Pah! Never! I was simply awaiting fresh meat inspiration, and what could be better than a space-themed suit advert? A suit made of steel and silk, no less. ‘A lightweight faultlessly superior.’. Nothing, that’s what.

Nova Magazine, March 1967. Scanned by Miss Peelpants.

Before They Were Famous: Jacqueline Bisset

1960s, before they were famous, jacqueline bisset, nova magazine, Vintage Adverts

The unmistakeable Jacqueline Bisset, in a rather frumpy advert for wool.

Nova, October 1965. Scanned by Miss Peelpants.

Vintage Adverts: Grace Coddington in Ban Lon

1960s, ban lon, grace coddington, maudie james, Vintage Adverts

Why yes, that is Grace ‘I hardly did any modelling’ Coddington.

Scanned from Nova, March 1966.

Nobody Can Like McCann Can!

1960s, british boutique movement, gerald mccann, victoria and albert museum

McCann by Bailey

Amongst the many new items I have just listed over at Vintage-a-Peel, is a superb piece by Gerald McCann. I have a huge fondness for McCann’s designs, and he was pretty easy on the eye as well.

Gerald McCann dress at Vintage-a-Peel. A snip at £85.

My own Gerald McCann dress was exhibited at the V&A in 2006 and remains one of my favourite pieces (although the size of my bum prevents me from wearing it, much like my beloved early Ossie Clark piece). I also have a beloved faux fur pea coat which has seen me through many a cold spell and pretty much goes with anything.

Similar coat scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.

Thankfully he was also heavily featured in Marnie Fogg’s book Boutique, and the V&A hold an interview with him in their archives, so his place in the history books is somewhat more assured than many other ‘lost’ designers.

"The Young Individualist Thinks Nobody Can Like McCann Can".
McCann's designs in the window of Lord and Taylor in New York. Scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.

My dress, beautifully photographed by the V&A

McCann designs illustrated. Scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.

I was also delighted to find a rare bit of footage of the great man himself from 1967. It was a slightly convoluted journey to get there; an email from the lovely Miss Rayne got me searching for a certain Ann Ladbury, which then led to the BBC’s new Archive website. Turns out that Ann Ladbury was involved with a programme called Clothes That Count, and episodes from 1967 and 1969 were available to view. Each episode approached a different aspect of clothing, helping viewers to create their own versions at home, and each episode would have a guest designer. Lo and behold, who should have appeared in December 1967 but Gerald McCann!

I do hope that the BBC archives are viewable outside the UK, although I have my doubts, and that you can all follow this link and enjoy. Mr McCann first puts in an appearance at around 21:45, if you can’t be doing with all the home dressmaking malarkey early on…. I particularly love that he admits he can’t set a sleeve!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/whatwewore/5602.shtml

Hang tag scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.

Guy Day: Nice little wife you’ve got there, Frank

1960s, faux fur, Mensday, menswear, velmar, Vintage Adverts

Scanned from Men in Vogue, November 1966.

Mmmmm, patronising… Still, it’s a dude and his missus in faux fur coats so I find I cannot disapprove too much!

Mensday: A Real Man

1960s, haute naffness, Mensday, menswear, Vintage Adverts

It Takes A Real Man To Ask A Warm Girl To Return His Acrilan Sweater.

I think someone favours his Acrilan sweater over a bit of how’s your father, because I’m sure he won’t be getting any more there…

Scanned from Men in Vogue, November 1966.

Larking around with Diana Rigg

1960s, alun hughes, avengerswear, diana rigg, the avengers

Diana and costume designer Alun Hughes

I came across this series of photos ages ago, and there’s something about the sheer volume of them which entertains me greatly. She looks like she’s having a jolly good time, larking around with the random chaps she has been thrown together with in the studio. I think they were mainly promotional photos for her outfits so, other than costume designer Alun Hughes, I guess the guys were just there for slightly unhinged, eccentric, Avengerland good measure…