1960s

Jean Varon frocks turn up in the funniest places…..

1960s, british boutique movement, eye candy, john bates, personal collection, vintage fangirl squee

 
Well, admittedly it’s mainly on Seventies sitcoms and light entertainment shows (John Bates really was dressing the masses at one point in the early Seventies) which are only funny places in that….well, they’re funny ‘ha ha’ rather than funny weird.
But I was amused to find one of my favourite Sixties Varons in a bra advert of all places. Demonstrating how this bra was perfect for low cut dresses such as this one.
Well no amount of industrial boob-hoicking and padding could give me the kind of cleavage they’re promising (trust me, I’ve tried on this dress many times and realised I just don’t have John Bates’ ideal boobs….much like Diana Rigg apparently!) but it’s still nice to see it being worn, albeit in a very revealing way!
P.S Please excuse the terrible photo of the dress on the left….it’s about time I overhauled my collection photographs!

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?


Eye Candy: Luxe Hippy or Bourgeois Bohemian

1960s, british boutique movement, eye candy, Gina Fratini, susan small, thea porter, Vogue


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…..


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!

Fashion Icon of the Moment: Françoise Hardy

1960s, british boutique movement, fashion icon of the moment, Foale and Tuffin, Françoise Hardy, Paco Rabanne


Françoise Hardy – Lank Haired Goddess
‘Another pouting French goddess??’, I hear you cry? Françoise Hardy is a cut above your average though. An extraordinarily talented singer and songwriter, Françoise charmed audiences throughout Europe in the Sixties. With her long, heavily fringed brown hair and youthful ‘ye ye’ music style, she was quite a radical figure on the French music scene along with Serge Gainsbourgh and her future husband, Jacques Dutronc.


Her style developed from slightly mousey, minimalist Parisian girl to a proper Swinging Sixties Chick who wore clothes by the likes of Foale and Tuffin and Paco Rabanne. She’s also managed to grow old gracefully, and remains a stunningly beautiful, elegant woman. Françoise Hardy, we salute you!

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.

Fashion Icon of the Month: Brigitte Bardot

1960s, brigitte bardot, fashion icon of the moment

Brigitte Bardot – Parisian Pouting Pussycat

Over the last fifty years, countless women have spent hours in front of their mirror, trying to perfect that Bardot pout. Her style was that effortless chic so few people possess, but we all try to imitate. A simple black headband, an unassuming little sheath dress, a flash of liquid eyeliner and plenty of sultry attitude to top it off. Sometimes she only needed a towel or strategically placed flowers – the minx!

She also managed to get sexier and sexier the older she got. The fresh-faced Fifties ingenue soon became a sultry Sixties sex siren, her gaze projected confidence and sexuality – helped along by some more revealing clothes – but always looking sophisticated rather than cheap. Every actress, model and wannabe seems to have done a Bardot-a-like photoshoot at some point in their career…but no one has or ever will come close to her. That je ne sais quoi indeed!

Pick any dream…..

1960s, 1970s, british boutique movement, Gina Fratini, john bates

…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.

The London Fashion Guide, Spring 1975

I think this is the reason I adore her clothes. She started out in costume (like myself) and this ‘dressing up box’ approach to fashion lends her clothes a romantic, whimsical and period edge. Her approach is something I can relate to as well.

‘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 doing these fantasy dresses. You’ve got to dream – these days more than ever.’

Above Left: Alice in Vintageland – an adorable gingham smock dress with pierrot collar and huge patch pockets. Right:You’ll feel like a Regency dream in this utterly, unashamedly romantic muslin dress from the late Sixties.

Two Sixties legends for the price of one….

1960s, british boutique movement, diana rigg, emma peel, jean varon, john bates


With thanks to Senti for that title! I honestly had no idea that these photos existed, but I found them yesterday and they’ve swiftly become my favourites. Diana, of course, is a huge inspiration to me – not only as Emma Peel but that does have a lot to do with it. I always loved how natural she seemed, and of course the effortless cool. As Emma, that was helped considerably by Bates’ influence as designer. She wore his designs to perfection, and continued to wear Jean Varon garments into the Seventies. Through this, I ‘discovered’ Bates and simply fell in love with his extraordinary designs. Having now met him, I’m even more in awe than ever before – especially after he gave me a nugget of advice on how to wear his frocks. The man is a legend.

I’ve never heard her speak of him, and only contemporary comments from him about the design process. I suppose these things rarely seem so iconic and special at the time, when deadlines are tight and it’s just another job. But you can just see magic being created in these photos.

Fashion Icon of the Month: Nerys Hughes

1960s, fashion icon of the moment, nerys hughes
Nerys Hughes in The Liver Birds

One of the most darling dollybirds of the late 60s/early 70s, Nerys Hughes tottered her way into fashion icon status as Sandra Hutchinson in The Liver Birds. Week after week, the girls would fight it out over a sexy negligee; destroy each others’ feather boas and debate the merits of a maxi versus a mini.

Sandra was always the glamourpuss though. Feigning innocence with the lads, whilst wearing the shortest of minis. Batting those false eyelashes under a heavy fringe (it’s a wonder she could keep her eyes open!!) and backcombing her thick brown hair as though her life depended on it.

She was also curvy, posh and had a prickly veneer of respectability. Just my kind of girl!! The Liver Birds became a manual on 60s chic for me (before I discovered The Avengers) and I would still kill for her wardrobe. Nerys, we salute you!!