Geek stuff

The House of Eliott

the house of eliott

Way back when, in 1991, Miss Peelpants was a fashion-obsessed but never fashionably attired twelve-year-old. It had been all foufy skater skirts, t-shirts and leggings. In my head, it probably all looked very Kylie. In reality, rather less glamorous.

Then, an epiphany. The House of Eliott began on the BBC. I remember most vividly watching it on the one Sunday a month we visited my grandparents, because my Nana had been born in 1920 and enjoyed the reminiscing about the fashions she admired but never wore (just as much as I now get misty-eyed watching Ashes to Ashes).

I suppose it was the first time I really learnt anything about fashion design, beyond doodling rara skirts with felt tip pens on computer paper purloined from my Dad’s office, and it piqued an interest in fashion history which has shaped my life ever since. I knew at that point, I was going to be like the Eliotts. Evie, of course, because she was young and pretty and silly and wore the nicer frocks.

Cut to 18 years later (arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) and I’m not exactly there. Although I probably benefitted more from having done my degree in costume rather than fashion, giving me a more independent mindset than standard sizing and market trends. And in many ways, dealing in high-end vintage clothes is similar work to that of an old-style couturier. Without the creative input, of course. But there’s still a part of me which aspires to the Eliott sisters. So it was with great delight that I saw UKTV History (now renamed as YeSTERDAY…how pointless!) are showing the series, three episodes back to back on Sunday afternoons and repeated in the evening.

It still exerts the same pull on me. Although I’m not making the mistake (again) of thinking I can get away with a slick black bob, a la Louise Lombard. I’m also enjoying my new viewpoint, as an adult. Which, inevitably, means I’m rather more taken with lovely, sensible Beatrice (Stella Gonet) this time around.

Also, how could I have forgotten how utterly delicious Jack (Aden Gillett) was? I never forsook you, dear Jack, just….forgot slightly.

Perhaps it will reinvigorate the designer within? Perhaps it will inspire me all over again?

Who knows.

In the meantime, I shall simply lap it all up and remember happy evenings watching it with my much-missed Nana. And occasionally giggle as I remember the brilliant French and Saunders spoof, The House of Idiot. Particularly Kathy Burke with the Chelsea buns!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdiZzPFAiCU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EpkF-mdpG8

Edited to add: Seems since the name change of the channel earlier this week, they’re no longer showing it. Damn them!! Now I’ll have to go out and buy the DVDs……*grumble grumble*

Knickerbocker Glory

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Oh I’ve been DYING to use that subject title ever since I photographed these babies!

This Mr Freedom design has become iconic over the years. It seems to have been one of their most popular and cherished designs, more usually seen with matching jacket (as seen below on Katy Manning of Dr Who fame and Olivia Newton-John).

This particular pair of knickerbockers are very unusual though in that they’re made of suede, rather than the velour or cotton you normally find them in. Such a delicious shade they are too, mainly a chocolate brown suede with damson trims and inserts. This does mean they’re a little stiffer than the usual ones, but I think they’re infinitely more fabulous because of how rare they are! When it comes to collectability and investment potential, you can’t go too far wrong with Mr Freedom.

Doctor Who Girls: The Eightieeeeeeeeees

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I’ve actually surprised myself by how much I’ve enjoyed writing about the Eighties Doctor Who companions. Perhaps it’s because I’m on quite an Eighties trip at the moment, perhaps it’s just because I remember these ladies from the first time around, but those early Eighties gals are really doing it for me right now.

Starting with the lovely, lovely Nyssa (Sarah Sutton, 1981-83). Nyssa is a criminally underrated companion of the old school variety. Perhaps it’s because she’s an alien, perhaps because she’s clearly the sweetest person ever to have graced the Tardis or perhaps it’s because she was so very much overshadowed by her fellow companions. Indeed, for the first time in a long time, the Doctor could barely get a word in edgeways between three different personalities.

Nyssa was a noblewoman from a planet called Traken, whose father’s body was stolen by the Doctor’s fellow Timelord, The Master. Brought back to the Doctor by his future self (long story) she saw her planet destroyed and, unlike so many other companions, really had no choice but to stay with the Doctor and her new friends. Ok, well Tegan. The less said about Adric, the better. Besides, he carks it soon enough. Hurrah! Ahem…..no, it’s very tragic and weepy and…..yes…….well.

Nyssa was adorable but highly intelligent and with that slightly alien quality, subtly played by Sarah Sutton, which separates her from the usual riff-raff humans who have tramped through the Tardis over the years. She also bore the brunt of the new decision for the companions to have set ‘costumes’ in a similar way to the Doctor. So for an entire season, Nyssa was tramping around in very subtle variations on her velvet flower fairy-esque ensemble from her first story. Gradually she lost bits and pieces, gained some more practical trousers and generally adapted a lot better than her fellow Tardis residents. But still, must have been a bit whiffy in there after a while?

Who do we think was the stinkiest of the three? I’m going to say….the teenage boy.


Eventually they saw sense though. After all, they did have two gorgeous young women on the books and what are gorgeous young women good for in Doctor Who? Yes, that’s right, dodgy fashion statements and gratuitous flesh-baring. Which Nyssa did to perfection. Her first foray into fashion is a slightly bonkers striped skirt, sailor shirt and gigantic pussy bow in Snakedance. Which I sneakingly love at the moment. You can see the crestfallen look on her face as the Doctor fails to notice her loveliness in her new get-up. Boo hiss Doctor. You’ll [probably] bonk the living daylights out of some guttersnipe like Rose Tyler but gorgeous Nyssa you ignore? Crazy fool.

Eventually she goes the way of all good companions. She randomly strips off to her underwear on Terminus and decides to stay behind to tend to the sick. To her credit, she hasn’t just fallen in love with some man she’s only just met (see Leela and…most of the others) but it’s still an abrupt end for such a good character.

The same cannot be said of Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding, 1981-84). Who the Doctor couldn’t bloody get rid of. Now I must confess that Tegan was my ‘first’ companion (alongside the ginger god that was Turlough….remind me to do a blog about the tasty men in Who over the years!) and therefore holds a little place in my heart. And I used to love her I’m sure. However, she doesn’t stand up to repeated viewing with the hindsight of much better companions before and since.

Tegan was an Australian air stewardess who accidentally wandered into the Tardis (Logopolis) thinking it was a real police box. The murder of her Auntie Vanessa, courtesy of The Master, and a few wrong turns on board the Tardis left Tegan unable to get back home. And didn’t she let us know it! Frankly I’m surprised he didn’t boot her out on some deserted planet, as she was clearly not the type to leave him after falling in love with a man she’s only just met [I’m not sure anyone could put up with her!].

She was also a fatality of the costume concept, and lumbered with the worst of the three. A ‘charming’ and wholly impractical purple air stewardess costume which probably never saw a spritz of febreze in its life! Eventually she got back to Heathrow to catch her flight, but realised (too late) that she really wanted to be in the Tardis instead. And that, it would seem, was that.

But oh no. The Doctor wasn’t so lucky, and she managed to find him again the very next season. Just when Nyssa had got him all to herself!! She returned without the uniform and with possibly the funkiest Eighties fashions of the entire era, which means she is rather forgiven for the whining and the pouting. It was all abstract print mini dresses, leather mini skirts, stiletto heels and big brassy fur coats, which are now starting to look a lot more charming than they did when I first started to rewatch the episodes back in the 90s. To her credit, she also makes a great statement by leaving. By this point there has grown a grudging respect between Tegan, Turlough and The Doctor. But the death and destruction becomes too much and she simply has to walk away. Brave heart Tegan!

I wanted her wardrobe as a five year old, and now I’m old enough to wear it – I think I want it again! Life is kinda good like that, isn’t it?

Next up was poor Peri (Perpugilliam Brown. Played by Nicola Bryant, 1984-86). Poor in threefold ways. Firstly she had about five minutes to enjoy the gorgeousness that was Peter Davison before he regenerated into cranky old Colin Baker. Secondly she spent most of her tenure wearing leotards and formal shorts and was first seen wearing an itty bitty pink bikini. The greatest victim of the one-for-the-dads mentality. Thirdly she had her head shaved, nearly carked it in a body swap storyline [which I still, to this day, cannot watch because it freaked me out so much when I was 7] and instead ended up married to Brian Blessed. Which is possibly a fate worse than death, I couldn’t possibly comment.

As I mentioned, we first meet the American botanist in Tenerife in a pink bikini. Of course! The only positive aspect to this for us ladies is that she needs rescuing, and Turlough does his thing in a wet t-shirt and skimpy speedos. Hurrah! We can immediately see the two big reasons why Peri remains such a popular companion in the face of being really rather whiney. I still can’t understand why writers and producers think that we want a companion who doesn’t seem to actually want to be travelling with the Doctor at all. Ungrateful hussies!

Saying that, she did have the most tetchy Doctor since Hartnell which makes her behaviour slightly more forgiveable. Although I must say that the sexual tension between the two is possibly the greatest I’ve ever seen on the show. Many may not agree with me, and perhaps it was more to do with Baker and Bryant’s natural off-screen chemistry but I find myself wanting them to end each big argument with a bit of ‘make up’ hanky panky.

“Hmmm, could have sworn the Tardis wardrobe contained more than skimpy leotards and formal shorts. Funny that. Can’t think where it’s all gone. You’ll just have to keep wearing them…..”

It had started off well enough in The Twin Dilemma, with a blousey tartan, err, blouse and a poufy mini skirt combined with black mid-calf boots. In fact, a very Autumn/Winter 2008 look which is possibly why I’m looking upon it so kindly.

Her only full season in 1985 showed us a dizzying array of leotards, stilettos and odd formal shorts. Fairly innocuous for the most part, but miserably impractical and not even that stylish for the time. I do remember wanting to wear my pink ballet leotard outside of ballet classes for the sole reason that Peri seemed to do the same thing. [Funnily enough, I do actually wear black leotards nowadays because they’re really rather awesome for wearing underneath skimpy Seventies tops and blouses].

There was one extraordinary costume in The Two Doctors which involved a tie front spangly top and headband, but the less said about that one the better. Anyone who says I secretly want to wear it is lying. Honest. *cough*

Apparently Bryant insisted that they cover her up a bit for the latter stories of the season, and they responded by insisting that she wear the same outfit two stories running (with the addition of an ‘interesting’ blue coat and beret for the snow scenes). It was a more tailored, burgundy jacket and black trousers, certainly a more stylish and sensible outfit for Miss Brown.

She returned for just two stories in the next season, and the covered up theme continued with a rather dapper looking striped jacket and blousey yellow top (plus newly permed hair and a gentler, more post-coital type of relationship with The Doctor). It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more of this Peri because it certainly feels like a few years have passed and she’s grown up considerably from a girl to a woman. Buuuutttttt, aliens and Brian Blessed intervened and, as pleasure must always be balanced with pain, the next companion looked like this:

Now, now. Don’t get me wrong. I love Bonnie Langford (who played Mel from 1986-87), I really do. She seems lovely, hilarious and she’s looking pretty fab for her age now. But, she wasn’t suitable for Doctor Who. Lots of pantomime-style over-acting, nose-wrinkling and shouty delivery of her lines, not to mention feminism-obliterating thcweams, simply were not suited to the show. On the other hand, I think some of her stories are totally under-appreciated and she’s not unwatchable. She’s just…..well, Bonnie!

The character also had zilch backstory, appeared before she became his companion in some weird timey-wimey paradox and then left the Tardis to travel with a bit of rough called Sabalom Glitz. No hanky panky, just decided she wanted to reform him or something equally daft. Thus she really rather challenges Dodo for the most pointless companion with the most illogical departure.

She also had some truly, truly insane clothes. I’m not going to say they’re awful, they’re just very…..Eighties. Late Eighties. Not terribly good Eighties. But entertaining and cute in an odd sort of way. I’m not even sure where to begin and where to end. There were bows, lemon leisure suits, polka dots, studded denim and, my favourite, the biggest puffed sleeves known to the universe (left). I’ll admit it was precisely the kind of stuff I was ‘designing’ at the time, but then I was a child. And children do tend to think that polka dots and puffed sleeves are ceaselessly stylish. Which makes me wonder how old the costume designer was…..

“Kang outfits are well better than Mel outfits”

Eventually, Glitz waggled a studded shoulder pad in her direction and she left just as Ace (Sophie Aldred, 1987-89) arrived. Now this is where it gets really boring, because Ace marked a return to a stereotyped and costumed companion. Touted as a ‘streetwise’ teenager (example of streetwise-ness, she calls bad people ‘toerags’) and permanently kitted out in the biggest, blousiest black bomber jacket you’ll ever see in your life. She also had a ghettoblaster (didn’t think it could get funnier than toerags? Ha!!) and a wide range of shapeless t-shirts, tights and baseball boots.

To analyse it takes about 2 seconds, [t-shirts and leggings slowly gave way to slightly tighter off-the-shoulder tops and fitted jeans to show transition from girl to woman….that’s about it!] so unfortunately I must end my history of Doctor Who companion fashion with something quite lacklustre. Which I suppose is an appropriate metaphor for the way the show ended.

Ace’s fate is unknown, she was last seen walking off into the sunset with Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor in 1989…..still wearing that bloody bomber jacket!

So, that’s it for now. Only time will tell how history will view companion fashion in the Noughties, but I’m going to hazard a guess at…..badly. Not because they’re bad clothes, they’re just dull. Not representative of the era at all. Far too practical because, for all my comments about practicality, practicality is dull. We couldn’t have had bonkers Biba Jo Grant or the trip-tripping of Tegan’s stilettos running away from the Daleks without total impracticality. And I wouldn’t be the person I am today without having had those ladies in my life for inspiration as an impressionable child and teenager.

Doctor Who Girls: The Seventies (Part II)

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The departure of Lis Sladen in 1976 saw the first ‘Who foray into the notion of a ‘themed’ companion, which would prove to be a popular move by the production team and influenced the show until it went off-air in 1989. Leela (1977-78) was a warrior woman, human but from another planet where society had devolved into tribal rule. Yeah yeah. Mainly just an excuse for a sexy woman, Louise Jameson, to run around wearing a scanty leather bikini. However, we will forgive this rather sexist development because, quite frankly dear reader, Leela kicked serious ass.

She was also not the most conventional looking of women, and you can just visualise a modern version of Leela would involve silicone breasts, big capped teeth (*cough* Billie Piper *cough*) and perfectly coiffed hair and make-up. Leela was authentically a bit grubby, skinny and tribal in her movement and expressions. The outfits as well, are sexy in a mid-70s porn kind of way. Revealing, but not particularly enhancing and I spend most of my time watching her wondering if she’s feeling a bit chilly. I mean, Sarah Jane goes scampering back to the Tardis in her bikini in Death to the Daleks (The Doctor promised her a beach holiday, the swine!) but Leela just ploughs on through every situation in her teeny tiny leathers. Atta girl! Occasionally she relented, usually only on Earth though, and picked up some more appropriate clothes for the adventure.

Sadly by the end of her story, the writers dumped on her character from a great height. Her departure involved rapidly falling in love with some guy she’s only just met on the Doctor’s home planet of Gallifrey, shacking up with him and K9 the dog. What? Leela, Warrior Princess does housewife duties? Where did that come from? Thankfully Gallifrey gets destroyed in the Time War just pre the new series, so hopefully Leela went into battle all leathers blazing and redeemed the character we all knew and loved.

Once more, The Doctor was companion-less. But this time, for the first time ever, he would not choose his travelling partner. It would be chosen for him by his own people. Yes, finally the Doctor travels with another Timelord. Well, a lady. Romana (short for Romanadvoratrelundar – cos you would wouldn’t you?) was more of an equal intellectually but, rather like those fresh out of university 1st class honours type people who think they know everything there is to know about the world, was very green when it came to anything out of her comfort zone of education. So we still saw the Universe from the perspective of one like ourselves, which is clearly an important aspect of the show’s success.

Romana (Mark I, 1978-79) was aloof, frosty but a perfect foil for the exuberant, worn-around-the-edges Tom Baker Doctor and remains possibly the most glamorous companion the Doctor ever had. She initially appears in a breathtakingly beautiful white goddess dress and also dons a luxurious feather coat, which I’m almost 100% sure is one of Servalan’s old cast-offs from Series 1 of Blakes 7. That’s a fan fiction I’d like to read.

Frankly her entire season is a masterclass in late Seventies glamour, from the stunning white dress and boots in The Armageddon Factor to the purple velvet ensemble (with covetable jaunty hat) in The Androids of Tara. Not necessarily to everyone’s taste but Mary Tamm looks incredible in everything. Then, she’d look amazing in a used bin liner quite frankly.


When Tamm regenerated into Lalla Ward as Romana (Mark II, 1979-81), she also lost the assured glamour of her predecessor, as well as her haughty demeanour and frosty relationship with The Doctor. Her first costume is a pink version of The Doctor’s. Which is either a stroke of genius or the most unthinkably twee and patronising thing to ever happen to a companion. I still can’t decide which.

Poor Lalla seemed to get the bum end of the deal when it came to her wardrobe throughout her entire tenure in the show. From maternity smocks to Victorian bathing costume to pseudo-riding gear, even a school uniform.

So Doctor, what first attracted you to Romana?


Ah yes. The school uniform. If ever you need an explanation for why Romana Mark II is such a popular companion in the face of her being….how you say…a bit crap, then the heady combination of school uniform and formative male minds and hormones should give you a bit of a clue. By way of explanation of my previous comment about her crapness, I find Lalla Ward’s acting to be atrocious. Dodo was positively Shakespearean compared to her. I’m sure she’s a lovely person, and she was terribly engaging with Tom Baker (mainly because they were bonking by this point) but I just can’t warm to her. And I like all companions. But then, her target audience really was the male of the species. All flicky fine blonde hair, big teeth and kinky outfits – but nothing substantial enough to capture my attention.

Her one saving sartorial grace is the stunningly beautiful dress she wears in Creature from the Pit. But rumour has it the dress was intended for Mary Tamm before pregnancy meant she had to leave, which is why it doesn’t really suit her shape very well. But it is a lovely dress, so she gets one single gold star for that.

And that, dear readers, brings us to the end of the Seventies companions. Lalla borders into the Eighties, but I really don’t want to have to touch on her again, so I will return with: a noble native of Traken, the Mouth on Legs, a fake American, the most unbelievable teenager portrayal in the known universe and……Bonnie Langford.

Oh yes. You have been warned. We’ve already kinda hit the peak. It’s just downhill from now on. But I’ve started now, so I have to finish. Dear god, do I? Really? Yes…..my OCD tells me I must…..*sigh*

Doctor Who Girls: The Seventies (Part I)

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Caroline John as Liz Shaw (1970). Possibly the best pins in Who History, Caroline John was the natural successor to Wendy Padbury’s brainbox character of Zoe. Except Liz (great name, non?) was a modern day woman who just happened to be a brilliant scientist in her own right.

Brought in as UNIT’s replacement for The Doctor initially, she would end up ‘assisting’ him (in his exile on Earth) for four stories in Jon Pertwee’s debut season as The Doctor. She was the perfect foil for his slightly pompous, dandy Doctor, being as she was rather down-to-earth and of a relatively equal intellect (for an earthling anyway).

She also ran around in some seriously scanty skirts, fabulous knee high boots and even a floppy hat in The Ambassadors of (ping!) Death. Thus showing that the length of a gal’s skirt is not relative to the size of her brain. And also, yet again, proving that Doctor Who was no place for maxi skirts.

Overshadowed by her successors, and sidelined somewhat by her brief tenure by The Doctor’s side (she never even got a jaunt in the Tardis, poor love!) Liz Shaw is one of my favourite companions – for she was an intelligent, independent woman who neither needed, nor fell in love with, The Doctor.

Dear, lovely intelligent Liz Shaw. So of course the producers decided to continue in their inspirationally modern slant on the screaming companion character in the newly liberated Seventies. Right? Wrong. Say hello to Jo Grant (1971-73), and her knickers.

I’ve already blogged about Miss Grant as a Fashion Icon, thanks to her prediliction for dressing in head to toe Biba. Jo was wonderfully ditzy, seemingly rather dim and considerably younger than her predecessor. The implication was made that her promotion into UNIT was thanks to some healthy nepotism, but she was certainly a bright spark when it was needed. Although always with a giggle and a flutter of those spidery Biba eyelashes.

The Doctor certainly seemed to enjoy her company, although I would dispute that he preferred his companions to be a little bit screamy and stupid. He was certainly frustrated by her silliness, and charmed by her hidden depths, which would imply that he really does prefer a bit of spunk and spark in his companions. Jo was rather too much the adoring girl though, which often brought out the most patronising aspects of her mentor’s character.

All this aside, and I’m not even sure where I stand on Miss Grant – except that I would happily stand on and squish her in an attempt to get into her wardrobe and steal most of her gear, she was certainly adorable, always fabulously attired and occasionally quite brilliant. I won’t go into specific episodes because each and every one is a gem where Jo’s clothes are concerned, and each and every one is a Biba gem at that!

They returned to a slightly more sophisticated young woman for the next occupant of the Tardis wardrobe. This time dressed in Biba rivals Lee Bender for Bus Stop, Sarah-Jane Smith (1973-76 and beyond) was a fiesty reporter/journalist type who would stride headfirst into situations and enjoyed an occasionally snippy dialogue with her first Doctor. This first generation Sarah-Jane was my favourite and, unlike most people, I truly loved (and never questioned) that she was paired with Pertwee in The Five Doctors in 1984. Alas though, it eventually went horribly wrong with The Doctor’s regeneration and the introduction of a certain Mr Harry Sullivan.

Originally, the replacement for Jon Pertwee had been intended to be an older actor in the same vein as William Hartnell’s interpretation of the character. So producers had hired Ian Marter to play a new male companion (the first since Jamie left in 1969), because they felt they needed a virile young man to do….well, virile young man things. Nevermind that they already had Elisabeth Sladen as a strong female character, of course they needed a chap for chap things. In the end, as we now all know, they hired a young Tom Baker for the role who was perfectly capable of running around and in no need of a Harry Sullivan. So with effectively a ‘spare’ companion, they had to relegate poor Sarah Jane to mere screaming, girly companion character to give Harry enough to do (and provide enough of a contrast to the two male leads).

Doctor: If I touch these two wires together, I can go back to having just one sexy, confident and intelligent female companion.

Harry: I say Doctor, steady on now old chap….I mean…..golly…..gosh…..that’s really rather beastly….

Sarah Jane: *wibble* *scream*

Doctor: There’s just no debate is there?


Now I love Harry and his excessive poshness. But thankfully he was let go by the end of this debut Fourth Doctor series, and Sarah Jane was finally able to regain her place as The Doctor’s main squeeze. Although she never did quite recover from this volte face in her characterisation, and remained perhaps a little too girly and screamy for my liking. Luckily, Sladen has had another chance (or three) at the role (most recently in her own series spin-off from ‘Nu-Who’) and has returned to the stronger character I so adored in her first series with Pertwee.

Style-wise, she must be applauded for never wearing a mini skirt and thus breaking with classic Who tradition that, regardless of how long skirts may be outside the Tardis, the companion always deems a mini skirt to be suitable quarry-sprinting attire. She donned a very cutesy print maxi dress in The Masque of Mandragora, one of Victoria’s alleged cast-offs (peculiarily Edwardian for Miss Waterfield but we’ll let that go) in The Pyramids of Mars and who on earth could forget the Andy Pandy striped dungarees from her departure story, The Hand of Death?

Let’s just pretend her rescue from a little tumble down a slight incline in The Five Doctors never happened shall we?

Part II coming soon (where we see the true meaning of the phrase “One for the Dads”, see where Servalan’s cast-offs ended up and try to work out why on earth a fully grown woman in a school uniform would be such a popular companion?).

Emmapeel… dress

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I alluded, in an earlier post, to having recently acquired an original Avengerswear piece. Now before you go getting too excited on my behalf (because, you know, I imagine you would…..), it’s not a John Bates one. That remains my holy grail of collecting…

Diana and Alun

In the first colour season of The Avengers, Alun Hughes took over from John Bates as costume designer. Although strictly speaking Bates was never the costume designer per se, he simply provided Mrs Peel with a fully equipped working mod-girl wardrobe. Which would be used in various ways by the designer and whoever else happened to be making such decisions. Explaining why so many fabulous outfits, in which Diana Rigg was heavily photographed for publicity, made only brief appearances – if at all.

The colour episodes had been intended to be designed in a similar ‘working wardrobe’ manner by Pierre Cardin, who was already creating Steed’s very elegant suits [Shocking! A Frenchman designing our beloved Avengers? Whatever next??], but he was unable to complete the task and Hughes was brought on board as designer instead. Unfortunately I know very little about the man himself, but it would seem he actually was a costume designer rather than a fashion designer like Bates or Cardin. With the new colour format, and the strong overseas interest in the show, Hughes had new challenges to those of Bates with the black and white. He attacked it with gusto, using vivid colours, prints and playing with new synthetic fabrics. There’s also the varied influences, reflecting the ever-changing fashion scene of the time. We still have space-age cut-outs and skin tight gear, but also feathers and psychedelic silks. The look is more way-out, and more feminine than ever. He also invented the Emmapeeler, which was a more ‘Pop’ take on the leather and pvc catsuits of the earlier series.

“Don’t diss my mustard emmapeelers!”

As with Bates, and Frederick Starke before him, an Avengerswear range of clothes was produced and licensed out to different manufacturers and shops. Unlike Bates, whose Avengerswear collection was largely complete replicas of the Mrs Peel-worn originals, Hughes’ designs were used as templates for a wider range of colours and styles. Most items were produced in different colourways to the one seen on screen, again unlike Bates who was largely working in black and white anyway, and it would also seem that some items were produced in different lengths.

This stunning moire patterned velvet dress is clearly the same design as the one she wears in Return Of The Cybernauts. Emma’s is black (or perhaps dark green, it’s difficult to tell with early colour television) and a mini. Mine is purple and a maxi length. Nevertheless, it’s my first – and possibly only piece of Hughes’ Avengerswear and I feel very honoured to now have it in my possession.

Mad About The Dress

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The lovely Sharon Rose suggested I post more pictures of myself in some of my favourite frocks. Now in theory, that is a lovely idea. In reality, I fear cameras greatly unless I am properly prepared with a shovel-load of make-up and good lighting. Which is why so few photos of me are allowed out into the great world wide web.

However, I decided to post a photo of myself in one of my favourite Biba dresses….nay, one of my favourite dresses period. Mainly because I was completely delighted to see this dress, albeit in pale yellow rather than red moss crepe, worn by the fabulous Paula Wilcox as Chrissie in Man About The House (remade as Three’s Company in the US). I was less delighted to see she ‘fills’ it rather better than I do, but then again…..mine is so teeny tiny I couldn’t fit much more in it anyway! Small boobs can be very handy when it comes to Biba clothes…..

The sleeves are my favourite bit, they’re gigantic (not the biggest though, I think my Bill Gibb takes that particular biscuit) and have a very deep buttoned cuff, which gives a delightful swag. Honestly, this has to be one of my top ten favourite dresses in my closet……

Perhaps at a later date I will post a picture of me in the Jean Varon dress her flatmate Jo is also wearing in this particular episode! Yes, I have both dresses!

Doctor Who Girls: The Sixties

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Some of you may or may not know of my slight….slight obsession with vintage Doctor Who. Yes indeed, coupled with my love of Blakes 7, The Avengers and Sapphire and Steel I think that gives me fairly impressive geek credentials, no? A lot of it is childhood nostalgia, particularly in the Eighties series which I grew up with but also for the occasional Seventies story which my brother would acquire via third generation videotapes recorded from Australian TV, but even the episodes I didn’t grow up watching hold a magical quality for me. Not least because The Doctor was always adept at finding himself aided by a gorgeous companion wearing seriously groovy gear from her own time. Even the few exceptions to this (Leela – Warrior Princess and Romana – Time Lady) look very much ‘of’ the time in which the stories were made.

So I’ll start by introducing you all to the notable young ‘Who girls of the Swinging Sixties.

It began with the Queen of the Ankle Twist, Susan (Right: Carole Ann Ford 1963-65) and her Mary Quant outfits. Susan was The Doctor’s granddaughter and a schoolgirl of exceptional talents. The actors often wore their own clothes due to budget limitations and Carole Ann Ford has said that a lot of her gear was Mary Quant. The show began in 1963 and in many ways is an interesting time capsule for the dramatically changing fashions of the time and I think Carole was the archetypal Quant girl with her elfin hair and boyish figure. The clothes were fairly simple, little jumpers and cropped trousers or pinafore dresses and roll neck sweaters.

Her immediate successor was a young girl from the future named Vicki (Left: found on the planet Dido, I kid ye not!), played by Maureen O’Brien (1965), who somehow seems to have found the off-screen Tardis boutique and was usually dressed in a similar manner to Susan. Nothing extraordinary, just your very average girl about town for the time. Although it was 1965 and the advent of the mini skirt, her hemlines remained very modest as you can see in the picture to the left.

The ridiculously named Dodo (Jackie Lane 1966) was the next gal Billy Hartnell ‘picked up’, running straight into the Tardis from Swinging Sixties London of 1966. Yes indeed, Dodo was conceived as a trendy young thing designed to appeal to the more fashionable young audience. Sadly, she didn’t last long and remains something of a joke to most serious Who fans, but she wore some very groovy little numbers (as we can see on the right from The Celestial Toymaker [Sorry, I had to have a picture of the divine Peter Purves in his youth *licks lips*] she’s working the op-art look!) and deserved more of a send-off than the disappearing act she manages in The War Machines….

…..Which itself introduced us to Polly. Ahhhh, now that’s more like it! Polly (Anneke Wills 1966-67) was a modern London girl with long legs, long blonde hair and big dolly girl eyes. Her introduction was possibly the first time that there was a bit of a something for the dads, with her mini skirts and beauty she was more sexy and womanly than any of her predecessors had ever been. She was also, unfortunately, ill-used mainly for tea-making (Polly put the kettle on?) and screaming in her brief tenure in the Tardis and sadly most of her episodes have been wiped/burned (a fate which has befallen most of the Sixties girls to some degree or another). Polly was the companion who eased the viewers into the regeneration of Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, but eventually left him to return to her own time.

High Priestess of the Piercing Scream, Deborah Watling, entered the Tardis as Victorian orphan and Dalek survivor, Victoria (1967-68). Her transition from crinoline to mini skirt was swift and amusing but fairly inevitable. And she really went for it, from the modest little dress she dons in Tomb of the Cybermen to the super micro hippy girl mini dress she is happily traipsing around in by The Web of Fear, via a gorgeous tweed jacket and knickerbocker ensemble in The Abominable Snowmen. Victoria gets a hard time for her girlishness and screaming (utilised to defeat a monster in her departure story Fury from the Deep) but I think her portrayal of a fish out of water is very poignant and she would certainly benefit from having more stories in existence today.

Finally we come to Zoe (Wendy Padbury 1968-69) who, in contrast to Victoria, was a brainbox girl from the future. Zoe has achieved legend status mainly from her infamous silver catsuit in The Mind Robber and the arse contained within it, but she was also known for running around the universe in some eye-wateringly short mini skirts. The maxi was beginning to creep in by this point, out in the real world, but Doctor Who would not embrace the long skirt for a good while yet.

My favourite Zoe outfit is a toss up between the [what looks like a John Bates] mini dress from The Dominators and what may well be a Celia-print Ossie Clark ensemble from The Invasion. [They mention shopping at Quorum in the commentary for this episode, but her friend is wearing a fantastic Zandra Rhodes lipstick print Fulham Road Clothes Shop ensemble so it’s perfectly possible Zoe’s is as well, I just can’t see it clearly enough to tell!]

Zoe was sent back to her own time and her memory wiped, let’s just hope she managed to keep some of her outfits!

Katy and Crowthers

1970s, british boutique movement, doctor who, doctor who companion fashion, personal collection, vintage fangirl squee
Katy and Crowthers
Now I’ve managed to get my pesky scanner to start working again, I hope to get back on track blogging for you a lot more than I have been of late. Oh, and listing more gorgeous items too of course! But I must admit I often become absorbed by the piles and piles of magazines and photos I’ve accumulated and keep meaning to show and tell for you all.

I remembered I had finally got around to photographing a piece in my private collection (wonders will never cease!) which is a superb example of why labels aren’t always important to a collector.

I had often wondered who designed the dress I’d seen worn in a tiny publicity photo of Katy Manning (Jo Grant in Doctor Who: the companion who seemed to live and breathe the Biba Girl ideal). Eventually I saw the dress by chance on eBay one day and noted it was by the lesser known boutique Crowthers, who were in the habit of some very nifty Ossie and Biba knock-offs (but then, who wasn’t at that time?). I put it on my watch list, safe in the knowledge that no one knew what it was, it wasn’t a big name label and was unlikely to go out of my price range. Well, I was wrong. I think people just fell in love with its boutique-y gorgeousness, I’m fairly certain no one else was geeky enough to know about Katy wearing it.

Katy and Crowthers

So I sulked. For a bit. Well, maybe more than a bit. [Shhhh!! Don’t tell anyone how much of a brat Miss Peelpants can be when she’s thwarted!] But now armed with the knowledge that it was by Crowthers, I could keep looking for it and hope that lightning might strike twice. And – thank heavens – it did. Plus, courtesy of a good Doctor Who-fan-friend of mine, I was also able to nab a higher res. image of Katy wearing it. Hurrah!!

Katy and Crowthers