michael roberts

Now it can be revealed

1970s, Antiquarius, Chelsea Antiques Market, Emmerton and Lambert, forbidden fruit, Inspirational Images, michael roberts, ritva, sunday times magazine, The Purple Shop, Uschi Obermaier, Vintage Editorials, Willie Christie
White kebaya with violet lace trim, £15, from a selection between £12-50 and £30 at Forbidden Fruit, 325 Kings Road. Broderie anglaise skirt, £8, from Vern Lambert, Chelsea Market.

A kebaya is the traditional organdie blouse which Malay and Indonesian women wear over their sarong. It is lavishly embroidered and trimmed with lace. No two are alike. Now available here, selling from £12.50 for plainer ones to £30 for the most elaborate, they provide summer’s latest exotic look. Worn with old jeans or peasanty skirts, pinned together with antique clasps, the kebaya is the sexiest thing in town.

Model is Uschi Obermaier.

Report by Michael Roberts.

Photographed by Willie Christie.

Scanned from The Sunday Times Magazine, July 7th 1974.

Blue/pink embroidered kebaya, £18, from a selection priced between £18 and £30 at Ritva, 8 Hollywood Road, London S. W.10. Art Nouveau jewellery from The Purple Shop, Antiquarius, Kings Road, London S. W.3.
Floral-embroidered kebayas, £20, from a selection between £18 and £30 at Ritva. Deco clasps, £1 ; broderie anglaise skirt, £8, all from Vern Lambert. Pendants and butterfly brooch from The Purple Shop.
Floral-embroidered kebaya, £20, from a selection between £18 and £30 at Ritva. Deco clasps, £1 ; broderie anglaise skirt, £8, all from Vern Lambert. Pendants and butterfly brooch from The Purple Shop.

How to look 1970

19 magazine, 1960s, 1970s, Illustrations, michael roberts, way in

Before you write off last year’s wardrobe as being out of date, or get depressed because you have nothing to wear and no money to spend … take a few minutes off and let your imagination wander like we did here. For instance, have you ever thought of:

Cutting down the sleeves of shirts and dresses to the new elbow length, adding old lace cuffs and collars and, perhaps, a heart pocket or two?

Adding a stunning button trim right down the sleeves of sweaters, cardigans and plain dresses?

Cutting up pieces of odd fabric and making patchwork pockets, shoulder insets and long scarves?

Ripping off existing collars and cuffs and replacing them with a lovely floral print with tie or scarf to match?

Adding a fake fur trim to the inside of cuffs, collars, pocket flaps and front openings to give a luxurious new look to a tired jacket or coat?

Adding fake fur pockets, shoulder yokes, collars and cuffs?

Cutting down trousers that are too short to four inches below the top of your boots? (test the length first so you don’t cut them too short).

Knitting yourself a long, long scarf and fringing the ends, or buying a long length of material and doing likewise?

Wearing your trousers inside your boots to promote a sleeky, sporty look?

Wearing a Sam Browne belt? (Available from Way In or Army Surplus Stores.)

Plaiting your hair and winding it around your ears, or wearing it in a plaited bun at the nape of your neck.

There are endless possibilities. All it takes is a bit of patience and some rummaging around.

Illustrated by Michael Roberts.

Scanned from 19 Magazine, September 1969.

You can have a boy in every port

19 magazine, 1960s, Illustrations, michael roberts
You can have a boy in every port, if you pick the best of the army surplus tops – beige drill bush-jackets (trimmed with leather “sergeant stripes”), parachute silk shirts, and flannelette vests, plus canvas combat belts.

Kelly, 19’s imaginative whizz-kid artist, is inspired into a frenzy of sketching by the twenty-years-back look. The war is over now – but uniforms don’t only look good on men.

Kelly, of course, is a complete figment of 19’s imagination and these incredible illustrations are always signed by the great Michael Roberts.

Scanned from 19 Magazine, September 1968

Sweethearts

19 magazine, 1970s, Abecita, bus stop, Fenwick, Illustrations, janet reger, michael roberts, Titfers, Uncategorized, underwear

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Never had any nice undies? Then we’ve picked out a few, Of the best that are new, To do you from Mondays to Sundays.

Illustrations by Michael Roberts.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from 19 Magazine, April 1971.

Michael Roberts - 19 - April 71 - a

Stars of the ’70s

19 magazine, 1930s, 1970s, bus stop, greta garbo, Illustrations, Inspirational Images, jean varon, joan crawford, john bates, lee bender, marlene dietrich, michael roberts, valstar, Weathergay

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Camoflage raincoat by Valstar

Rainwear has definitely taken on a new look. The styles are more sophisticated and glamorous. They are the kind of clothes that Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo would have worn had they been designed earlier. When you invest in a raincoat these days it does not mean that you can, or should, wear it only on a rainy day. A garment that is waterproof, wind-proof and warm can be worn almost every day. The new raincoats are very practical and hardly crease. At the most they only need to be sponged with a damp cloth. So throw away that old plastic mac. ..and take a long, new look at what the Stars are wearing. 

Stunning editorial beautifully illustrated by the legendary Michael Roberts.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from 19 Magazine, October 1970.

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Rubberised cotton raincoat by Valstar

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Corduroy trench coat by Wethergay

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Left: Gabardine raincoat by Lee Bender for Bus Stop / Right: Red, grey and olive check raincoat by Valstar

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Midi raincoat by Valstar

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Left: Polyurethane rain suit by John Bates for Jean Varon / Right: Brown polyurethane raincoat by Weathergay

Inspirational Images: Throw a Party

1970s, Bruce Oldfield, cosmopolitan, Cristina Viera, Electric Fittings, Inspirational Images, james wedge, john bates, michael roberts, pat booth, RIchard du Ploc, Serena Schaffer

throw a party

Don’t you love a party… especially when you’re a guest and don’t have to do the washing up? But think of the satisfaction of throwing your own party and knowing it’s a great success… like the headline-hitting party Bianca Jagger gave for Mick’s thirty-second birthday when the guests stayed until the morning papers landed on the doorstep. Cosmo’s party didn’t quite last the whole night through, but it proved that you don’t need months of planning. We invited our guests just three days in advance, asked them to wear red and white to celebrate our first wine offer and could hardly belieev it when everyone turned up on time and stayed on.

Back row, left to right: Gai Pearl, John Siggins and John Bates of the John Bates fashion team; David Clay, model and athlete; Cristina Viera, Brazilian model girl; Janis Raven, fashion co-ordinator at Swan & Edgar; Richard du Ploc of Electric Fittings. In the centre: Pattie Barron, Cosmo’s fashion assistant; Carola Standish, PA to Cosmo’s publisher; fashion designer Bruce Oldfield. In the front: model Juan; Serena Schaffer who owns Electric Fittings; Michael Roberts, Sunday Times writer; Pat Booth, stylish and Terry Raven, property consultant.

There’s almost TOO much fabulousness going on in this image. Including the fact that it was taken by James Wedge. I’m particularly fond of the Johns Siggins and Bates in their dapper white suits, and the remarkably unappetising spread of food in front of them all. Still, looks like there’s plenty of wine and, really, that’s all that counts…

Photographed by James Wedge. Produced by Linda Kelsey.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Cosmopolitan, November 1974

Inspirational Illustrations: What You’ll Be Into

19 magazine, 1920s, art deco, dorothee bis, Illustrations, jap, karl lagerfeld, michael roberts, seventies fashion

Illustration by Michael Roberts. 19 Magazine, January 1973.

. . . in 1973. Life is beautiful, the girls are beautiful, the clothes are beautiful. In fact, life, 1973-style, is a cabaret and here we present the cabaret-girls, with a few tips – picked up at the Paris fashion shows – on how to dress the part without using up too much money 

LEFT TO RIGHT: Martine in a chemise dress inspired by Roland Chakkal at Mendes. Make one yourself from a ‘Twenties‘ slip. She amuses herself by.toying with her cigarette holder (held just for show), while listening to the jangling of her nine A bangles. Her drop-earrings glitter, her tight bead choker sparkles and one arm is snug in its elbow-length glove. 

Janine tangos giddily with her partner. but nevertheless looks chic in a little soup-plate hat, perched jauntily over a printed scarf inspired by Karl Lagerfeld at Chloe. Thrown into a state of ecstasy by the Jap Collection, she has naturally teamed a long striped jumper with a neat box-pleated skirt.

Her partner, in pinstriped suit (inspired by designer Dorothée Bis), white-wing collar and bow tie (available in father`s top drawer), wears drop-earrings as a concession to femininity. 

Neatly fandangoing into the spotlight – Katherine and Margaret. Katherine’s favourite designer is Karl Lagerfeld at Chloe. How right then for her to be attired in printed bra top and skirt. But paradox, paradox. She also fell in love with the stripey pixie hat seen at Dorothee Bis. Happily, she’s thrown caution to the wind and wears them together. 

Margaret looks soulful. That is the only way one can look in an eye-shading, pull-on hat, all the rage for lovers of designer Emmanuelle Khanh

Zizi, as always, simply had to be different. A monocle. Only she could get away with this, but the rest of her accessories should be simple to copy.

Short and Sweet

19 magazine, 1970s, alistair cowin, bus stop, gillian richard, gladrags, Illustrations, lee bender, medusa, michael roberts, mr freedom, stirling cooper

I feel sad for the summer which never quite came to these shores. We had some nice days early on, but nothing consistent. I’m no sun worshipper, and I freely admit to preferring autumn, but it would have been nice to have been out and about a little more frequently in a little less clothing. I’m considering a little seaside jaunt in October, so I’ll just have to wear this kind of gear with some thick tights, hat and a coat over the top.

Stunning illustrations from 19 Magazine, May 1971, by Michael Roberts. I did a little reading up on Roberts, and he seems like a fascinating, Renaissance-style man. I pay far more attention to the names of illustrators these days, for obvious reasons, and it’s always nice to discover something about these all-too-often unsung artists.