Inspirational Illustrations: Eric Boman, 1974

1970s, annacat, art deco, edward mann, eric boman, Illustrations, Inspirational Images, James Drew, salvador, Vogue

Grey wool cardigan, oatmeal overchecked, pale grey silk shirt, both at James Drew. Grey felt hat by Edward Mann.

Meet the new fashion collector. She will be about for a long time. Her lipstick is red. She wears only navy, ivory and grey, but so cleverly that there’s no limit to the flattering effects she can compute. Her clothes are so simple and beautiful. It all looks easy. She spends more money on her clothes than most woman, but, when they’re searching around for something to wear, she’s already perfectly dressed. When their clothes are beginning to look wrong, hers are right. So in the end, she probably spends no more than they. Here’s how she does it…

Illustrated by Eric Boman.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, February 1974.

Left: Muffler, long cardigan with scroll embroidery, sleeveless putty crepe de chine gilet, skirt loosely pleated in front at Annacat. Hat by Jacoll. Right: Ivory crepe de chine open-work dress, couldn’t be simpler, tied at the waist by Salvador. Straw hat by Bermona.

Inspirational Images: Grace

1960s, grace coddington, helmut newton, Inspirational Images, liberty, Vogue

Choker and earclips by Coppola & Toppo. Available from Liberty.

Grace Coddington photographed by Helmut Newton.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, February 1966

Inspirational Images: Why not… go bare back?

1970s, bally, bill gibb, Inspirational Images, jean varon, john bates, michel momy, Vogue

Swag the rest in violet jersey: Jersey two-piece dress by John Bates.

Photographed by Michel Momy.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, March 1978.

Why not… show a leg with lemon, cream and gold: Hurel jersey top and culottes by Bill Gibb. Shoes by Bally.

Inspirational Images: The Secret of Being an Inscrutable Beauty

1970s, cosmopolitan, David Anthony, Inspirational Images, Julie Ege, pierre laroche, thea porter

Inscrutable means being “wholly mysterious” and after a summer of freckles and jeans maybe the time is ripe for the return of the cool, self-regarding beauty. Julie Ege, Queen of a thousand popping flash bulbs, without whom no première is complete, veils her flashing smile to emerge as the epitome of the new inscrutable woman, in our picture.

Dress by Thea Porter. Necklaces from the Purple Shop. Bracelets and rings from Jones, Beauchamp Place. Fur rug from Harrods. Make up by Pierre LaRoche for Estée Lauder. Hair by Oliver at Leonard.

Photographed by David Anthony.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Cosmopolitan, September 1973.

Apologies for the protracted absence! I am most definitely back, working on new blogs for both here and Shrimpton Couture Curate, and of course I’m still sourcing the best boutique vintage for you over at Vintage-a-Peel! xx

Inspirational Images: Sheer Geniuses

1970s, barbara daly, celia birtwell, Hair and make-up, Inspirational Images, ossie clark, vidal sassoon, Vogue

“What are Vidal Sassoon, Barbara Daly and Ossie Clark doing in Vogue studios? Vidal did the hair, Barbara the make-up, Ossie designed the dress … Lipstick matched to the flowers in Celia Birtwell’s printed chiffon. Ossie Clark twined his own gold chain and lizard over the shoulder and, snap, David Bailey. Dress to order from Ossie Clark.”

Photographed by David Bailey.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, July 1974

Inspirational Images: Sleeping Beauty

1970s, 1980s, albert capraro, fred leighton, guy bourdin, Inspirational Images, rebecca blake

Photographed by Rebecca Blake. Fashion by Albert Capraro. Jewels by Fred Leighton.

Scanned from Rebecca Blake: Forbidden Dreams (1984)

I can’t quite believe it’s been nearly two months since I last blogged. I promise I haven’t gone away for good, I’ve just been incredibly busy working away from Vintage-a-Peel for all this time. The website is still up, I’m still on Etsy, and there will be new listings in July. You can also find me still posting away on Instagram, so please do follow me over there if you’re there too.

Today I stumbled across this dreamy book by Rebecca Blake, a New York-based photographer whose work informed and was used in the cult classic film, The Eyes of Laura Mars. It’s safe to say that I’m smitten, not least because she also directed the music videos for ‘Kiss’ and ‘Cream’ for Prince and photographed Duran Duran for the cover of Seven and the Ragged Tiger.

Inspirational Images: These Women Are Dangerous

1970s, cosmopolitan, Inspirational Images, john kelly, vivien neves

Vivien Neves is every man’s idea (at least twice a week) of what a woman should be, and most women’s idea (some of the time) of what they’d secretly like to be, could be, or – in a few cases – actually are. At twenty-three, Vivien is Britain’s top nude model. She’s the one who got everyone going in the electricity ad, sitting at a dressing table in slip and rollers. She’s the one who advertises cigars on television by slopping about in Caribbean waters in a T-shirt. And she’s the one who appeared full-page nude in an advert in The Times, forsooth – “people haven’t stopped talking about my nipples ever since.”.

Talk about Viven’s nipples must have stopped at some point, but that’s stil quite an achievement! This stunning photo illustrates an article about dangerously attractive women, also including Joan Bakewell and Edna O’Brien (just in case you thought it was all about nipples). Neves, who sadly died in 2003, was photographer John Kelly’s girlfriend at the time (they would later marry) and you can tell by the way he’s photographed her so beautifully here.

Photographed by John Kelly.

Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Cosmopolitan, May 1972