Diary of a Somebody

1970s, Browns, David Hockney, deborah and clare, harpers and queen, John Michael, Lakis, Mensday, menswear, mr fish, norman eales, Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
Lord Dufferin wears a linen cream suit by Walter Albini; £120, Browns, 25 South Molton St, W1. Orange crepe de chine shirt; £20, also from Browns. Brown silk ribbed tie; £5.95, John Michael, 62 Brompton Rd, SW3.

Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, thirty-five-year-old Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, is a film producer, art collector, sportsman (`I’m practically always on the tennis court or something’), and financial consultant to an American investment fund. Supremely relaxed and the possessor of a wonderful throwaway wit, Lord Dufferin readily admits to being interested in clothes . . . ‘I can’t pretend I spend hours thinking about what I’m going to wear, but I do give it some thought. All men dress for effect. It’s very much like keeping a diary : you pretend the diary’s for yourself, but deep down you hope someone is going to read it some day.

`I find shirts and ties constricting and I seldom wear them unless I’m going to a business meeting. My favourite clothes for day and evening, if I’m going to a party where one can wear what one likes, are open-neck shirts, pullovers — I have about twenty-five — and sports jackets on top.’

He prefers his clothes close-fitting — ‘loose fit does nothing for one’s shape’. The fabrics he’s keenest on are corduroys, denim, velvet and lightweight wool — all the year round. Colour plays the most important part in his ward-robe. ‘I don’t usually wear checks or that sort of thing; I like solid colours in simple contrast —combinations like red, white and black — or different shades of the same colour. I like white very much for summer, I dislike yellow and am not really wild about green.’ Lord Dufferin sees himself as an impulse buyer with a touch of extravagance, but his formula sounds like a good one for guarding against mistakes.

`I feel that if something is right and you really like it and know you’re going to wear it a lot, then you should buy it. But if there’s any doubt at all, forget about it.’ He remains loyal to certain shops. Browns, which ‘saves one the trouble of having to shop abroad’, is his great source for trousers, sports jackets and pullovers, though he occasionally finds some he likes at the Village Gate shops. At John Michael he buys ready-to-wear suits and shoes.

What he refers to as his ‘ordered city suits’ come from Wealeson & Legate. His ties (`the few I buy’) and other accessories come from Harvie & Hudson. All of his shirts he buys ready made up. His conservative ones come from Harvie & Hudson; his others from Deborah & Clare — buy tons of shirts from them. I like their Swiss cottons and their silk shirts which I wear a lot in the evenings and for the summer.

`I honestly think that most people’s taste, including my own, is strongly suspect, so I stick to very straightforward clothes. They should make their effect effortlessly : you should be aware that someone’s wearing something nice without actually thinking about it.

Interview by Lendal Scott-Ellis.

It has been a while since I did a ‘Mensday’ post, but I thought the wonderfully elegant Marquess was very worthy of one. He very sadly died in 1988 of an AIDS related illness but his brief life left a legacy of supporting and promoting both modern art and film.

Photographed by Norman Eales.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, April 1974.

Black satin tunic top embroidered with brocade butterflies; £28.50, to order from Deborah & Clare, 29 Beauchamp Place, SW3.
Black cotton shirt printed with leaves; £9, Lakis, 48 South Audley St, W1. White cable knit cashmere sweater; £68.20, Mr Fish, 100 Mount St, W1.

All the pinks

1970s, Browns, Emeline, francois lamy, harpers and queen, Inspirational Images, sonia rykiel
Wide-sleeved jersey coat in pale rose pink; panelled skirt in same jersey, worn slightly longer than the coat ; same colour round-necked sweater; all by Sonia Rykiel; £111, £43 and £34, Browns. Narrow maroon leather belt ; about £6.50. Browns. Wide varnished wicker bangles ; £6 each, Emeline.

Showing your colours: Sonia Rykiel for France goes for all the pinks.

Photographed by Francois Lamy.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, February 1975.

Aubergine cardigan with lilac band on collar and cuffs ; long lilac sweater with aubergine band at the waist ; wide culottes in aubergine jersey; about £76, £35 and £43; all by Sonia Rykiel; Browns, 27 South Molton St, W1. Ivory and jet octangular bracelets ; £25 each; Emeline, 45 Beauchamp Place, SW3.

Serge Lutens

1970s, christian dior, Hair and make-up, harpers and queen, Make-up, Serge Lutens
Romanticism is the keynote of the new Dior look for autumn ’74, as created by Serge Lutens. All by Dior of course.

Photographed by Serge Lutens.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, September 1974.

Get in the backseat baby…

1970s, Cerruti, harpers and queen, janice wainwright, Mensday, menswear, Rolls Royce, Vintage Adverts, Washington Tremlett
Clothes by Washington Tremlett. Tie by Cerruti. Janice Wainwright skirt and tabard. Rolls Royce from Jack Barclay Ltd of Berkeley Square.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, December 1976.

Tokyo to Tahiti

1970s, harpers and queen, Jaeger, marie helvin, Vintage Adverts
Advert for Jaeger.

Model is Marie Helvin.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, October 1971.

A Peek at the Boutique: Howie

Mensday, british boutique movement, 1970s, harpers and queen, menswear, Boutiques, Howie Diffusion, Howie, Mrs Howie, Steve Campbell

‘Casual clothes for men.’ The phrase used to mean T-shirts and jeans. But since Paul Howie opened his shop at 352 Fulham Road, SW10, the phrase has taken on a new meaning: ‘soft, comfy, easy-to-wear looks; clothes that you can just put on and look good in without trying’. That says it all. Nearly all the clothes are exclusive to Howie, but Paul (in the picture) wears a light brown tie-belted raincoat by Deardon & Fay; £68.

Photographed by Steve Campbell.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, November 1974.

Every Body Needs a Little Comforting

1970s, Cars, harpers and queen, jeans, Mini, Vintage Adverts

Advert for the Mini Clubman.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, September 1974.

Stripes in Paris

1970s, harpers and queen, Rodier, Vintage Adverts
This winter in Paris, the trend is to stripes.

Advert for Rodier Paris.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, September 1976.

Cover Up

1970s, Antiquarius, Buckle Under, caroline smith, Christopher Morris, Du-Du, Equinox, Escalade, Foale and Tuffin, forbidden fruit, harpers and queen, Illustrations, Le Bistingo Boutique

A holiday necessity—to entice your gigolo, or simply preserve decency on the terrace for lunchtime drinks — is a cover-up. We’ve looked around, found the nicest ones in town and had them sketched here by Caroline Smith. Some you tie Polynesian style (remember Blue Lagoon?) round you; others you lie on, or in; others are like the simplest dress slipped over your head to demurely cover you up (don’t shock the curé) for church-seeing.

1 Du-Du at 95 Parkway, NW1 are in for a sell-out this summer with their ‘Kangas’. Kangas, for the uninformed, are long pieces of cotton in a huge variety of colours and patterns. They come from Africa and act like a sarong ; they cost about £3 and pack to the site of a handkerchief. 2 Foale & Tuffin‘s new swimsuit will take you right back to Nanny and the sand-pit. White and orange spotted seersucker with a shirred bodice and bloomers ; £7.50, from Countdown, 137 Kings Rd, SW3; Lucienne Phillips, 09 Knightsbridge, SW1. Proving that the cottage industry is thriving, Christopher Morris and his wife Lera, with a friend, Hazel McKenzie, recently opened Habari at 39 Sussex Place, W2. Christopher designs all the clothes, while Lera and Hazel dye the fabric and screen-print it into luscious patterns. They also sell things like the small basket shown below. It’s in brown and cream string and really pretty; £4.25. The dress has a hessian bodice and a low back (or front —depending on how you wear it) with a short voile skirt: £18-50. Peeping out from under the dress on the extreme right of this page you can see their leather sandal, shaped like a trapezium ; £4. 4 Le Bistingo Boutique at 93 Kings Rd, SW3, have gone to town on the Piz Buin collection of swimwear. Its made of polyester fabric —see-through and also tan-through. The designs are rather Tahitian with bright colours and bold flower prints. There are sarong skirts to match the bikinis and make you more respectable. If these still aren’t enough, the bikinis do also come in a less revealing material. The bikini is £7.80, the skirt £10.90. Le Bistingo have also latched on to another idea … if you find that by some strange quirk of fate you need a different sized bikini top and bottom, ‘Huit’ ) now make them separately up to 38″ bust ; £5.50 the set at Le Bistino. 5 Equinox in Antiquarius (135 Kings Rd, SW3) is owned by David Scott and James Goldsack who have got together a fantastic conglomeration of stock from all over the world. It’s a haven for all Indian enthusiasts, as there’s a jolly collection of Navajo Indian carpets and jewellery. You can also buy Spanish crockery which is very, very ‘earthy’ looking, or if you prefer to sit on a prayer mat and sip your tea out of a little Chinese bowl, then Equinox can cater for both these needs as well. So as not to stray too far away from the point of this month’s Shopping B, they also do a very nice line in beach cover-ups ; this one is Mexican and hand-embroidered on cotton, £20. 6 Guaranteed to keep off sunstroke : pretty red straw hat with tanan ribbon ; by Buckle Under about f6.50; from Harrods, Knightsbridge and Darlings, Bath. 7 Essential beach bag to hoard biros and postcards — in canvas, comes in various colours (this one is green). £4.95, Escalade, 187 Brompton Rd, SW3. 8 If you like long skirts and dresses beautifully embroidered, and soft cheesecloth skirts with appliqués, then the place to go is Forbidden Fruit at 352 Kings Rd, SW3. We chose a long cheesecloth skirt with dark brown embroidery around the hem and a matching shirt with shirring round the waist and neckline. Very soft and feminine; sold together, £15.

Illustrated by Caroline Smith.

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, July 1972.

In Spring, a young man’s fancy turns to Courtelle.

1970s, frank usher, harpers and queen, Vintage Adverts


“I’m the young man standing in front of the sunset looking as if butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth. I was caught red-handed mooning around the two girls in the picture, and they asked me to write this ad. They want me to tell you that the clothes they are wearing are designed by Frank Usher, and made in Courtelle Voile. Apparently that is a light, flowing fabric in 100% Courtelle, and is as easy to wash as throwing into a washing machine. I believe them, after all, who’s going to argue with such good looking girls”.

Can any men out there confirm if this is, indeed, true? I had no idea you all thought about synthetic fabrics so much to be honest…

Scanned from Harpers and Queen, May 1975.