This must be underwater love….

1970s, biba, cherry twiss, flip schulke, Inspirational Images, mary quant, ossie clark, telegraph magazine

White pleated dress; £30 from a selection at the Prop Shop, 51 Old Church Street.

I can’t believe I’ve never scanned this before. Honestly, the backlog of scanning is ridiculous due to time constraints and the fact that all magazines other than early Honeys are a very Bad Size for my scanner. When will I ever have an A3 scanner? When will I ever have the room?

Anyway, this is an utterly delicious shoot from The Daily Telegraph Magazine, July 1972, featuring some seriously beautiful clothes actually worn underwater in the Bahamas. I must admit that part of me winces at the idea of a silk chiffon Ossie being ruined in the name of a photoshoot. But, then, this is an incredible shoot…and no one would dare do it now, with a vintage piece, so it’s totally unique. I genuinely think that Cherry Twiss is one of the great unsung heroes of British fashion journalism, I’ve always loved the Daily Telegraph Magazine shoots under her direction.

Fashion Editor: Cherry Twiss

Photographer: Flip Schulke

Model: Cathy Shirriff

Also, unfortunately, the Telegraph had a pretty lousy print at times – especially when it came to the small ‘inset’ images. I’ve done my best, but they’re low-res to start with I’m afraid. Still very enjoyable and inspirational though…

Dress by Suliman; £25

Red spotted voile nightdress from Biba; £10.25

Left: Top and skirt by Anokhi; £22.50 – Right: Chiffon dress by Ossie Clark at Quorum; £30

‘Capsule’ by Mary Quant; £4

Left: Silk dress from Rumak and Sample; £25.15 – Right: Chiffon caftan by Deliss; £79

Octopus scarf dress from Essenses (Stand N8 at Antiquarius); £30

Farewell Duffy

brian duffy, celia birtwell, ossie clark, quorum, telegraph magazine, thea porter

Both dresses by Sheridan Barnett for Quorum

Brian Duffy, 15 June 1933 – 31 May 2010

Thank you for making the world more beautiful. Photos by Duffy for The Daily Telegraph Magazine, September 1973.

Clothes by Jane Cattlin

Left: Thea Porter, Right: Missoni

Left: Ossie Clark, Right: Yves Saint Laurent

Left: Jean Muir, Right: Sheridan Barnett

Ctrl Alt Ossie

billie piper, celebrities in vintage, ossie clark, seventies fashion, telegraph magazine, Vogue

Vogue 1972

First of all, I would like to say ‘well done’ to Billie Piper for her gorgeous Ossie Clark on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. Not quite so well done on commenting on how musty and old it smells, but she looked so damn awesome I will forgive her. I will also forgive her for Doctor Who-related things. Perhaps….

I love how swamped she looks in it. It reminds me of when I’m wearing dresses like that and how I adore that feeling of being swamped in fabric, so many things are so very skimpily made nowadays that properly billowing sleeves are something of a novelty.

It got me thinking of alternative Ossies. Because she’s really only wearing a ‘Model T Ford’ one. Plain black, buttoned front, billowing sleeves, puppy-ear collar. It’s a divine frock, but it was vanilla essence in fabric form really. I love getting one in to sell, I even love them when they’ve been shortened because they’re so plain I really can’t criticise someone for wanting to make it ‘their own’. They are the perfect vintage wardrobe basic.

But sometimes I come across Ossies in old magazines which you would just never have credited to him in a million years. Not because of any design deficiency, quite the opposite. They’re just not the convention. No Celia print in sight. No billowing sleeves or puppy ear collar.

I’m not even talking about the early pieces. The panelled mod gear, or even the frilly satin minis. I’m seeing it throughout the Seventies, when anyone might think he was surgically attached to rolls of moss crepe and silk chiffon.

He was a master tailor, and very innovative. As were so many designers. But when you become known for ‘a look’, it’s rather difficult to move away from that – or at least, harder to sell. So here are a handful I can place right now, but I will certainly post some more if I ever find them. I’ve not even seen anything remotely like these turn up in reality. If they did, would anyone believe they were Ossies?

The Telegraph Magazine, early Seventies

We were at a particularly tipsy table…

art deco, Inspirational Images, seventies fashion, telegraph magazine, the great gatsby

I nearly always love these shoots from the Telegraph magazine; this is a particularly fabulous one inspired by the then-upcoming film of The Great Gatsby.

Veruschka goes cheap

1970s, biba, british boutique movement, bus stop, Inspirational Images, jeff banks, telegraph magazine, veruschka

I must admit, I’ve never really understood the whole Veruschka ‘thing’. I mean, clearly she’s never encountered the ugly stick in her life but I find her looks to be a bit….well……blahhhhhh. I like unusual, quirky looking people and she is frequently described as ‘amazonian’ and exotic but I simply cannot understand or see this.

Anyway, I slightly changed my mind when I saw this gorgeous spread in The Telegraph Magazine (something of a Seventies boutique bible at times) from 1972. Touted as “The price of looking like Veruschka is less than you think” and showing her in inexpensive British Boutique clothes, she actually looks quite cute for once…..and I really love the background of Woburn Abbey.

The front cover in a Jeff Banks smock is my joint favourite with the window shot of her in Bus Stop cheesecloth. But they’re all pretty fabulous……enjoy!!