Khaki cotton jersey swimsuit with fantail fish on shoulder and hip, by Jap. Hat by Jean-Charles Brosseau for Jap. Gold shoes by Manolo Blahnik.
Photographed by Willie Christie.
Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, April 1977.
Left: Fluid white Celon jersey twisted round the neck, falling through an embroidered belt in turquoise and tangerine. By Susan Small. Silver and gold shoes by Richard Smith for Chelsea Cobbler. Right: Devonshire cream chamois halter top, sashed over skirt of creamy wool sunray pleats by Jean Muir. Shoes in Liberty Tana Lawn by Manolo Blahnik for Zapata.
Photographed by Bailey.
Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, March 1972.
Navy chiffon pleats, sashed with navy ribbon, by Roland Klein at Marcel Fenez. Black leather shoes by Mary Quant.
Short sleeved pale lilac sweater by Beckol from Chelsea Girl. Silvery-grey cotton pedal pushers by Antony Price from Che Guevara. Red, white and blue tartan shoes from Zapata. Wide red elasticated belt by Otto Glantz.
Alright, your curves are generous, and your behind is big, but hooray! This is the look for you. We’re back to the era of pneumatic sweater girls, when clothes fitted like the skin of a peach, waists were pulled in with firm wide belts and everyone teetered on high, high heels. Now it’s all camped up with bright plastic jewellery, headscarves and colourful wooly sox (Twiggy-types will just have to resort to falsies and push up bras ‘cos, baby, it’s our turn now!)
Intriguingly, after all that copy about curves, the model is credited as wearing a padded bra with plastic air-filled falsies by Berlei…
Photographed by David Montgomery.
Photographs by courtesy of the Piccadilly Bowling Centre, 30 Shaftesbury Avenue.
Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vanity Fair, January 1972
Short sleeved sewater by Beckol from Chelsea Girl. Satin pedal pushers by Gillian Richard. Red suede platform shoes by Chelsea Cobbler. Red leather belt from Bus Stop.
Red dolman sleeved sweater by Erica Budd. Pedal pushers made by rolling up footless tights by Mary Quant. Red leather belt from Bus Stop. Black snake platform shoes from the Chelsea Cobbler.
Chalk blue socks by Mary Quant. Cherry leather platform shoes by Manolo Blahnik for Zapata.
Photographed by David Bailey.
Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, February 1973
Hand-printed silk dresses by Zandra Rhodes. White net shoes from Midas. Lilac leather shoes by Karl Lagerfeld from Chloe.
Photographed by Claus Wickrath. Make-up by Kirsty Climo.
Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Harpers and Queen, June 1980
Silk one shoulder top and frilled skirt, shoes and leather belt all by Karl Lagerfeld from Chloe.
Left: Raspberry cotton dress with satin belt by Sportmax. White patent leather shoes with bows by Manolo Blahnik. Centre and right: Silk camisoles by Fenn Wright & Manson. Cotton skirts by Jil Sander. Fuschia sandals by Midas.
Coat by Andrea Diamond. Yellow bodysuit by Fiorucci. Purple leather shoes by Manolo Blahnik.
I’m choosing to ignore the realness of the fur and just see these images as stunning tableaux portraying strong women in dominant poses. I hope you will too…
Photographed by Clive Arrowsmith. Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Harpers and Queen, November 1979
Coat by Frank Cooney. Black long sleeve leotard and black footless tights by Dansez from Topshop. Black leather sandals by Manolo Blahnik
Coat by Zwirn. Gold trousers and bustier by Ritzy. Red and gold leather shoes by Caovilla from Rayne.
Coat from Konrad. Skintight pink trousers and matching top by Betsey Johnson from Howie, 138 Long Acre. Metallic blue sandals by Walter Steiger.
Coat from National Fur Company. Strapless sequined top with skintight trousers from Ace. Black suede belt by Maxfield Parris. Black leather sandals by Manolo Blahnik,
Photographed by Barry Lategan
“It all begins and ends with the girl. There’s no such thing as a ‘sexy’ dress – it’s just so much fabric until it’s on the body. The look depends so much on the wearer. You have to keep in mind that some stage in the day it’s all got to come off. You see, I’m a realist.”
Oh yes! It’s another wonderful installment of ‘The Opinionated Mr Bates’* – see also here and here
“There’s a lot of rubbish talked about women dressing to please themselves or to impress other women. Women dress to please men. It’s for men that they keep themselves in shape, try out new make-up, change their hair. But it’s a very sad thing when a woman is frightened to move from what she knows her man likes. You can see it so clearly with wives and husbands; she suddenly ‘freezes’. Clever women know that by always looking the same you gradually make yourself invisible. That’s why I like to dress actresses – they’re not afraid to change and make men look at them with pleasure all over again. So each time I design a collection I make it new, concentrate on a different zone of the body… this time it’s the shoulders and arms, a way of cutting and gathering the sleeves.
“I think London women look better than anyone in the world. I admire the way Americans care, but it shows a little, and it shouldn’t. They’re best when they’re wearing the least make-up, and their hair shines like they invented shampoo, but come the witching hour of four o’clock… they’re hilarious. The French have a great way with shirts and sweaters and skirts, but we’ve been admiring that for thirty years. They’re inhibited- they won’t try something new. The English can be quite mad one day and very chic the next, and do it without any visible effort. Since the ‘sixties we’ve been enjoying fashion in a way that’s unique.
“I never want to hear the word ‘layers’ again. Let’s see the shape, let’s see it moving. I’m not talking about teenagers. I saw a woman who must have been 80 in one of my dresses at a party recently and the dress had a low neck. That could be a recipe for disaster, but it wasn’t. She looked great because she was thin and cheerful, she stood well, she’d looked after herself.”
Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vogue, February 1976. Photographed by Barry Lategan. All clothes by John Bates.
*I say this with tongue firmly in cheek, of course. I worship the man…
Photographed by Barry Lategan
Dress by Yuki
Scanned from Vogue, June 1976. Photographed by Barry Lategan. Modelled by Jerry Hall.
Dress by Yuki. Jewellery by Ken Lane.
Dress by Nettie Vogues. Sandals throughout by Manolo Blahnik at Zapata.
Dress by Antony Price from Che Guevara
I must admit that I am generally pretty ambivalent when it comes to model worship, but two of my absolute favourites are Pat Cleveland and Gala Mitchell. So imagine my delight when I found another issue of Vanity Fair from 1971 (December this time. Again, falling apart. What’s with the Vanity Fair binding?) and an entire spread with the two ladies I love? Imagine my further delight when I realise the shoot contains phenomenal clothes by Antony Price, Alice Pollock and Alcasura [sic]. It helps that it was photographed by the great David Montgomery (whose photos always seem to tickle my fancy).
Outfit by Alice Pollock. Shoes from Zapata.
Outfit by Alkasura. Shoes by The Chelsea Cobbler.
Dress by Simon Ellis from Just Looking
Dress by Martha Hill
Please excuse me while I mop up a large pool of drool which has mysteriously appeared on my keyboard….
Liz Eggleston 