Keeping Cool In Sticky Situations

cecil gee, clive arrowsmith, Foale and Tuffin, Inspirational Images, lee bender, marrian mcdonnell, observer magazine, ossie clark, Rosalind Yehuda, sixties
She wears top and trousers by Rosalind Yehuda (shoes by Sacha). He wears suit and shirt by Blades (shoes by Chelsea Cobbler).


Well we all need help with that. Sadly, this just means in terms of temperature. Although it is very much on my wavelength about such things. I just don’t see the need to instantly strip off as soon as there is a hint of sunlight.

Still wearing a moderate weight vintage coat, I was being blown along the seafront last weekend and frowning at people walking along in shorts. Do they just have a different inner thermostat to me? Or did they, as I suspect, look out of the window, see the sunshine and feel a steely determination to wear as few clothes as possible and get down to the beach? Chillblains or no chillblains…

Even when it genuinely is rather balmy, I still don’t see any great need to strip off…I like clothes too much.

Anyway, enough of my rambling and on with this superb spread from The Observer Magazine, 3 August 1969. Not only do I love the clothes (both his and hers), but I love the settings and overall feel of the photos by Clive Arrowsmith.

Hot days in sticky cities can be miserable. But there’s no need to take to a beach dress or wear your tie draped round your nabel. Keep morale up, temperature down with cover-up clothes in lightweight fabrics styled simply in cool, clear colours.

Dress by Foale and Tuffin. He wears Cerruti.

She wears Marrian McDonnell (shoes by Shoosissima). He wears suit by Cecil Gee, shirt and tie by Turnbull and Asser.

She wears ensemble by Foale and Tuffin (shoes by Biba). He wears suit by Fex Brothers, tie and shirt by Turnbull and Asser.

She wears dress by Lee Cecil for Jetsetters (shoes by Sacha). Silk scarf by Tony de Celis (the man in these pictures). He wears Gordon Deighton at Trend.

She wears Ossie Clark (boots by Chelsea Cobbler). He wears top and trousers from Feathers.