Marc Leonard

Colouring Up

1970s, Adrian Mann, Browns, cacharel, charles jourdan, Correna, Crochetta, Derber, Dianyk, Escalade, Evelyn Desbrueres, Guy Taplin, Inspirational Images, James Drew, Janet Ibbotson, Janice Peskett, Knits and Leathers, manolo blahnik, Marc Leonard, mary quant, Nigel Lofthouse, Pedro Garcia, platforms, terry de havilland, vanity fair, Vintage Editorials, zapata
Leather platform-soled shoe (left), £17.50; sandal, £17, both from Charles Jourdan, 47 Brompton Road, SW1; tights by Quant, 40p at Peter Robinson, Oxford Circus, W1.

Take a dekko at the accessories screaming their brilliant way across these pages. Nothing quiet, tasteful or ladylike, about them. Hard shocking pinks grating with parrot green, brilliant turquoise, electric blue, and Elvis Presley metallics. Shooting adrenalin into your get-up, so that you go. Hardly the gear to wear if you want to be a lady spy and overlooked.

Photographed by Marc Leonard.

Scanned from Vanity Fair, January 1972.

Bit of a rescan from about ten years ago, when I only seemed to scan the Terry de Havilland boots and the Derber shoes. Anyway, the whole spread is a delight and deserves to be seen. Also, for the millionth time, no I’m not making up magazines. Vanity Fair was a UK publication of the Sixties and Seventies which got absorbed into Honey magazine in the early Seventies. It has nothing to do with the earlier or later American/International magazine of the same name. Presumably as a defunct magazine name in a different country there were no copyright issues. It was also a work of absolute creative bloody genius in this early Seventies period (see the category tag for other scans, including an editorial by Saul Leiter).

n.b. I have omitted the image alluded to further down in the black and white section but haven’t edited the word so you can see why I have omitted it. My apologies for any offence caused.

Boots by Terry de Havilland, £17.50 and £22.50 at Derber, 79 Wardour Street, W1. Tights by Quant, 40p at Peter Robinson Oxford Circus, W1.

Two shoes by Dianyk, both £8.50 at Derber, 79 Wardour Street.

Belt made from hand woven tweeds, by Nigel Lofthouse, about £7.25 from Escalade, Brompton Road, SW3 .

Striped flat shoe by Pedro Garcia, about £6.95 at Derber’s, 79 Wardour Street, W1; sock by Cacharel, £1.70 at Galeries Lafayette, Regent Street, W1. Watch by Gay Designs, £6.95 at Escalade. Knitted glove, £2 Browns, 27 South Molton St, W1

Knitted hat; and shoebag, by Janice Peskett, both £6 at Countdown, 137 Kings Road, SW3. Plastic rings, £1 each at the Adrien Mann boutique, Dickins & Jones, Regent Street, W1.

‘Fifties sunglasses by Correna, £1.25 at D H Evans, Oxford Street, W1 ; pearls from 75p at the Adrien Mann boutique, Dickins & Jones, Regent St, W1; plastic brooch, 50p at Universal Witness, 167 Fulham Road, SW3; plastic bangles, 45p each at the Adrien Mann boutique, Dickins & Jones.

Hand-woven multi-coloured tweed and leather clutch bag by Nigel Lofthouse, £25 at Escalade, Brompton Road, SW3. Striped peep-toe shoe by Mary Quant £5.50 at R.P Ellen, Oxford Street.

Blue tartan shoe on metallic blue platform, £16.50, tweed shoe, £17.75, both by Manolo Blahnik for Zapata, 49 Old Church Street, SW3.

Yellow suede belt with paste umbrella buckle by Guy Taplin, £2.80 at Bourne and Hollingsworth. Striped gloves, £1.45 from Miss Selfridge, Duke Street.

Black knitted pedal-pushers, £5, by Crochetta at Knits and Leathers; black plastic shoes £5.99 at Derber; silver and perspex clutch bag by Nigel Lofthouse, £10 from Escalade.

Wide black buckled belt, £10 from Janet Ibbotson, 9 Pond Place SW3; red and black knitted tie by Evelyn Desbrueres for Gay Designs £7 at Escalade; glasses by Correna, £1.50 at Selfridges.

Purple velvet bow tie, £2.50 at James Drew, Burlington Arcade, SW1. Sunglasses by Correna, £1.50 at D H Evans.

Shoe-bag £1 at Knits and Leathers, 5 Harewood Place, W1; turquoise gloves by Kirgloves, 65p at John Lewis, Oxford Street; turquoise plastic bracelet, 77½p at Selfridge, Oxford Street.

Guy Day: Bring your man up to date

1970s, british boutique movement, hard rock cafe, leonard, Marc Leonard, Mensday, menswear, missoni, mr freedom, sonia rykiel, stirling cooper, Tommy Roberts, vanity fair

Look at him. God's gift to women.

“Look at him. God’s gift to women.

But before you start chucking him back, remember the average British male is all you’ve got to work on. So get working on him. Tell him you think his barber stinks. Say you’ll scream if he turns up in that seedy safari jacket, with those baggy drainpipes, and bunion-hugging shoes again. Meantime, wear this pale blue hooded coat £45, matching poloneck with red chevron front £21, and matching trousers £28. All by Sonia Rykiel at Browns.”

This is a quite-frankly-amazing little photo story from Vanity Fair, which sees our Cinderfella hero being taken from baggy drainpipes to novelty-print-shirted Hard Rock Cafe God, via the Kensington Church Street branch of Mr Freedom and Leonard of Mayfair.

Photographed by Marc Leonard. Scanned by Miss Peelpants from Vanity Fair, January 1972

Once he's started growing his hair,

“Once he’s started growing his hair,

…swap the chat for action. Shove him into Mr. Freedom, 2- Kensington Church Street, W8. Strip off his drainpipes and fit him into a pair of red velvet jeans, £7.75. Rip off his jacket and zip him into a red-and-white satin top, £7.95. (It’s got FAR OUT splashed over the shoulders to make sure he gets the message). And while you’re there, buy yourself some pale blue satin trousers, £5.25, a furry acrylic leopard-skin blouse, £9.95, and a black pom-pom beret, £4.”

This is when the sow's ear really turns into a silk purse.

“This is when the sow’s ear really turns into a silk purse.

He’s at Leonard, 6 Upper Grosvenor Street, W1 (even if you had to frog march him there), being tactfully handled by Peter. Wash, cut and blow-dry costs £3.75, beard 5-p. extra – not much when you consider it’s made a mean-moody-magnificent out of that surly yobo of yours.”

Doesn't he look lovely?

“Doesn’t he look lovely?

Sitting in the Hard Rock Cafe in his grey wool barathea Stirling Cooper suit, £28.00 with a waistcoat, and his tiny-man-patterned shirt, £4.90. Both from Way-In, Hans Crescent, SW1. You’re in your Missoni four-piece (orangey battledress top, matching trousers, orange silky blouse and toning striped tank top). £75 from Browns. Thinking what a perfect couple you make. Except that now he’s thinking: ‘Blimey mate, you could do a lot better than her if you tried.'”