A white cotton lace dress by Mexicana, seen in the tranquil green surroundings of Mount Kennedy in Co. Wicklow.
Many designers look increasingly to the past for their inspiration, and, to find suitable backgrounds for modern clothes. Fashion Editor Cherry Twiss took a selection to Ireland where, with the help of the Irish Georgian Society, she discovered magical, timeless settings for the newest fashions.
“Upgathering Feather-like frills, they step demure as nuns, Nor heed the menacing eyes on every side, Dead set unceasingly like levelled guns. Truly I think each woman is a bird.” Seamus O’Sullivan, Birds.
As always, no shouting at the me for the furs please. Pretend they’re fake. Enjoy the pretty clothes and landscapes instead…
Plaits by Tovar Tresses at Miss Selfridge.
Hair by Roger at Vidal Sassoon.
Make-up by Estee Lauder.
Photographed by Anders Holmquist.
Scanned from The Telegraph Magazine, August 21st 1970.
Lofty ancestral staircase at Mount Ievers, Co. Clare makes a beautiful, subdued setting for Baccarat’s pleated skirt and printed suede tunic. The laced boots are by Deliss.
Recalling former glories at Dollardstown, a drifting Ascher silk giselle dress, all frills and flounces, designed by Gina Fratini and worn with a beaded choker. Taffeta boots from The Chelsea Cobbler.
Mount Ievers, reflected in its own pool, speaks for the brooding timelessness of old Ireland. The black velvet Diorling midi suit is worn with a winged, onyx clip. The black silk boots are made by Deliss.
Feather like frills in the tangled splendour of the grounds of Dollardstown, Co. Meath. Black pleated organza cape and dress by Nettie Vogues. Boots by Deliss.
At the gates of Mount Ievers, a swirling tweed cape, fringed in black wool, by the House of Worth. Leather boots by Deliss.
Cover picture of Erika Bergmann by John Kelly. Erika is wearing our Cosmo fluffy feather jacket offer – exclusive to Cosmo readers. Turn to page 99 for details. Eriika’s pink and silver lame dress, £9, pink bangle 55p, bunch of pinks 25p, all from Biba, Kensington High St, W8. Hair is arranged by Pauline of Michaeljohn, the make-up by Biba; eyes are shadowed with Havana Brown powder tint over Havana Brown gloss, with Sugar Pink powder under the eyebrows. The false lashes are Brown Spiders and the lipstick is Sugar Pink topped with lipgloss. The tan is the model’s own work.
Photographed by John Kelly (cover) and Bill Klein (feature).
Pale blue sisal hat with peacock feathers, by Buckle Under Enterprises, £10. Rayon crepe de Chine long-sleeved dress with multi-coloured wild flowers on a navy blue background with ribbons on its tie belt, by Sujon, £14.50. Red tights, by Mary Quant, 75p. White wet-look ankle-strap wedge sandals. from Ravel. £5.99.
Fresh and pretty is the look you should aim for this summer, with maybe an inch or two of knee bravely peeping out from under floral prints on crepe de Chine or crisp cotton. Match your dress with brightly coloured tights and wear straw hats adorned with bunches of fruit and flowers, or a silk scarf and wedge shoes to complete your summer ensemble.
Photographed by Duc.
Scanned from 19 Magazine, June 1971.
Cream sisal hat with flowers. by Buckle Under Enterprises, £10. Dress with bodice gathered into half yoke at front and a long sash tie, in crepe de Chine with pale pink and lemon flowers on a black background, by Crowthers, £11.50. Blue tights, by Mary Quant, 75p. White leather wedge shoes, from Ravel, £7.50. Red sisal hat, from Crowthers, £3.50. Floral printed short-sleeved crêpe de Chine dress in pastel colours, with artificial flowers on a décolleté neckline, by Crowthers, £11.25. Yellow tights, by Mary Quant, 75p. Wedge shoes, from Ravel, £7.50.
Straw hat from Crowthers, £3.50. Floral printed cotton dress with green, white and yellow flowers on puffed sleeves and skirt has a bodice of black cotton jersey, by Get, £5.50. Blue tights by Ballito, 40p. Yellow espadrilles, by Yves St. Laurent, £8.90. Navy cotton hankie tied over eyes by Herbert Johnson, 40p. Straw hat from Biba, £1.25. Cotton dress with red and yellow lowered print of puffed sleeves and skirt has a bodice of black cotton jersey, by Get, £5.50. Yellow tights by Ballito, 40p. Red espadrilles with rope wedge heels, by Yves St. Laurent, £8.90. Artificial flowers on hat, from Biba, £1.05 each.
Red cotton Liberty print smock with drawstring neck and patch pockets, by Foale and Tuffin, £15.50. White leather shoes, from Ravel, £7.50. Cotton dress in panels of three different Liberty prints, by Foale and Tuffin, £14. White leather shoes, from Ravel, £7.50. Rayon crepe de Chine dress with floral print, by Sujon, £14.50. White wet-look patent shoes, from Ravel, £5.99. Sisal hats, from Browns, £7. Silk scarves, by Jasper, £3.50. Tights, by Mary Quant, 75p. Hoola Hoops from Hamleys, London, W.1.
Beige sisal hat by Buckle Under Enterprises, £10. Sunshine yellow moss crepe dress with embroidered flowers at each side of the shirred, smocked-look front panel, by Florrie Carr, £9. Yellow tights by Mary Quant, 75p. Ankle-strap wedge sandals, from Ravel, £5.99.
Red sisal hat from Crowthers, £3.50. Floral crepe de Chine dress with a double collar, pin-tucked pleats, and thin tie belt, by Gillian Richard, £6.87. Grey tights by Mary Quant, 75p. White wedge shoes from Ravel, £7.50. Cream sisal hat from Browns, £7. Rayon dress with red poppies on a blue background, gathered into a square yoke, by Lee Bender for Bus Stop, £6.95. Red tights by Mary Quant, 75p. Wedge shoes from Ravel, £7.50. Red hankie around hat, from Herbert Johnson, 40p.
Long dress with side pleats and sash tie at back, in black marocain flower print, red poppies at the neck.
OSSIE CLARK, twenty-nine, designs clothes that would be right up the street for the woman whose profession is the oldest in the world. There’s nothing Woman’s Lib. here, thank you. His twelfth collection is outlandishly, gloriously and candidly tarty. But tarty in the ’40s and early ’50s sense of dressing: brazen, glamorous, passion-ately female. The cut of the clothes is masterful. The old black magic is there. Jazzy sequins. Star insets. High wedge heels. Ankle straps. Bias cut crepe. Oodles of pleats. Blowsy tulips and full-blown poppy prints. Plus black, and lots of it. You name it—it’s there, superbly executed.
Fabrics include new prints on marocain by Ossie’s wife, Celia Birtwell. Hairdos evoke memories of Rita Hayworth & Co. And contours are as they should be: breasts (bra-less), waists, hips and bottoms are all back in their rightful place — and proud of it. Ossie’s new clothes are as scarlet womanish as they are beautiful and witty. When you wear them you automatically adopt a Monroe wiggle.
Top price for a frock from his collection is £150, but around a fiver will buy you a printed crepe shirt. You may not be able to take this look seriously — but it will probably influence the way you dress next season. For Ossie’s secret as a designer is that his tarty vamps keep chic and never look cheap, jaded, or just plain common.
Photographed here are a selection of Ossie’s new clothes.
All enquiries for stockists and prices to Quorum Wholesale, 6 Burnsall Street, SW3.
Modelled by Kari-Ann Muller.
Hair by Richard at Maximillian.
Shoes by Manolo Blahnik for Zapata, 49 Old Church Street, SW3, from £17.75.
Photographed by Peter Rand.
Scanned from Flair, August 1971.
Red and green strawberry embroidery on black crepe Oxford bags, matching waistcoat and jacket and red blouse.
A Long, black, marocain dress side pleats, printed with pink and green begonias.
A black marocain multi-coloured flower print dress with suede halter bib trimmed with ric-rac.
Red, blue and green poppy and daisy print on black marocain hour-glass dress.
Red crepe off-the-shoulder dress (with strawberry embroidered 11″ jacket, not shown).
Left: Winceyette dress, Mary Quant, £14,15. Miss Selfridge. Hat, Britannia Land of Plenty. Quant tights, 75p. Ankle boots, Anello & Davide, £7.75. Far left: Top, Richard Green, £4.75. Way In. Wool pants, Mary Quant £6.60, Simpsons, W1. Hat, Diane Logan, £4.50. Quant tights, £1.50. Clogs, £5.99 Leicester Shoes at Up West, W1. (Inset: Winceyette dungarees, Gordon King, £7.54, Irvine Sellers. Cardigan Marshall London £4.50, Guys and Dolls. Beret, Kangol £1.40. Biba bracelet. Quant angora sox, 50p. Clogs £5.99, Leicester Shoes. Tom & Jerry dress, Travers Tempos, £5.90. Dickins and Jones, WI. Hat, Feathers, £6.50. Quant sox 50p. Slingback flatties, Bata, £7.99).
Winceyette steps gently from bedtime to daytime with a magic story to tell about dungarees and smocks, dresses and skirts. The prints are childlike, the colours soft and while they conjure up memories of long-ago nurseries they will make you everything that is adult and feminine.
Photographs taken at Pollock’s Toy Museum, Scala St., W1
Fashion by Marcia Brackett.
Photographed by John Carter.
Scanned from Petticoat, 12th August 1972.
House print smock top, Jeff Banks, £10, Fenwicks, W1. Wool pants, Mary Quant, £6.60. Simpsons W1. Hair comb, tailpieces 25p. Bilbo calf boots £9. Long winceyette skirt with kitten hem, Gordon King, £5.45 at Miss Selfridge. Airplane top, Maggi of London £4.30, at all branches of Snob. Pull-on hat Feathers. Angora sox Quant, 50p. Leather slip-ons, Samm, £8.95.
Striped top in winceyette with batwing sleeves, Dranella, £6.85 and pants, £7.10 at Miss Selfridge, W1. Scarf, £1 at Van der Fransen. Suede clogs, £4.99, Leicester shoes, Up West, Wl. Winceyette floral top, Traver Tempos 15.90, Sidney Smith, SW3. Wool Oxford bags Richard Green, £5.90, Way In. Necklace, Paul Stephens. Biba Bracelet, Edward Mann angora pull-on hat £2.60. Biba shoes £6.20.
Winceyette teddy print smock and matching skirt, Travers Tempos, £4.50 each at Sidney Smith SW3. Necklace from Britannia Land of Plenty SW3. Hair combs, Tailpieces 25p. Mary Quant shoes. Teddy pants and panelled top, Travers Tempos £8.50 at Sidney Smith SW3. Felt bowler Edward Mann £2.80. Swan brooch Britannia Land of Plenty.
Winceyette pyjama top, £6.60 and pants, £6.60 with kitten trim, Gordon King, Miss Selfridge, Quant sox, 50p. Hair slides, Tailpieces, 10p. Jersey dress with floral panels in winceyette, Gillian Richard, £8 at Way In. Quant wool tights £1.50. Bilbo midi boots, £9.
New flowering jewellery talent is David Courts from Hornsey and the Royal College of Art. His double-headed phoenix of violet champleve enamel, red gold, with diamond eyes, carrying an oval amethyst and suspended by three strands of draped chain, £1,500. David Courts’ work can be seen at Electrum, Upper Grosvenor Galleries, W.1.
Maxine Smith in the bedroom, where the four-poster is set on a mirrored podium. Her satin nightdress and jacket by Zandra Rhodes. Hair by Celine at Leonard.
DRESSED BY ZANDRA RHODES STAGED BY MAXINE SMITH
Maxine and Gary Smith moved to London from New York in 1971. Since then, Gary Smith, American television producer and winner of several Emmy Awards, has been working with Sir Lew Grade on television spectaculars, and Maxine Smith has been planning their London flat with Zandra Rhodes. The combination of their ideas has worked perfectly, with one taking over where the other left off. Initially, Zandra Rhodes designed a series of fabrics. Maxine Smith then had them printed to her own colour pattern by Alex McIntyre, often using the same colourway and design on different fabrics so that texture changes have been subtly worked from cotton to felt to satin. Some sur-faces are flat, others gathered – as in the hall where felt blends with draped cotton. Throughout there is an instantaneous impact of colour, wit and comfort. As one becomes accustomed to the colours, one realises that the sitting-room is designed for midnight rather than midday, the windows permanently shuttered and the curtains drawn. One notices the enormous portrait of Lenny Bruce by Gary Smith, ‘twenties’ armchairs with covered feet found by Maxine Smith in Antique City, the Vogue needlepoint cushions all worked by her mother. In the bedroom, apricot satin and taffetas with a felt print ceiling and apricot-coloured cupboards, the bed set on a mirrored podium, and covered with cushions. Other points of colour are the red telephone, the amber carpet. Next, a completely cupboarded dressing-room. Then, the apricot bathroom. Downstairs, past a neon sign—”I love Max”—and other such illuminations, to the dining-room: originally a cellar, now a brilliant blue small tent. The kitchen has dark rust-coloured prints, the ceiling hung with a thousand cooking utensils and an enormous electric lamp bulb found at Selfridges. Just off the kitchen a bar, a platform bat on steps, with three-tier cushions as bar stools, and an embroidery of Whistler’s mother by Malcolm Poynter, which came from the DM Gallery, Fulham Road. London’s galleries and off-beat furniture shops have produced many other pieces of art and amusement, some of them transformed by Zandra Rhodes’ coverings, others untouched, all with a special blend of humour and art.
Photographed by Henry Clarke.
Scanned from Vogue, late April 1975.
The downstairs bar with Malcolm Poynter’s embroidery of Whistler’s mother in the background, cushions instead of bar stools.
Two views of the sitting-room, Maxine Smith wearing a Zandra Rhodes’ dress of the same print as the walls—”The dress came first, the walls followed.” All fabrics by Zandra Rhodes, from the range at Christopher Vane Percy, 5 Weighhouse St, W.1
The garden room leading off the bar.
The hall draped with cotton print.
The blue tent dining-room with candlesticks by Carole McNicholl
Goya’s new fragrance sings of hayfields and hedgerows and clover and honeysuckle. It’s green but warmed by the sunshine – and the products contain the natural elements found in the waters of the famous French spas. Dress and hat from Browns, South Molton St, W.1.
Liz Eggleston 