Who loves you baby? Ossie, that’s who…

david bailey, marie helvin, ossie clark, ritz magazine, seventies fashion

Ossie Clark and Marie Helvin. Advert scanned from Ritz magazine, No.14 1978.

Incredible, rare late Seventies Ossie advert. It is of the greatest frustration to me that Judith Watt’s otherwise fantastic book cuts off sharply at 1975. I know his final years were difficult, frustrating and ultimately tragic, but he didn’t simply stop designing in 1975 – and I’m sure many of us would like to read, see and understand more about the later years.

Inspirational Images: Zandra and Ossie, 1970

bill cunningham, ossie clark, seventies fashion, zandra rhodes

Scanned from Zandra Rhodes: Textile Revolution: Medals, Wiggles and Pop 1961-1971

Photo by Bill Cunningham.

Inspirational Images: Knickerbockers and Choppers

chopper, flair magazine, knitwear, seventies fashion, Tony Moussoulides

Flair Magazine, January 1971. Photo by Tony Moussoulides.

Is there anything not perfect about this look? Knitted knickerbocker ensemble, striped tights, adorable shoes and nifty chopper bike? I think not…

Old graces never die

1930s, 1970s, caroline charles, jean muir, nova magazine, ossie clark, Sarah Moon, tuttabankem

Hats from C&A. Racoon jacket (left) by Tuttabankem for Philip Hockley. Furs (centre and right) by Femina Furs.

Dress like a little old lady and bring back a little grace to your life. It takes thin little frocks in fabrics for all season, new or second-hand; warmed up with wooly things next to the skin, cardigans and old furs, all shoulders, or old-looking brand-new furs. Flapper hats, lace-up shoes, fine jewels and a handbag to hang on to for dear life.

Photographed by Sarah Moon. Nova, October 1972

I’m looking to bring back the term ‘second-hand’, or even just ‘old’. Although I realise this is a hard one, given my website name. I liketo wear things that are second-hand and/or old. Thank you Nova and Sarah Moon for such immense beauty…

Left: Second hand dress from Civil Service Stores and cardigan from Charley’s. Centre: Fox cape by Femina Furs, dress by Jean Muir. Right: Jacket and skirt by Caroline Charles. Blue fox boa by Femina Furs.

Left: Second hand dress and cardigan from Charley’s. Centre: Skirt by Sheilagh Brown for Coopers. Blouse and fur cape second-hand from Charley’s. Right: Cardigan by Carroll at Joseph, second-hand dress and handbag from Virginia, blue fox boa from Femina Furs.

Left: Crepe wrap-around dress by Ossie Clark for Quorum, thermals by Damart, stockings at Donald Davies. Centre: Second hand blouse at Virginia, panties by Lux Lux. Right: Cardigan by Lil at Josephs, crepe skirt by Pierre Elegant, antique handbag at Virginia.

The Colour Craze

barbara hulanicki, Barbara Hulanicki, biba, caroline arber, didier duval, hair, Make-up, mary quant, seventies fashion, steven hiett, vanity fair

Green says Biba. Photo by Caroline Arber.

All the top beauty talent is currently colour-crazy – and we’re very much for it; it’s a fabulous enlivener of the grey winter scene. Your party look could be a variant of any of the gloriously off-beat ideas you see here – and anyone who considers green lips unnatural might dwell, briefly, on the knock-you-down naturalness of bright plum or orange ones.

Vanity Fair, December 1971

Violet says Pablo – Elizabeth Arden’s ebullient young creative director.

Rainbow hair says Michael at Crimpers. Photo by Steve Hiett.

Any colours you like says Vanity Fair, using Mary Quant’s crayons. Photo by Didier Duval.

How to Charm Prince Charming

alain vivier, barbara hulanicki, Barbara Hulanicki, biba, crowthers, gillian richard, Honey Magazine, miss mouse, platforms, rae spencer cullen, seventies fashion, simon massey, van der fransen

The intricacies of the make-up details and advice don’t particularly interest me in this article, but the photographs are simply incredible. Apologies for the creasing, sometimes things (and people) get a little crumpled over the years.

Honey, December 1972. Photos by Alain Vivier

Just an Old-Fashioned Girl

Old rose printed satin halter dress by Van der Fransen, £10. Shawl from Chelsea Antique Market. Shoes by Leicester, £10.99

Fifties Fan

Shimmering lurex ‘cigarette girl’ halter top with pussy bow and pencil slim taffeta skirt from Crowthers, £10.95. Shoes by Sacha, £12.99.

Instant Heiress

Jersey and candy stripe satin dress by Gillian Richard, £8.75 from Pinocchio. Shoes by Leicester shoes, £9.99.

Pretty Little Thing

Frothy net and taffeta skirt with tightly ruched stone-studded strapless top by Miss Mouse, £10.50 and £7.

The Lady is a Vamp

Tiger striped satin dress, £12.50 from Biba. Shoes by Sacha, £12.99.

Little Girl Lost

Short moire dress by Simon Massey, £12.75.Spotted bow fronted shoes by Samm, £7.95.

Legendary Beauty

alice pollock, bus stop, celia birtwell, fashion mouse, janice wainwright, john kelly, ossie clark, pre-raphaelite, quorum, seventies fashion, simon massey, vanity fair, wightwick manor

By Alice Pollock at Quorum*, 19gns. The settee is covered in the original William Morris Bird Design.

There’s a marvellously romantic feeling about the Pre-Raphaelite look. It starts with your hair…soft, natural, framing your face in a ripple of tiny waves. It touches your skin…pale, delicate, un-made-up looking. It colours your clothes…crepe, chiffons and satins in rich hues. Start wearing this great, romantic look today – who knows, he might just start being very romantic to you!

Scanned from Vanity Fair, May 1970. Photographed by John Kelly at Wightwick Manor.

*This is a misattribution, the dress is actually an Ossie.

Dress by Simon Massey, £15. Photographed against a Burne Jones tapestry.

Dress by Fashion Mouse, £22. Photographed against the Kempe stained glass windows.

Dress by Bus Stop, £5. Photographed against a painting by Rossetti pupil Treffry Dunn.

Inspirational Images: Marie Helvin, 1971

Inspirational Images, jeff banks, marie helvin, seventies fashion, Tony Moussoulides

Marie Helvin in a Jeff Banks dress, 1971. Photo by Tony Moussoulides.

Tweedy Autumn Perfection

autumn, bill klein, daywear, kangol, petticoat magazine, seventies fashion, stirling cooper, Vivienne Lynn, wallis

Skirt by Sujon. Polo by John Craig. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from Van der Fransen.

This spread is everything I love about Autumn and Winter, and how I am often attired. Interesting clothes: textures, colours and embellishments; hats, scarves, tights etc. But sometimes I seem to forget to post more daywear spreads, I suppose because they were often less interestingly photographed and displayed; sometimes even borderline chaotic. But I don’t see why that needs or needed to be. Daytimes can be the most expressive times for me…

This shoot is particularly beautiful and, for me, inspirational.

Photos by Bill Klein. Petticoat, November 1974

Skirt by Wallis Shops. Polo by John Craig. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from Van der Fransen. Shoes by Saxone.

Skirt by Wallis. Sweater by Mushroom. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from Van der Fransen. Sox by Kickers. Saxone shoes.

Skirt by Left Bank. Sweater by John Craig. Beret by Kangol. Scarf from “208″ SW10. Shoes by Saxone

Skirt by City Swingers. Sweater from Leaves. Quant sox. Shoes by Elliott.

Tweed skirt and hat from Bombacha. Polo from Dorothy Perkins. Shoes by Saxone.

Velvet skirt by Stirling Cooper. Shirt by John Craig. Waistcoat from Dorothy Perkins. Beret from Marida.

Duffy (finally)

1960s, amanda lear, book reviews, brian duffy, jean shrimpton, michael sarne, mild sauce, pierre la roche, seventies fashion, the sweet

Queen magazine, 1963

Although you’ll all have long since forgotten that I promised to review the fantastic Duffy book (published by ACC. RRP £45 but currently £31.98 on Amazon.co.uk), I certainly haven’t and it’s been rather weighing on my mind. In fact, I’m troubled by the fact that I rarely seem to have the energy to type long, rambling blog posts at all these days.

So, as I often do, I will largely leave the photographs to do the communicating. Which is rather the point of the book itself. It is not a weighty tome about the life of the man, rather it is a weighty tome about the talent of the man. The talent which made him world-famous, but eventually left him feeling so trapped he had to [pretty much literally] destroy it in order to escape it. Page after page of gorgeous women, swinging dudes of the highest and lowest order and generally Interesting People. But it also covers the later period, the advertising and the selling-out, or ‘prostitution’ as he honestly described it.

I have to admit, I’m always on the look out for new Duffy shoots in my magazines because I’m almost rather bored of seeing the same ones shown again and again. And to be fair, of course, in Duffy’s case there is the genuine problem with the complete lack of original source material. His son Chris has spent years reassembling the archive, and I have to respect the labour of love that this project has become. Thankfully, the book is more varied than the exhibition I attended earlier this year would lead you to believe. I have scanned a few of my personal favourites, which I hope will communicate the beauty of his work.

A pet hate must be noted at this point, which is that these books rarely identify the designer of the clothes worn in the pictures. I know it doesn’t seem like much to a non-clothes obsessive, but I want to know if that dress really was by so-and-so and I find it infuriating for such information to be left out when surely it must be known?

Obviously, luxuriously printed and sized books such as this require the highest calibre of image quality for reproduction purposes, but it would be nice, in a few years time, to see a book which features more obscurities, more magazine tear-sheets and clippings; covering the lesser-known styles and techniques he used. For there are many. I mean, David Bailey has had enough books about him to last a lifetime; Brian Duffy certainly deserves another one.

Definitely one for the Christmas list. And watch out, because I’m going to be reviewing more books to put on your Christmas list over the next few weeks. Yes indeed.