Photo by Roger Charity. Petticoat, October 1971.
Left: Alexander Newman, Right: Electric Fittings
February is roughly the time I feel like I can step out of my boots and into some nice shoes again. Not least because my favourite boots are completely falling to bits right now. *whimper*. I also enjoy taking to the lighter-weight coats and jackets. Spring can’t come quickly enough for me right now…
Coat by Elgee. Gaucho pants by Thea Porter. Boots by Sacha.
I cry at everything. Songs on the radio. Films. Commercials. Nice things people say, do and write. My new niece. I’m the soppiest softie you could ever meet. And despite looking longingly at skimpier clothes and hoping for an improvement in the weather, I still love wrapping myself up in the softest velvets. I’m a complete sucker for textures which match my mood, and velvet is definitely protecting me from the horrors of the outside world right now. I adore this velvet-obsessed spread (entitled Velvet: The soft touch) from The Observer Magazine from December 1970. Photos by Steve Hiett.
I’ve got an incredible velvet Antony Price dress to be photographed and listed in the next week or so (along with lots of other goodies) but until then, I’ve still got an amazing velvet Forbidden Fruit dress and a Lee Bender for Bus Stop for sale in case you need a fix…
By Nettie Vogues. Boots by Charles Jourdan.
By Susan Small. Brooch by Thea Porter.
By Polly Peck. Boots by Biba.
By Gillian Richards. Shoes by Charles Jourdan.
Left: Dress by Clobber, shoes by Rowley and Oram. Right: Dress by Crowthers, shoes by Mary Quant.
After my Hollywood Clothes Shop post the other day, what should I find in a January 1971 (I am a geek on so many different levels…) copy of 19 Magazine but this amazing Forties-styled shoot. I actually aspire to this entire look so badly I want to cry just looking at it.
The amazing snakeskin and suede shoes throughout the shoot are credited to ‘Rowley and Oram’ (which, itself, is quite odd since I assumed that ‘label’ became defunct when Hollywood Clothes Shop opened…), which we can now all assume means that these shoes are by the amazing Mr Terry De Havilland. I’m not sure at what point his name became much coveted, but it’s interesting that he should be so badly uncredited here.
Left: Dress by Louis Caring. Right: Dress by Fotheringay and Hepplewaite, shoes by Mary Quant.
Dress by Tony Berkeley, shoes by Elliotts.
Left: Dress by Louis Caring, shoes by Rowley and Oram. Right: Linda Warren for Downtown, shoes by Rowley and Oram.
Left: Dress by Louis Caring, shoes by Elliotts. Right: Outfit by Tony Berkeley, shoes by Freeman Hardy Willis.
Left: Dress by Marlborough, shoes by Freeman Hardy Willis. Right: Dress by Louis Caring, shoes by Rowley and Oram.
There are a few boutiques, Alkasura and Che Guevara included, whose work is painfully abugly. Flat feet are not sexy and elegant.”
Hollywood Clothes Shop sounds like it was one of the best examples of those playfully indulgent Boutique interiors at the time, although its brevity of existence means that there’s not a lot of imagery to correlate with the descriptions of old cinema seats, and the mannequins, paintings and photographs of movie stars. So I was rather delighted to spot some delicious photos of Edina Ronay sporting some of the frocks in the boutique itself. Thank heavens for the ‘Vogue’s Own Boutique’ feature. From February 1971.
Here, Edina Ronay stars in clothes from the new Hollywood Clothes Shop, on Hollywood Road, where else? Zipped plaid jacket, below, 14 gns (£14.70). Stylish crepe and sparkling sequin cocktail suit of deep claret, 12 gns (£12.60), with turban of wrapped velvet and snakeskin, with authentic pin, 8gns (£8.40).
I’m finally off for a few days to spend my second Christmas and only New Year with someone special, so I won’t be around to blog. Thank you all so much for your comments over the past few days, and indeed the past year. I’ve been doing silly hours at work for a few weeks now, so I haven’t had time to comment as much as I would like on all of your blogs, so it means a lot to me.
Enjoy your New Year celebrations, as small or as huge as they may be. I suspect mine will involve a lot of champagne coupe action, so I’ll raise a glass to all my dear readers and fellow bloggers and say…
Happy New Lear! 😉
The amazing Mr Brownwindsor has furnished me with a much-desired copy of the [would be a cult if anyone knew about it] film Side by Side. From 1975, it has a lot to recommend it if you are anything like me and care not for plot or characterisation when there’s glam rock groups, immensely outrageous clothes and period location shooting involved. Even my beloved Fox make an appearance.
Most amazingly, there’s an incredible segment recorded on location at the Biba rooftop restaurant. Wicker peacock chairs, fringed lampshades et al. An incredible, and rare, insight into the then-soon-to-be-lost world of Big Biba and one which seems to have itself largely been lost in the mists of time.
No longer!
It’s oh so quiet…
…over here, isn’t it? I haven’t turned to ice, or been out enjoying the snow too much to blog. No, I’m back in the West End, with my latest one-woman show….. ahhh, just joking! I’m back at the ballet, dressing the newest version of The Nutcracker and the schedule is a bit punishing for all involved. So I’m grabbing moments when I can, to post out my wares and try to keep on top of things. But sadly, it means that I’m barely able to keep up with all you lovely bloggers and get half of the things done before Christmas that I needed and wanted to do. Argh! Anyway, to keep you going until I have time/energy to blog again, here is one of my all-time favourite Vogue shoots from December 1975. Beauty and grace personified…
Apologies to any coulrophobes out there!
By John Bates
By Gina Fratini
By Jorn Langberg
By Bill Gibb
By Thea Porter
By Zandra Rhodes
Main dress by Hanae Mori
By Nettie Vogues
Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe
Just to let you know, I can still post out before Christmas although I wouldn’t recommend relying too heavily on the postal service, given current weather issues and Christmas rush. But even if it doesn’t get there in time, remember, a vintage piece is not just for Christmas…
I was so sad to hear about Ingrid Pitt passing away the other day (do go and read about her fascinating life story). I know for most people she was mainly a Hammer Horror legend, but she was also in a couple of Doctor Who stories and I had heard so many brilliantly bonkers things about her over the years that it seems odd she should have died like any normal human being. Surely she should have been taken away in a swirl of smoke and chiffon?
Also, normally I would seek to avoid the topic of someone’s breasts, particularly if they’ve become notorious for them, but she seems to have revelled in their magnificence so it would be a shame not to… I know that when I die, I should like everyone to talk excessively about my ‘incredible arse’, regardless of anything else I might achieve 😉
…mainly because I don’t find it very hilarious. But the craptastic nylon bowlcut wigs, which Honey magazine seem to have just loved using endlessly in 1970-71, get me everytime.
Then they go and do a unisex craptastic wig advert and I’m just speechless….
Liz Eggleston 
