The first photo I have ever seen of the exterior of Kensington High Street boutique Che Guevara, home of Antony Price in the early Seventies. Gorgeous looking in every way…
I’ll take a Dorabelle T in Campari please!
I blogged about this advert ages ago, because she’s wearing a Jean Varon dress in the final picture. But at that point I didn’t recognise the model! How remiss of me. Scanned from Nova, November 1970, but I’m pretty sure it was an older advert than that.
Stirling Cooper (click to view listing)
Seems the diabolical month of January has given the world something of a February hangover. I just want the world to be filled with beautiful, sparkly things. I offer you sparkly Biba and Stirling Cooper, psychedelic perfection, mod heaven, sultry Biba blues and vibrant Varonishness. Amongst other things, of course. Enjoy!
Gerald McCann (click to view listing)
Angela Gore (click to view listing)
Betty Barclay (click to view listing)
Act III (click to view listing)
Biba (click to view listing)
Onzeur Trant (click to view listing)
Detail of amazing pink moss crepe dress (click to view listing)
Van Allan (click to view listing)
John Bates for Jean Varon (click to view listing)
(click to view listing)
Biba (click to view listing)
Jean Allen (click to view listing)
Jeff Banks for Clobber (click to view listing)
(click to view listing)
McCann by Bailey
Amongst the many new items I have just listed over at Vintage-a-Peel, is a superb piece by Gerald McCann. I have a huge fondness for McCann’s designs, and he was pretty easy on the eye as well.
Gerald McCann dress at Vintage-a-Peel. A snip at £85.
My own Gerald McCann dress was exhibited at the V&A in 2006 and remains one of my favourite pieces (although the size of my bum prevents me from wearing it, much like my beloved early Ossie Clark piece). I also have a beloved faux fur pea coat which has seen me through many a cold spell and pretty much goes with anything.
Similar coat scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.
Thankfully he was also heavily featured in Marnie Fogg’s book Boutique, and the V&A hold an interview with him in their archives, so his place in the history books is somewhat more assured than many other ‘lost’ designers.
"The Young Individualist Thinks Nobody Can Like McCann Can".
McCann's designs in the window of Lord and Taylor in New York. Scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.
My dress, beautifully photographed by the V&A
McCann designs illustrated. Scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.
I was also delighted to find a rare bit of footage of the great man himself from 1967. It was a slightly convoluted journey to get there; an email from the lovely Miss Rayne got me searching for a certain Ann Ladbury, which then led to the BBC’s new Archive website. Turns out that Ann Ladbury was involved with a programme called Clothes That Count, and episodes from 1967 and 1969 were available to view. Each episode approached a different aspect of clothing, helping viewers to create their own versions at home, and each episode would have a guest designer. Lo and behold, who should have appeared in December 1967 but Gerald McCann!
I do hope that the BBC archives are viewable outside the UK, although I have my doubts, and that you can all follow this link and enjoy. Mr McCann first puts in an appearance at around 21:45, if you can’t be doing with all the home dressmaking malarkey early on…. I particularly love that he admits he can’t set a sleeve!
Hang tag scanned from Boutique by Marnie Fogg.
1970
It’s not what you show it’s the way that you show it. Amen to that. Charnos lingerie is amongst my very favourite…
Scanned from Harpers and Queen, May 1976. Artist unknown.
Scanned from Men in Vogue, November 1966.
Mmmmm, patronising… Still, it’s a dude and his missus in faux fur coats so I find I cannot disapprove too much!
Scanned from Nova, October 1970. Photo of Libby Morris by Christa Peters.
Gucci, A/W 2011 Ossie Clark, early 1970s
Liz Eggleston 