Ooh, it’s Rachel Weisz in Ossie Clark!

1970s, british boutique movement, celebrities in vintage, celia birtwell, ossie clark

The lovely Cherie over at Shrimpton Couture is normally the first to post celeb vintage spots, and I have to admit I’m not normally one to be spotting them (unless they’re Ossies it would seem). So I was interested to see Rachel Weisz over at Gofugyourself, wearing a Celia print Ossie.


Now, I will admit that it looks pretty hacked and the stunning Miss Weisz should NOT be wearing anything with a beige base to it (I speak from bitter experience here, and it looks like she has a similar skintone to mine…) – but I’m going to give her a break because she’s wearing an Ossie and she’s a pretty fabulous girl. Next time I’d suggest stronger colours and a longer length. What sayeth you all?

Must See Vintage Films: There’s a Girl in My Soup

1960s, alice pollock, british boutique movement, celia birtwell, goldie hawn, ossie clark, peter sellers, quorum, vintage fangirl squee
Or, There’s a Girl in My Ossie….

If you haven’t already seen the fabulous There’s a Girl in My Soup, please do so immediately! Quite apart from its general Swinging Sixties fabulousness (Goldie Hawn, Peter Sellers and a very groovy soundtrack), Ms. Hawn’s entire wardrobe was designed by Ossie Clark AND Alice Pollock. Quite how a poor American girl living in a basement with her sleazy boyfriend could afford Alice and Ossie to start with, I’ll never know – but I guess that’s why we watch films.

We first meet her in a very sassy little yellow ruffled crop top, navy blue calf-length crepe skirt and an astonishing blue and yellow high collared cloak.

On their jaunt to France, she gets sozzled in a see-through green chiffon mini dress with plunging ruffled neckline, buttoned back and matching green knickers (quite clearly visible even before she disgraces herself and gets carried around on his shoulder).

Next she dons a gorgeous cream chiffon blouse (the ruffles do the concealment work of a bra, apparently), flippy cream maxi skirt and a trailing chiffon trimmed straw hat.

We briefly see what looks like an incredible pink crepe maxi overdress and a floppy pink felt hat which is trimmed with a distinctive Celia print chiffon.

Then she happens to run across a Boutique in which she finds the most incredibly vibrant Celia-print halter neck maxi (if only t’were that easy these days) in which she dances the night away with a garland of flowers around her neck.

Finally, her new found confidence and savvy is reflected in a super sharp black skirt suit with a cream silk sharp collared blouse (and some serious hair!).

Girl, I want your wardrobe!

Kate Moss at Topshop….what a joke

british boutique movement, bus stop, kate moss, lee bender, Ms Peelpants' rants, ossie clark, topshop

I queued patiently to buy some of the Celia magic, I tried to zone out the people standing around muttering “No idea who this woman is, but I know this stuff will sell on ebay”, I narrowly avoided being ripped to shreds as the rails were pushed out and all hell broke loose. I bought the pieces which had some manufacturing integrity (did anyone actually ever wear that botticelli print silk monstrosity?? so badly made I wanted to weep….) and put my years of hardened vintage shopping to good use as I walked around clutching the dress everyone was wetting themselves over and ignoring the black market-level dirty looks and whispers of ‘are you buying that?’

It was fun as a one-off. Something to tell the grandkids about, since I don’t have a Biba experience like that to share.

I didn’t bother second time around, the second collection was a poor relation and I don’t need the hassle. I’d rather spend my time and money getting an original.But at least she designed the prints and had some claim to the copied shapes of Ossie’s. The woman has talent.

Kate Moss in the original (left) and the Topshop copy (right)

Kate Moss at Topshop is a travesty. Normally such a non-event would barely register in the world of Ms. Peelpants. I couldn’t care less about Madonna at H&M, Lily Allen at New Look or even some of the least talented designers in the world getting deals with the same shops (naming no names, but I’ve heard some very interesting first-hand things about one of them lately and am suitably smug that I guessed they had no talent years ago). But Kate Moss at Topshop has affected me on a very personal level, and opened eyes to the true extent of the shallow money-grabbing at the heart of the fashion world these days.

I remember noting with amusement that Kate Moss had a vintage Bus Stop dress I also have. Much like the Ossie jacket she once wore, it’s always a nice little nod to the vintage community that vintage is still cool and it can do wonders for the image of what are, to most people’s minds, just someone’s old cast-offs. We know they’re not, but sometimes the challenge is to change other people’s perceptions. Kate Moss did the vintage community a lot of good in the past, but now she’s cheated on us.

For she has now ‘allowed’ (inverted commas to note that it is not her place to allow such a thing) Topshop to copy the aforementioned dress for her ‘collection’. A travesty so awful, on so many levels it’s taken me about a week to calm down enough to write this. They’ve copied the dress exactly, even down to getting the print copied and the detailing around the neck and on the sleeves. To add insult to injury, the dress in her closet had been hacked with what looks like nail scissors and is now a bum-skimming mini dress. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I see how badly out of proportion even the remake is. They’ve remade a ruined dress.

Lee Bender should sue Topshop. Her work has been copied stitch for stitch. It’s one thing to be inspired, Bender herself would have to admit that the dress was heavily inspired by dresses of the Forties, but there’s no room for the word inspiration here. This is duplication and it’s disgusting.

On a more personal level, one of my absolute favourite dresses has been ruined for me. This year everyone will think I’m wearing bleeding Kate Moss at Topshop. Next year, everyone will think I’m wearing two seasons old bleeding Kate Moss at Topshop. Two years time, perhaps the fashion world with its attention span of a gnat might have forgotten all about Kate Moss at Topshop (or perhaps Kate Moss herself, we can but hope).But my dress will still be tainted by the association and I resent the fact that I will always have to think carefully about whether to wear it or not. To sell it now would be to cash in. To sell next year, well no one will want the same problems I would have. But really, I don’t want to sell it. I bought it for me, and it fits me like it was stitched to my body.

Yours truly in the original dress

Fashion Icon of the Moment: Françoise Hardy

1960s, british boutique movement, fashion icon of the moment, Foale and Tuffin, Françoise Hardy, Paco Rabanne


Françoise Hardy – Lank Haired Goddess
‘Another pouting French goddess??’, I hear you cry? Françoise Hardy is a cut above your average though. An extraordinarily talented singer and songwriter, Françoise charmed audiences throughout Europe in the Sixties. With her long, heavily fringed brown hair and youthful ‘ye ye’ music style, she was quite a radical figure on the French music scene along with Serge Gainsbourgh and her future husband, Jacques Dutronc.


Her style developed from slightly mousey, minimalist Parisian girl to a proper Swinging Sixties Chick who wore clothes by the likes of Foale and Tuffin and Paco Rabanne. She’s also managed to grow old gracefully, and remains a stunningly beautiful, elegant woman. Françoise Hardy, we salute you!

If you can’t afford the car, try this instead…

1960s, alice pollock, british boutique movement, celia birtwell, ossie clark, radley, twiggy

Certainly a worthy recipient of the name Lamborghini, just look at the sleek lines and general aesthetically pleasing-ness of it all. Ossie was one of the main proponents of the trouser suit, and this swiftly became one of his most iconic pieces once Twiggy wore the ‘couture’ original. It was also produced for Radley in the first year of their collaboration with Ossie and Alice Pollock, successfully showing that their designs could easily be manufactured more affordably.

It’s a real stunner. From the classic Ossie suit tailoring (often overlooked in favour of the dresses) in champagne satin, to Celia Birtwell’s chinoiserie print trousers. I must confess that the chinoiserie is one of my favourites, it just works so well on satin! Although obviously Ossies are born to be worn, this beauty is certainly a collector’s dream and a rare museum quality piece by one of the most revered designers this country has ever had. Wearable art.

Musings on vintage…

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Someone posted a mini questionnaire over at the Vintage Fashion Guild forums about vintage and its popularity. For some reason best known only to my tired but inspired fingers, I actually came up with some answers. I often get bored with talking about it, sometimes the mere mention of the word ‘vintage’ can make me want to crash headfirst back into bed in the morning. Just the word, mind….not the frocks. I’m mainly interested in the clothes and the history – I’m not terribly inspired by ‘trends’ and I often get frustrated by the commercialization of vintage (Topshop vintage, anyone?). But I thought I’d type what came into my head and here are my answers.

Q:how do you define ‘vintage’?

A:The lines are so blurred now, with items just one season old often being referred to as vintage. I personally view something as vintage if it somehow encapsulates an era, or even a small aspect of an era. An old dress is an old dress, but what makes it vintage to me is that it should feel ‘of its time’ and have some meaning and/or history. Like the dictionary says, “the class of a dated object with reference to era of production or use”.

Q:why do you believe vintage fashion is increasing in popularity?

A:Because ‘fashion’ is pretty much dead these days. Wearability is rarely taken into consideration, and neither is the variety of shapes and looks of most people in the world. With vintage, you can find the era to which you are best suited and not fear the bi-annual ‘charcoal is the new black’ and size zero debates. You don’t have to be a slave to what the shops are stocking if you know you can find what you want from vintage.

Q:what motivates people to buy vintage clothes?

A:Freedom of choice, and wide range of choice. Quality construction and high end style, usually without the modern high end price tag. Nostalgia for an era you feel an affinity to. Many people also like the idea that it is also a financial investment, it may increase in value but you can enjoy wearing it in the meantime.

Hmmm….

Anyway, I’ve just listed a gorgeous Bus Stop frock over on eBay and there’ll be more goodies to come over this coming week. I’m also lining up some fabulous new pieces for the website, including the iconic Lamborghini trouser suit by Ossie Clark (yes, with a Celia print – hurrah!!) which was famously worn by Twiggy in the late Sixties.

Happy New Year!

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Dear All,

Just a little note to say thank you to all my customers for making 2006 such a wonderful year. I hope you’re continuing to enjoy your vintage finery, and that you will make a return visit in 2007. Finally launching Vintage-a-Peel.co.uk was the culmination of several years ambition and hard work. Thank you SO much to everyone for their patience, support and such kind feedback on the ”finished” product!

I know I have been a little quiet of late (in terms of eBay at any rate, my life has been anything but quiet this past month) but rest assured that I will be returning full throttle very soon, and that I’ve been busily acquiring some even MORE amazing pieces for your viewing and, hopefully, wearing pleasure…

Lots of love,

Liz xxx


Bottoms up!!

Fashion Icon of the Month: Brigitte Bardot

1960s, brigitte bardot, fashion icon of the moment

Brigitte Bardot – Parisian Pouting Pussycat

Over the last fifty years, countless women have spent hours in front of their mirror, trying to perfect that Bardot pout. Her style was that effortless chic so few people possess, but we all try to imitate. A simple black headband, an unassuming little sheath dress, a flash of liquid eyeliner and plenty of sultry attitude to top it off. Sometimes she only needed a towel or strategically placed flowers – the minx!

She also managed to get sexier and sexier the older she got. The fresh-faced Fifties ingenue soon became a sultry Sixties sex siren, her gaze projected confidence and sexuality – helped along by some more revealing clothes – but always looking sophisticated rather than cheap. Every actress, model and wannabe seems to have done a Bardot-a-like photoshoot at some point in their career…but no one has or ever will come close to her. That je ne sais quoi indeed!

I get the strangest feeling….

Ms Peelpants' rants, topshop

…when I walk into Topshop and I start to wonder if they’ve been rooting around in my wardrobe. They’ve crept into my flat, in the dead of night, and swiped patterns from my favourite vintage clothes. At least, that’s how it feels.

Let’s face it, mainstream fashion ate itself a long time ago but are they really trying to tell me that they have NO original ideas to rub together at all?? I might be walking around in fashions of the past, but at least I’m honest about it. High street shops are meant to be peddling modernity; even the Forties revival in the Seventies was done with real glam rock relish and refreshed, somewhat modernised. The Sixties/Seventies/Eighties/Nineties revival we’re currently seeing is a pale imitation of those eras. They can’t even make up their minds, one decade revival at a time is simply not enough anymore. Fashion moves so fast, it must regurgitate its past five times a year.

Where are the fresh ideas? I might not wear them, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to see them. What’s the look of the noughties? Is it a fashion stew? All bitty, overcooked, trying to cater to too many tastes and just winding up bland? I swear I’m even seeing Topshop reproduce pieces I remember seeing in there circa 1993. Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!!!

If you’re going to copy something line for line, at least take it to another level. Try something different with it. There are only so many ways to cut a dress, but don’t just go for the easiest option. It’s dull and usually very poorly made.

Another good reason to keep buying vintage 🙂

Pick any dream…..

1960s, 1970s, british boutique movement, Gina Fratini, john bates

…and Gina Fratini has a dress to match. So says the London Fashion Guide of 1975. I can’t help but agree with them. Fratini is a criminally underrated designer. She has her fans, me being one of them, but rather like John Bates has been overlooked in favour of the real exhibitionists of the era.

‘As a child I dressed everything from dolls and Teddy to my dog. I never though about a career – I just did it.’ The words float over a studio that looks like a rainy-day dress-up box, full of Victorian dolls, whimsical plants and miles of lace laid out like a daisy chain.

The London Fashion Guide, Spring 1975

I think this is the reason I adore her clothes. She started out in costume (like myself) and this ‘dressing up box’ approach to fashion lends her clothes a romantic, whimsical and period edge. Her approach is something I can relate to as well.

‘When I design a dress it gets half made, then I add a bit here and there. When I’m working on a dress I’ll rummage and play with the lace all day, and suddenly I can feel it coming together.’

She salvaged a basement full of antique lace from shops which were closing down in the Sixties, and used this and predominantly natural fabrics in her work. Fratini was never about practicality or minimalism, she was truly a girl’s girl. Her motto is as apt for today as it was back then;

‘One works all day, and afterward there should be a time to really take off. That’s why I love doing these fantasy dresses. You’ve got to dream – these days more than ever.’

Above Left: Alice in Vintageland – an adorable gingham smock dress with pierrot collar and huge patch pockets. Right:You’ll feel like a Regency dream in this utterly, unashamedly romantic muslin dress from the late Sixties.