Katy and Crowthers
Posted: April 5, 2008 Filed under: 1970s, british boutique movement, doctor who, doctor who companion fashion, personal collection, vintage fangirl squee Leave a comment »
Now I’ve managed to get my pesky scanner to start working again, I hope to get back on track blogging for you a lot more than I have been of late. Oh, and listing more gorgeous items too of course! But I must admit I often become absorbed by the piles and piles of magazines and photos I’ve accumulated and keep meaning to show and tell for you all.
I remembered I had finally got around to photographing a piece in my private collection (wonders will never cease!) which is a superb example of why labels aren’t always important to a collector.
I had often wondered who designed the dress I’d seen worn in a tiny publicity photo of Katy Manning (Jo Grant in Doctor Who…..the companion who seemed to live and breathe the Biba ideal). Eventually I saw the dress by chance on eBay one day and noted it was by fairly unknown boutique Crowthers (I want to say they were based in Manchester, but I have a feeling there was a London branch as well) who were in the habit of some very nifty Ossie and Biba knock-offs (but then, who wasn’t at that time?). I put it on my watch list, safe in the knowledge that no one knew what it was, it wasn’t a big name label and was unlikely to go out of my price range. Well, I was wrong. I think people just fell in love with its boutique-y gorgeousness, I’m fairly certain no one else was geeky enough to know about Katy wearing it.
So I sulked. For a bit. Well…..maybe more than a bit. [Shhhh!! Don't tell anyone how much of a brat Miss Peelpants can be when she's thwarted!] But now armed with the knowledge that it was by Crowthers, I could keep looking for it and hope that lightning might strike twice. And thank heavens it did! And courtesy of a good Doctor Who-fan-friend of mine, I was also able to nab a higher res. image of Katy wearing it. Hurrah!!
The only problem is that it’s really too big for me to ever wear (although I’ve yet to work out what on earth one wears with it anyway, since it’s an open-fronted overdress. Perhaps it had matching hotpants, but Katy is hiding whatever she’s wearing!!)……so if anyone EVER finds this dress in a super small size, pleaaaaaaaase let me know and I’d love to swap. I mean, I love my collection regardless of size but it’s always so much sweeter when you can actually wear it!
