Guide to Feminine London
Posted: May 22, 2012 Filed under: 1970s, biba, Boston-151, british boutique movement, carnaby street, countdown, crowthers, Emmerton and Lambert, Foale and Tuffin, Illustrations, Janet Ibbotson, just looking, laura ashley, marrian mcdonnell, Michael Farrell, mr freedom, rowley and oram, stirling cooper, stop the shop, Suliman, thea porter, universal witness, yves saint laurent 2 Comments »
Illustrated by Michael Farrell. Click to enlarge.
Oh I do love a good map. Especially a fantastically illustrated map of all my favourite shops in London in 1971. It is the nearest I will ever come to being able to walk around them. Sadness ensues…
Scanned from Vanity Fair, July 1971.
Inspirational Images: Dungarees and Rabbits
Posted: July 2, 2011 Filed under: 19 magazine, miss mouse, paris, platforms, seventies fashion, universal witness 9 Comments » |
||
| Sundress by Universal Witness. Shoes by Sacha. Bag by Miss Mouse. |
Smartie Pants
Posted: September 3, 2010 Filed under: bus stop, celia birtwell, christian dior, clobber, hotpants, mary quant, mr freedom, ossie clark, ritva, seventies fashion, stirling cooper, telegraph magazine, universal witness, yves saint laurent 7 Comments »
Photographed by Patrick Russell. April 1971
The title of this Telegraph Magazine spread on hotpants (as promised yesterday) tickled me somewhat. My boyfriend calls me a smartie pants on a regular basis (I thoroughly deserve it. Full of useless information and a tendency to smart-arsedly correct people. I can’t stop myself. I think I deserve a smack, quite frankly.) and obviously the fact that I love the word ‘pants’ makes me gravitate towards pant-related puns. Of course, pants means trousers (or, “kecks”, in my world) in the United States. Which rather renders my whole ‘emmapeelpants’ thing rather less naughty than it is in the United Kingdom. Where pants means, well, underwear (or, “undercrackers”, in my world).
Outfit by Anthony for Stirling Cooper. All menswear by YSL.
Anyway, hotpants works on both sides of the atlantic. Mary Quant claims to have invented them (she also invented duvet covers, bread bins, make-up, tights and probably sliced bread as well) so if she named them, then they would stem from the British meaning of the word pants. But it makes more sense from the American meaning, because they’re hotter than ‘pants’. Sturdier, fuller versions of ‘underpants’ could never be ‘hotter’. But truthfully, I have no idea who coined the term. And I’m just being silly.
Shorts and top by Bus Stop. Shirt by Toto from Crowthers
Outfit by Diane Crawshaw for Mr Freedom
Top and scarf by Ossie Clark from Quorum. Shorts by Clobber
I’ve never actually been out in hotpants. When I was younger, I thought my bum was far too large. Now I’m older, and wiser, and quite like my bottom, I feel like I might be a bit too old for them. Of course, I mean this Seventies style where you wear lovely thick, possibly coloured, tights (© Quant), I would never bare my naked thighs and tush to the world. I also don’t really like ‘formal shorts’ (even the word makes me wince) and there are far too many leggy 20-somethings running around in cut-off denims at the moment. However, I’m sure that if I could find the Quorum + Clobber = Heaven outfit above, I would go out in that.
Outfit on left by Diorling at Christian Dior. Outfit on right by Sheilagh Blagden at Stirling Cooper
Outfit on left by Ritva. Outfit on right by Paul Reeves for Universal Witness.
I’d love to hear any opinions or hotpant-related anecdotes from my lovely readers. I’m also going to go off and listen to the divine John Foxx’s Underpa[nt]ss, and you’re welcome to join me.
