As I waved goodbye to London Fashion Week at the closing party hosted by Sony and Next Models, feeling the thumping music and surrounded by 600 of the most beautiful men and women I have ever seen letting their hair down, my mind was already on the next major fashion events in the calendar…Milan Fashion Week, The Oscars in LA and The Olivier Awards in London!
By the end of London Fashion Week, I had over 60 pieces selected by clients, the fashion press and models for Milan Fashion Week; I was deep in fittings for a client walking the red carpet at The Oscars in LA and I was dressing and styling a nominee for Best Actress at The Olivier Awards in London!
A wonderful part of this period of intense fashion mayhem was being approached by the award-winning YOU magazine to be interviewed about my approach to fashion, vintage clothing and its role at awards ceremonies and life in general.
The subsequent article, not only becoming a cover story but also a full 5 page feature with more than 10 fashion shots, was a great hit and the photoshoot took place in London’s Regents Park, showcasing some wondrous British vintage luxury style!
This spectacular dress is by John Bates. Bates’ work from the 1960s was iconic and very avant garde, and it is in fact he that was credited with creating the mini-skirt by the then Editor in Chief of Vogue, Marit Allen, and not Mary Quant nor Andre Courreges. Where Courreges looked not only to the future but to Space and Quant looked to the contemporary art market at the time, Bates seemed to infuse his pieces with a softness….shorter hems and dynamic detailing yet with a delicate and opulent feel that made every woman feel not only modern, but truly beautiful.
He became a household name when he created the wardrobe for Diana Rigg’s character in The Avengers, the delicious Mrs Peel. Mrs Peel personified the New Woman in the 1960s: educated, intelligent, independent and physically able to defeat the Baddies while looking sharp, sexy and confident. The character has become an icon and defined a new approach to women in film and tv at the time, being the first true ‘Adventuress’.
This dress is a pure silk mini dress overlaid with silk chiffon covered with pailettes…flattering, chic and still modern 45 years after it was made!
My personal favourite, Ossie Clark, had to be included in this story and this stunning and rare dress, an Ossie Clark couture piece from circa 1970, was worn and photographed so beautifully.
The moss crepe so beloved by Ossie is gentle and diffusing the morning light while the ivory silk satin banding added just the right amount of luxe to a seemingly simple dress. It is the combination of fabrics and silhouette that makes this dress and so many of Ossie’s pieces so extraordinary.
Ossie Clark continues his renaissance and rightly so; the man dubbed ‘The King of the Kings Road’ and who dressed nearly every great star of the 60s and 70s produced clothing that was both rock and ethereal, demure and louche and is still difficult to beat.
I am thrilled that WilliamVintage has created so much interest and that my approach to impecable vintage is becoming contagious…now…I have a wonderful couture piece awaiting my attention for a Best Actress Nominee who will be wearing it to the Laurence Olivier Awards…it should look wonderful alongside a gilt-bronze statue…..!
