Emmapeel.....dress

I alluded in an earlier post to having recently acquired an original Avengerswear piece. Now before you go getting too excited on my behalf (cos, you know, I imagine you would.....), it's not a John Bates one. That remains my holy grail of collecting. And one day.....oh yes, one day it will be mine. I may be 73 and probably long since sold all my other pieces but it will happen.

Anyway, back to the piece I do own. In the first colour season of The Avengers, Alun Hughes took over from John Bates as costume designer. Well strictly speaking Bates was never the costume designer per se, he simply provided Mrs Peel with a fully equipped working mod-girl wardrobe. Which would be used in various ways by the designer and whoever else happened to be making such decisions. Which explains why so many fabulous outfits, which Diana Rigg was photographed heavily wearing for publicity, made only brief appearances....if at all.

The colour episodes had been intended to be designed in a similar 'working wardrobe' manner by Pierre Cardin, who was already creating Steed's very elegant suits [Shocking! A Frenchman designing our beloved Avengers? Whatever next??], but he was unable to complete the task and Hughes was brought on board as designer instead. I know little about the man, but it would seem he actually was a costume designer rather than a fashion designer like Bates or Cardin. I like his work considerably less, and the Emmapeelers were a disaster made in camel-toe hell, but he did create a few very beautiful pieces for her. When he wasn't using beige or mustard colours that is. Bleurgh.

"Don't diss my mustard emmapeelers, bitch!"

As with Bates, and Frederick Starke before him, an Avengerswear range of clothes was produced and licensed out to different manufacturers and shops. Unlike Bates however, whose Avengerswear collection was largely complete replicas of the Mrs Peel-worn originals, Hughes' designs were used as templates for a wider range of colours and styles. Most items were produced in different colourways to the one seen on screen, again unlike Bates who was largely working in black and white anyway, and it would also seem that some items were produced in different lengths.

This stunning moire patterned velvet dress is clearly the same design as the one she wears in Return Of The Cybernauts. Hers is black (or perhaps dark green, it's difficult to tell with the early colour television) and a mini. Mine is purple and a maxi length. Nevertheless, it's my first - and possibly only piece of Hughes' Avengerswear and I feel very honoured to now have it in my possession.

Mad About The Dress

The lovely Sharon Rose suggested I post more pictures of myself in some of my favourite frocks. Now in theory, that is a lovely idea. In reality, I fear cameras greatly unless I am properly prepared with a shovel-load of make-up and good lighting. Which is why so few photos of me are allowed out into the great world wide web.

However, I decided to post a photo of myself in one of my favourite Biba dresses....nay, one of my favourite dresses period. Mainly because I was completely delighted to see this dress, albeit in pale yellow rather than red moss crepe, worn by the fabulous Paula Wilcox as Chrissie in Man About The House (remade as Three's Company in the US). I was less delighted to see she 'fills' it rather better than I, but then again.....mine is so teeny tiny I couldn't fit much more in it anyway! Small boobs can be very handy when it comes to Biba clothes.....


The sleeves are my favourite bit, they're gigantic (not the biggest though, I think my Bill Gibb takes that particular biscuit) and have a very deep buttoned cuff, which gives a delightful swag. Honestly, this has to be one of my top ten favourite dresses in my closet......

Perhaps at a later date I will post a picture of me in the Jean Varon dress her flatmate Jo is also wearing in this particular episode! Yes, I have both dresses!

Sh-sh-sh-shoe People.....

(Perhaps that title will mean nothing to anyone other than British kids who grew up in the 80s....but I can't get the theme tune out of my head now!)

As an ever hopeful platform-loving girl who wears approximately a 6.5 in UK sizing, I find I end up with an awful lot of size 6s in my closet. I can get them on, but the question is whether I can actually survive a night out in them. I love my platforms, I really do.....but honestly, it's time for a clear-out.

So coming up on eBay tonight is the first wave of my grand shoe sale. I have more to come, but since I don't often sell shoes I think I'm just going to wait and see before I go delving back in for more goodies.

The sizing misfits in amongst this lot are the Biba platforms which my lucky, lucky flatmate has tried on and despite her horror at the height of them (she's not a seasoned platform gal like I) assures me they feel like her fairly standard UK size 4. The listings will have measurements so please check them against existing shoes you already own. And now for the shoe candy......

Mod-tastic peeptoe and cut-out boots (Courreges copies by Lotus)
poor loves need some tlc and some new insoles - but aren't they styling???



Rare original Seventies Biba platforms in pink and cream



Incredible red patent Seventies platforms by Young Colony



Satin wedge seventies babies by 'Frolics'
(though I find I have a hard time frolicking in wedges....)



and finally some very wearable black Seventies platforms by Maria Elena.
They're a bit rough around the edges, but with a little tlc they'll be fit for stomping around in once more!

I promise I won't do a Gwyneth.....

....but I might well up a little bit with pride and gratitude towards the people who voted for me. Many, many thanks and I sincerely hope I continue to satisfy your vintage needs. I promise there are many more goodies on the way on Vintage-a-Peel, including a Celia print Ossie ("yikes, she's actually giving one up???"), an early Janice Wainwright for Simon Massey, a superb Forties Emma Domb and maybe a coupla Varons as well!

Little Miss Hornby and a gap now filled

As many of you know from reading my blog and my website, I'm quite a keen collector as well as a seller. Together with the fact that I love wearing British Boutique-era clothing as well, it's a wonder I ever sell anything. But thankfully, for you, I do and I don't hold back the good stuff either. But occasionally, with something magnificent and as yet unrepresented in my collection, I do decide to buy something for myself and myself alone. It's my ambition to have a representative collection of British Boutique designers and boutiques, some designers I will always have more than others because I have more of an interest in their career. But for some, one representative piece is all I can possibly hope for (or even afford). Like Thea Porter, or Bill Gibb.......or now, Twiggy.

Twiggy's own label started in 1966, designed by RCA graduates Pam Proctor and Paul Babb, as one of the many ways in which Twiggy and her manager/boyfriend Justin De Villeneuve could utilize her fame and bankability. Twiggy was eager to be involved in the entire process of the clothes production, as a keen home dressmaker and frustrated designer herself, and this means that it was perhaps one of the better made and most genuinely stylish celebrity boutique labels of the time. Originally the idea had been mooted by Berkertex, but when Twiggy realised they were simply wanting to put her name on an existing range of clothes with no input by her, she turned to the Taramina Textiles firm. Smaller but happy to leave the creative decisions to the Twiggy camp and the two designers.

"We made sure the dresses were really good and they were all things that I would be happy to wear. I still think it was a very good, young collection of clothes--cat-suits, print shifts gathered under the bust, Bermuda-length jump suits, shirt dresses with long pointed collars, jersey culotte dresses, a pinstripe gangster style trouser suit--and all for between six and twelve guineas." Twiggy by Twiggy (p51)

The launch was promoted by Twiggy's only catwalk appearance and photographs taken by the legendary Barry Lategan.

Sadly, the small British manufacturers behind the label were unable to keep up with the demand the Twiggy line had produced in both Europe and the USA and the line eventually folded by the end of the decade. This leaves the label as one of the rarest and most highly sought after boutique brands of the time, due to the iconic status of Twiggy and the brevity of its existence.

I was overjoyed to finally get me a piece of Twiggy's range, it had been a glaring hole in my collection so far. Then a few days later, I was sorting out my image files on my computer and found these photos of Twiggy actually wearing the dress in question. Unfortunately it does show me that the sleeves have been hacked off at some point.....but honestly, I care not! I have photos of Twiggy in my dress and as any regular readers will know, I'm slightly obsessed with original photos and particularly of the designers in or with the garments in question.

Don't mind me, I'm just doing a little happy dance here!

La Belle Epoque (de Biba)

Biba were spearheading the Seventies revival of all things antique, including the 'lounge' culture. Spectacular gowns and peignoir sets were made ostensibly for the bedroom but far too good to be restricted to it.



This incredible peignoir set of dress and dressing gown is made in a distinctively Victorian / Edwardian style, with voluminous amounts of fabric and lavish ruffled hems, necklines and sleeves. You can do some serious swishing in this set, believe me - the photos don't even show just how much volume there is!

Fit for any drama queen and a very, VERY rare example of this type of extraordinary, idiosyncratic Biba lounging lifestyle.

Listing starts tonight on eBay.co.uk

Fear not!

....I have not disappeared, I am beavering away behind the scenes on some new listings and an almighty blog post about jumpsuits. I kid ye not! I'm also trying not to get lured outside into the newly arrived sunshine too much, for both the sake of my skin and the website!

Word to the wise, the delightful Lulu's Vintage blog are having a bit of a vote-type thing for the top ten vintage sites. I know I'm only an 'umble site on this 'ere interweb thingy, but if any of you who might like Vintage-a-Peel (and if you're on my blog, I sincerely hope that you do) feel like voting for me, I'd be very chuffed and honoured and all that.

Back soon with goodies galore!! In the meantime, please enjoy this gratuitous Marc Bolan photo....

xxx

Summer dressing for posh tarts....

One of my least favourite aspects of summer dressing is the tendency most people have to basically just strip. As mentioned before, I am a pale girl and stripping for the sunshine, for me, means having to slap on the factor 30 every few hours and honestly, I hate the process and the greasy feeling thereafter.

Also, I have decided I look best either with no clothes on (just because everyone is beautiful naked) or 'put-together' with good, stylish clothes that highlight my best bits and cover up the bad. Not halfway between the two in a little mini skirt and strappy top. *shudder*. I may still be in my twenties (just) and I may be lucky enough to be fairly slim but that's a look best left to poor unfortunate teenagers (they will learn, and get cellulite ... eventually ... mwahahahaha).

Most modern summer clothes do not come under the heading of good or stylish.

And yet, every year I feel somehow compelled to wear less clothes and am hugely disappointed with myself when I chicken out again and just wear jeans. Bor-ing. I'm not disappointed because I particularly want to wear skimpy clothes all over town, just that I can never seem to find a happy medium.

Above: Moss crepe dress by Alice Pollock at Radley.

Right: Black Tricel dress with beige print by Biba

So today, as the sun is shining and summer is threatening to arrive any minute, I look to my vintage magazines yet again for inspiration. And I've decided this summer, when it arrives, is my summer of sweet little tea dresses and skirts. Of course there will be [many] days when I can't be bothered to shave my legs or it's a bit chillier and I shall don my jeans and a good top, but I think I'm going to try this one out for a bit.

And so for inspiration, here's the magnificent shoot from July 1971 in 19 magazine. Funny that this type of look was described as tarty, where now you'd probably be looked down on for dressing a bit 'posh' for every day. Well, posh tart is what I'm going for then.....

"The look is tarty - and where better to go for background atmosphere than Hong Kong, sinful city of the Orient, perfect setting for saucy ladies of ill-repute. In this rich, bustling East/West meeting point with its maze of colourful streets and endless shops bursting with tax-free jade, pearls and cameras, one gets the feeling that beyond these elegant facades are hidden opium dens, James Bond intrigues, and seamy Suzie Wong bars."

Above: Cotton jersey halter neck top and slit skit by Alan Rodin

Right: Blouse and skirt by Universal Witness. Red shoes from Yves Saint Laurent.

[P.S I doth lust after those YSL shoes in the last photo. He might have been a bit of an arse, and copied Ossie all the time, but that man made some damn sexy shoes!]