Exhibition: Tommy Nutter 'Rebel on the Row' LAST CHANCE!

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This Saturday is the last chance to catch the Tommy Nutter Exhibition at the Fashion and Textile museum! The Exhibition looks at the Nutter style and it's contributions to bespoke tailoring as well as the marketing and branding of a Saville Row company. A range of suits will be on display from the late 60s to the 1990s. 

Where: Fashion and Textile Museum

When: until 22 October 2011

Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday, 11am-6pm 

Cost: £7 (or £4 for students!)

My Vintage Vogue

image source, from the Ladies Home Journal, March 1960

My Vintage Vogue is a collection of vintage fashion photographs from the 1920s-1960s. I love the piece above purely because it looks as though the 'rug' she is standing on is made from exactly the same material as her dress and the printed pattern is wonderful! Also they have not one, but two pages of photographs on the site. 

1960s Design Items

Below are a few examples of some 1960s design items I found on the V&A collection online. You can narrow your search so you look specifically for items made from 1960-1969 as well as narrowing the place of origin, all the items below were made in the UK.

This Furnishing Fabric was designed by Eddie Squires and produced by Warner & Sons in 1969 to celebrate the Apollo 11 Moon Landing! Can you imagine furnishing your home with this? Perhaps a pair of curtains or a set of pillows! 

In 1926 modernist designer Marcel Breuer predicted that in the future it would be possible to sit on air and this transparent Contour Chair by David Colwell almost makes it possible! Lots of 1960s furniture was made from plastic as it was seen as futuristic and fitted in with the space-age interior trends of the time. 

Lego a popular children's toy back in the 1960s - and it's still popular today!

In 1967 The Beatles released the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club and the album sleeve is probably one of the most famous of all time. 

The campaign for nuclear disarmament (CMD) was a big political movement during the 60s. This poster entitled 'Stop Nuclear Suicide' was deemed so politically controversial that it was banned by London Transport.  The CMD used these posters to advertise it's protests marches and demonstrations. 

Inspiration: Moonage Fashion

Model Nicole de la Marge is wearing a creation of Pierre Cardin and photographed by Petter Knapp, The Sunday Times Magazine, August 1967, image source

Moonage Fashion has a collection of amazing 1960s sci-fi, action and costume design!

Inspiration: F*ck Yeah 60s Fashion

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F*ck Yeah 60s Fashion is a great blog that has some incredible images show of all things fashion from from 1960-1969!

Lucy In Disguise

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Lucy In Disguise is a shop founded by sisters Lily Allen and Sarah Owen. The shop specialises in vintage clothing to buy or hire so if you're in London this is a place worth checking out to see some real 1960s clothing in the flesh for your project! Their blog also has great updates from behind the scenes, the collection, inspiration, interviews and more!

Hull Traders

image source , 'Pascoe', Furnishing Fabric, Shirley Craven, 1960s

"The combination of Hull Traders and Shirley Craven has produced a steady flow of excellent modern furnishing fabric designs over the past few years, many of them trendsetters" - Design, May 1968 

Hull Traders began in 1958 and soon had a reputation for wonderful fabric designs from winning several awards. Shirley Craven both designed textiles for the company and selected designs from freelance textile artists as well as over seeing the printing process. Designers who created pieces for the company included; Eduardo Palozzi, Althea McNish and Humphrey Spender. 

If you're looking at Hull Traders for your project you might find the following links useful:

Hull Traders on the V&A website

Search the V&A collection

Hull Traders website

Hull Traders on my learning

Heals

image source, 'Lariat', furnishing fabric, Hamdi El Attar for Heals, 1969

"Tom Worthington...aimed to meet both contract and domestic requirements and include designs which he knew would not be commercially successful, but believed would set trends for the future" - article in the Guardian, December 1970 

Heals was a department store that dates back to 1810. During the 1960s Tom Worthington was Heal's Design Consultant and he was a pioneer in investing in contemporary textiles. He had an open mind and often bought fabric designs from freelance designers and recent art school graduates. He'd then work with them to create a range of colour ways to print the fabrics in. The designs often reflected the changing moods of the 60s, from sober colours and geometric shapes to Pop and Op Art to flower power and super-realism. If you are looking at Heals for your project search through the collection on the V&A and select a fabric design reflects your interest in the 1960s! Heals have a variety of designs to choose from!

If you're looking at Heals for your project you might find the following links useful: 

examples of textile designs

'Heals' on V&A website

Search the collection on the V&A

Heals store today - still going!

Heals Rediscovers - looking back to the 60s

Craft Textiles: Noel Dyrenforth

image source, 'Wallhanging', Noel Dyrenforth, 1967

The 1960s saw a revival in traditional handicrafts such as; batik, hand-dying fabrics and weaving. They believed that making a limited number of items by hand was better than mass producing pieces. The practitioners using these techniques sought to bring new ideas to the crafts and one of these practitioners was Noel Dyrenforth who specialises in batik.

"I have never been complacent about batik. I constantly explore it for my own intuitive, creative ends; I interrogate its methods, concepts and challenges. Rules are broken, re-defined; risks are taken." Noel Dyrenforth

If you're looking at Noel Dyrenforth for your project you might find the following links useful:

'Craft Textiles' on the V&A

Noel Dyrenforths website

BBC documentary with Noel demonstrating his batik techniques

search the V&A collections

Examples of work on the Crafts Council Photostore

Interview on West Dean Colleges website

Terence Conran

image source, screen printed cotton furnishing fabric designed by Natalie Gibson for Conran Fabrics Ltd, 1967

In 1964 Terence Conran opened the first Habitat in Brompton Cross, London. The staff wore designs by Mary Quant to try and attract younger customers! His overall aim was to make attractive, affordable design available to the general public.

If you're looking at Terence Conran for your project you might find the following links useful:
Design Museum profile
The Conran Fabric Archive
V&A Designer Profile
Time Online Article

Zandra Rhodes

image source ‘Knitted Circle’ evening dress 1969

"Zandra Rhodes said of the work ‘'I made swirling, dramatic shapes with no concessions to the saleable, the acceptable or the ordinary. The true Rhodes style came into being". - Zandra Rhodes, discussing her early designs on V&A site  

Zandra Rhodes is well known for her bright pink hair and unconventional clothes. Rhodes launched her first collection in 1969 which included 'knitted circle'. Rhodes still creates new collections each season,as well as pieces for theatre and has even collaborated with MAC to produce a limited edition make-up range. In 2003 Rhodes  opened her own museum in London, The Fashion and Textile Museum. 

If you're looking at Zandra Rhodes for your project you might find the following links useful: 

Zandra Rhodes official website

Zandra Rhodes profile on the V&A 

view her collections from 2007-2011

Examples of her fashion drawings from the 1970s

her needlepoints

interview with the Guardian talking about her interior inspirations

Zika Ascher

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Zika Ascher launched the Ascher studio. His studio was popular for commissioning artists to create textile print designs and he was well thought of in the fashion and textile world; If you're looking at Ascher for your project you might find the following links useful:

'Zika Ascher is an innovator, the man who introduced the mohair cult, and the flowered prints launched by Christian Dior' Vogue, January 1962

If you're looking at Ascher for your project you might find the following links useful:

The V&A website

Ascher Studio website

Search for 'Ascher' in the V&A collections 

1960s: Barbara Hulanicki and Biba

Image source, 'Skirt and Top' Barbara Hulanicki (Biba), 1968

In the early 60s Barbara Hulanicki along with her husband launched the 'Biba's Postal Boutique' the business took off and the first Biba Boutique opened in 1964 in Abingdon Road in London.  If you're looking at Biba for your project you might find the following links useful: 

Video interview with Barbara Huanicki
Work in the V&A collection
Designer Profile on the V&A website
try searching the collections on the V&A website
Biba as it is today, they also have a flashback section for a then and now!
A Biba fanpage which has an extensive collection of 1960s pieces
This video

Inspired by the 1960s: Fendi's A/W11 Collection

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"Silvia Venturini Fendi showed voluminous A-line coats, fur collars and patent leather satchels in a collection inspired by the 1960s" - Kasia Bobula, Dazed Digitial

For more images of the collection check out the full article on Dazed Digital

Biba for Topshop

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Barbara Hulanicki from BIBA created a collection for Topshop a few seasons ago. This article includes an interview with her discussing the collaboration! 

Theres some more images of the collection here:

Inside-Out Topshop

Topshop Style - video preview and interview

Vogue

The Guardian 

The 1960s: Paper Dresses

image source, 'Waste Basket Boutique' (T.M) by Mars of Asheville N.C, USA, 1967

Marketed as 'instant fun from London' Paper dresses were a brief but spectacular 1960s sensation! They were cheap to make and very disposable and their 2-D shape was ideal for the bold graphic prints that were fashionable at the time.

Paper Dresses are often being celebrated, check out some of the links below:
Rrripp! Paper Fashion! Exhibition
Ready-to-tear fashion
Fashion! turn to the leftover paper clothes

Paper dresses have also been explored by contemporary designers, such as Hussein Chalayan with his 1998 piece 'Airmail Dress' and this article includes some comments by the designer on the work.

image source ‘Airmail Dress’, 1998, Tyvek. 119.5 x 66 cm. (47 x 26 in.) Self-produced, UK. made in an edition of 200.