Something that struck me straight away was how few men were there, perhaps not surprisingly. I only noticed a handful, one of whom was extraordinarily dapper with a liberal sprinkle of quirkiness (I'm sure I spotted sequins); I could just imagine him as an arty fashion
designer. Instead it was mostly women of
the more mature variety who were wandering around the Mary Quant exhibition a couple of weeks ago at
the lovely V&A Museum in London. I went along with my
sister and cousin (we all fit the above description...) and I loved it. I also noticed that a number of particularly stylish, elegant ladies, the kind with chic white bobs and good boots, were clearly transported back in time by what
they were viewing, chatting enthusiastically to their friends and sharing reminiscences
as they lingered over the displays. “Oh, yes, I remember those…!”
Whilst Mary Quant’s fashion designs wouldn’t be considered controversial
now, it was interesting to remind myself
that they were really quite anti-establishment at the time. For a start they broke away from the restrictive corsetry of the previous decades - what a relief that must've been; in doing so they represented a new freedom that was more than just physical. And they blurred the boundaries of
conventional femininity with ensembles inspired by menswear, such as sharply
cut suits with waistcoats and ties. Up until
this point women simply wearing trousers in public was still quite unusual; embracing an even more androgynous image was sure to raise eyebrows.
“The voices, rules
and culture of this generation are as different from those of the past as tea
and wine,” Mary Quant wrote in the 1960s.
“And the clothes they choose evoke their lives..” she continued,
“…daring, gay, never dull.”
I’m just a little too young to have sported any of the
original outfits on show from Mary Quant’s career between 1955 to 1975, but there were a few I honestly wish I could wear now, I must say. The low-waisted wool jersey dresses, the androgynous trouser-suits, brightly coloured tights and wet-look PVC macs…some fabulous accessories too. There’s just something about the look (and
literally ‘The Look’) plus the cut of
these items that has a timeless appeal, at least to my eyes. Perhaps it’s ironic that I think that now,
being the age I am, when they were really all about youthfulness.
And a little slice of '60s mod/psych to fit the theme...
The Fresh Windows: Fashion Conscious (B-side to Summer Sun Shines, 1967)
