Welcome to our celebration of the radical and transformative fashion which exploded onto the streets of Chelsea in the mid-Sixties.
Above: The Apple Boutique's Peacock Room, 94 Baker Street. Photo Karl Ferris 1967
This flamboyant style was embraced by a sub-group of the "Swinging London" set who were becoming turned on and tuned in to the ideals of the emerging counterculture.
These young creative people were some most influential and famous celebrities of the day: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Patti Boyd, Anita Pallenberg and Marianne Faithfull.
The aesthetic drew upon myriad influences from an enormous range of historical periods and exotic locations. Medieval, Regency, Victorian and early 20th Century fashions were combined with Indian, Arabic, Oriental and Eastern European folk styles in a rich assortment of coloured chiffons, velvets and satins. The clothes were dazzling and extraordinary for both sexes but nothing short of revolutionary for menswear.
Individual self expression was paramount. The entire aesthetic captured in Oscar Wilde's proclamation written above the door at Granny Takes a Trip.............
"One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.”
Beautiful People
The Boutique in 1960's Counterculture
The Exhibition
The show at the Bermondsey Fashion & Textile Museum will feature fabulous and rare examples from era-defining stores, examining the shared free spirit of Granny Takes A Trip, Hung On You, Apple, Biba, Mr Fish, Dandie Fashions and Alice Pollock, Ossie Clark & Celia Birtwell at Quorum.
Due to the COVID19 outbreak the museum is currently closed .
Beautiful People, originally scheduled to open in July 2020, has been postponed and the new dates are:
3 September 2021 – January 2022
But until then we want to tempt you with a taste of what is to come.......
Mark Replies
Hi Terence,
An additional piece of information came to this morning about the Beatles partners photo by Ronald Traeger. The clothes were all designed by Marijke Koger & Yosha Leeger for the Apple Boutique and Jenny Boyd in the front wears a brightly coloured print as part of her outfit.
Anna Buruma, the archivist at Liberty, emailed me saying "....... you may be interested to know that Jenny Boyd is wearing a Liberty fabric. It was called Garden and although based on an archive design was very much Bernard Nevill’s style at the time. I include the front page of the Telegraph magazine from the 9th June 1967 with the same design. "
Comparing the two images it…
That’s so exciting to see this photograph in the original colours of the clothes.. what a great exclusive post! Apologies for not checking up on Pinterest for updated captions .. will do so now!
Mark Replies
Hi Terence,
I'm glad you approve of the detailed photo crediting. The net is a great resource and there are so many images available, but very often the images are posted without dates, accreditation or subject details. The images would be so much more useful for anyone interested in research if they only had some accompanying information. So as I sincerely want the blog to be a useful resource I intend to do my very best to provide as much information as I can on the dedicated Pinterest page.
But sometimes I'm taken by an images which is just fabulous, and I want to include it, even though I'm unable to find any details. So to know tha…
Hi.. this is great having pictures credited in depth.. can you add Charlotte Martin’s name as figure on the right in the Karl Ferris photo taken in the Peacock Room.. and standardise Pattie Boyd with an e on the Patti! Thanks Terence .. hope we can add other models name after more research!