"Did you ever dream about a place you never really recall being to before? A place that maybe only exists in your imagination? Some place far away, half remembered when you wake up. When you were there, though, you knew the language. You knew your way around. That was the sixties....
No. It wasn't that either. It was just '66 and early '67. That's all there was....."
Toby Twirl wearing jackets from Granny Takes a Trip, 1967
Some time ago I found these photos of Geordie pop-psych outfit Toby Twirl sporting a perfect example of 'peacock' look. They are wearing paisley, Art Nouveau - inspired jackets designed by John Pearse for Granny Takes a Trip.
In the mid-1960's Toby Twirl toured cabaret circuit up north, where their psychedelic-tinged vaudeville got them a fair amount of recognition.When in 1967 they bagged a Small Faces support slot ,signed a deal with Decca and got invited to London, it looked like the band was about to hit a big time.After a release of their debut single "Back in Time"/"Harry Faversham", Toby Twirl got invited for a photoshoot with Fabulous magazine. Jackets from Granny's weren't theirs - they were borrowed by a stylist from Fabulous especially for that photoshoot. Groovy gear from a hip King's Road boutique was supposed to make members of Toby Twirl look like proper pop stars. To their dismay, however, when the feature eventually came out, the title read: You Don't Have To Be A Pop Star To Wear These Clothes!
The photos, however ended up being used by Deccafor various ads and some single covers.
Toby Twirlnever did hita big time. They split up after three singles (Like it often happens with obscure British psych, all three 7 inches are valuable collector items today). "Romeo and Juliet 1968" perfectly captures the vaudeville-tinged spirit of British psychedelia.
Source of the story: Shndig! magazine issue No. 27
I will never forget my first visit to Camden Stables Market around 2004, and my excitement when I discovered Velvet Illusion - a Psychedelic/Op-art boutique that sold clothes inspired by 1960's Swinging London.When I entered the shop, I felt like I was magically transported from 2004 to Carnaby Street circa 1967.
Exterior of Velvet Illusion in Camden Stables Market, 2004
Ad for both Velvet Illusion stores from 2004.
First Velvet Illusion store was opened in the late 1990's on Kensington Church Street. The owner was an American called Mickey Wolf - an enthusiast of 1960's Fashion and Music. He personally designed all the clothes sold in his shop. His designs for menswear were strongly inspired by late 1960's Peacock Revolution and designers such as John Pearse (Granny Takes A Trip) or Mr.Fish. His womenswear was characteristic for the generous use of Bridget Riley-style Op-Art patterns.
Mickey Wolf in Velvet Illusion suit, early 2000's.
Velvet Illusion corduroy jacket
Flyer from 2004 advertising Velvet Illusion on Kensington Church Street
A short documentary about Velvet Illusion from 2004 featuring an interview with Mickey Wolf who lists John Pearse of Granny Takes A Trip and Mary Quant as his main influence.
My girlfriend in her Velvet Illusion dress
Velvet Illusion became a cult shop for Mods and 1960's obsessives, attracting customers from all around the world. Unfortunately, both branches of the boutique shut down in 2007. Some of their stock is still available from www.atomretro.com. Mickey Wolf relocated to Los Angeles, where apparently he opened Velvet Illusion USA (I say apparently, because I could not find any proof of that on internet - but if that is really the case, I hope that one day he will open an online boutique).
A boutique called Granny Takes a Trip had opened its doors in December 1965 at 488 King's Road - an area known as World's End. The entrepreneurs behind the boutique were graphic designer Nigel Weymouth and his girlfriend Sheila Cohen - part time actress and fanatical collector of vintage clothing. Her collection constituted a large part of early stock at Granny's - mostly second hand Victoriana and oriental garments. It was a true mish-mash of influences - garments had to be either colorful or unusual or both. The name of the boutique was giving away its policy - 'Granny' symbolized the influence of the past, and 'Trip' , a colourful world of bougeoing hippie movement and its drug of choice - LSD. The third important person behind the boutique was John Pearse - an ex- mod and former apprentice tailor at Hawes & Curtis on Savile Row. He was using his tailoring skills to adapt vintage garments to the contemporary trends. When he reminisces about early days of Granny's and his influences, he says: "We were dealing in vintage clothes. What appealed to us was Aubrey Beardsley and the Victorians, 'Against Nature' by Huysmans. So we were all doomed Romantics at the time. Not new Romantics, Doomed Romantics. So that was the influence - art Nouveau" (Max Decharne.King's Road, p.182). He indicates the Beardsley exhibition that took place in Victoria and Albert Museum in the summer of 1966 as a source of inspiration. The ever changing facade of the shop was also expressing its eclectic influences. The author of mural paintings was Michael English - graphic designer involved with a company called Hapshash and The Coloured coat. In 1966 shop front portrayed big painting of Chief Running Bear - a nod to Native American culture favored by the hippies. Year later it was changed into an Art Nouveau-style painting of 1920's Hollywood star Jean Harlow.
1967
In 1968 the whole shopfront was painted yellow and decorated with a front half of 1947 Dodge Automatic.
1968
1969
The interiors of the shop were painted purple and decorated with Aubrey Beardsley's erotic prints. The was a heavy scent of incense in the air. The overall effect was supposed to be intimidating for customers who were not a part of an 'In' crowd. And so were the prices. The high prices at Granny's were determined by the use of expensive fabrics. Weymouth and Pearse were buying Liberty fabrics at retail prices and they were using the same outworkers as Savile Row tailors. As a result, shirts from Granny's were prized at anything between 4 to 10 guineas. A floral jacket inspired by William Morris designs would set a buyer back an extortionate 15 guineas. Skinny trousers made out of velvet or satin ("They were sort of more foppish alternative to levi's" - John Pearse(Decharne, 182)) would cost 6 guineas, and satin ties were priced at £1.10. However, the quality of the clothes was very good and John Pearse was putting a lot of emphasis on fine tailoring. Velvet suits were tightly-fitting with tight buttoning. Double - breasted jackets were tailored in floral-printed fabrics. One of the sales assistants, Johnny Moke remembers: "We used to cut up blouses and dresses and turn them into shirts or tops for men. What was great about Granny's was that there were no boundaries. Anything went and they kept on changing"(Paul Gorman. The Look - Adventures in Rock and Pop Fashion, p 78).The effect of Granny's clothes was foppish, flamboyant and decadent - a 1960's reinvention on fin-de siecle dandyism.
Probably the most iconic garment made by Granny Takes a Trip - William Morris chrysantenum print jacket as worn by John Lennon...
Dennis Hopper..
Dick Taylor from The Pretty Things (1967)..
..and Roy Wood from The Move (1967)
Jess Down, Rufus Potts Dawson, Nigel Weymouth (wearing William Morris chrysantemum pattern jacket) and future disco queen Amanda Lear, 1967
George Harrison wearing William Morris Golden Lily pattern jacket from GTAT, May 1968
Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, 1967
Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi Hendrix Experience wearing William Morris pattern jacket, 1967
Noel Redding wearing Granny Takes a Trip Liberty print jacket, 1967
Granny Takes a Trip jacket from 1967. It is made of William Morris 'bachelor's button' pattern, which was first produced by Morris & Co. in 1892.
Granny Takes a Trip quickly developed elite clientele. Nigel Weymouth says: " The first people to sniff us out were the mixture of Chelsea gays and debutantes(...) Then pop stars started quickly coming after them. We had all these personalities coming through, and groups like the Animals would have their photos taken outside".
The Animals outside Granny Takes a Trip, 1967
Julie Driscoll outside Granny Takes a Trip, 1967
Short promotional film for a single "Granny Takes a Trip" by The Purple Gang from 1967. The song title was supposed be an ad for a boutique.
Promotional poster for the single by Michael English (1967)
The Purple Gang outside Granny's , 1967
Ad from 1967
Ad from 1969
John Pearse also points out that: "We were the first bisexual shop, if you like - We had woman's clothes big time, frocks and blouses, and there was no hard sale because everyone knew everyone else"(Gorman, p 76). One of the female clients of Granny Takes a Trip, actress and model Anita Pallenberg remembers: "If I wore mini-skirts, I'd have them made by Granny's. We'd try on clothes and have a joint in the back. Granny's was very small, just two rooms, so everyone knew each other" (Mojo Classic, vol.2, issue 4, 2007, p59).
Plan of the interior of Granny's in London Magazine, October 1966.
Actress Linda Thorson in Granny Takes a Trip, 1967
This is how another famous customer - Salman Rushdie, remembers interior of Granny's: The air was very heavy with incense and patchouli oil and also the aromas of what the police called Certain Substances. Psychedelic music, big on feedback, terrorised your eardrums. After a time you became aware of a low purple glow, in which you could make out a few motionless shapes. These probably were clothes, probably for sale. You didn't like to ask. Granny's was a pretty scary place (Gorman, 79).
Jacket from Granny Takes a Trip in a collection of Metropolitan Museum in New York
Jackets from Freddie Hornick-era Granny - early 1970's ( via Freakshow)
Velvet 'Western' jacket from Granny takes a Trip
Customer being fitted for red and black velvet 'western' jacket at Granny's, circa 1971
Velvet 'panel' jacket from Granny Takes a Trip, around 1971
Green velvet jacket with worn by Keith Richards, from around 1971
Dress from Granny's from around 1967 as worn by Jane Asher
Poster by Nigel Weymouth advertising Granny Takes a Trip, circa 1967
Article about council - ordered removal of famous half-Dodge, 1969
The relaxed atmosphere was one of the attractions of Granny's. Anybody who was rich enough to shop there - young upper middle class men, young aristocrats and pop stars (Such as The Rolling Stones who wore clothes from Granny Takes a Trip on the cover of their 1967 album Between The Buttons, or The Beatles who wore Granny's shirts in the photo on the inner sleeve of Revolver ) enjoyed buying fancy clothes in the casual atmosphere of the boutique which epitomized Swinging London as a fashion epicentre in the 1960's. Granny's initiall success, however started losing its momentum by 1969.When Granny started selling Afghan coats, there was a row between Pearse and Weymouth over the priorities of their business establishment. Pearse did not like the increasingly hippy image of the shop: "My partners went more in that direction, but I was considered to be more urban creature(...) I never wore jeans (...) I was always more streamlined in my appearance. We may have been construed as being in the centre of hippydom, but we weren't; what we did had a subtle difference"(Gorman,p 80). Weymouth's involvement with Hapshash and the Colored Coat as a designer caused his gradual withdrawal from shop's affairs. Weymouth, Pearse and Cohen ended up selling the shop to manager Freddie Hornick (who previously co-managed Dandie Fashions boutique with Alan Holston) in 1969.
Press profile of Freddie Hornick
Hornick's arrival provided much needed shot of fresh energy and ideas. He brought in two American managers - Gene Krell and Marty Breslau. Krell had a tailoring experience, and Breslau took care of a business side. Under their directorship, rejuvenated Granny Takes a Trip has become a mecca for rock stars - by early 1970's clientele of Granny Takes a Trip included Paul McCartney, Gram Parsons, Robert Plant, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Rod Stewart. And that's just for starters...
Glam Rock-style jacket from Granny Takes A Trip (via Freakshow)
Gold and black lurex suit made for Marc Bolan (now in V&A collection), 1971
The Faces on TOTP in 1971, Rod Stewart is wearing a Granny takes a Trip jacket
Rod Stewart wearing leopard print suit from Granny Takes a Trip, 1972
Roger Taylor from Queen wearing velvet western jacket from Granny Takes a Trip circa 1973
Velvet trousers from Granny Takes a Trip worn by Keith Richards around 1971
Jacket from Granny Takes a Trip. Model unknown (or is it Steve Peregrine Took?) .
Granny Takes a Trip in early 1970's
Boots from Granny Takes a Trip, early 1970's
Keith Richards wearing snakeskin boots from Granny Takes a Trip, 1969
Hornick opened highly successful branches of the boutique in New York and Los
Angeles.
Granny Takes a Trip on Doheny Drive in Los Angeles, which opened in 1972
Granny Takes a Trip after the move to Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles circa 1974
Paul Raymond outside LA branch of GTAT, circa 1973
Granny Takes a Trip and its American branches enjoyed great success and continued to cater to the young and hip until late 1970's.
Granny Takes a Trip became a legendary boutique that defined King's Road of the 60's.Original garments from Granny's - especially from Pearse-Cohen-Weymouth era, are highly sought vintage items which often reach prices of thousands of pounds.
Royal Mail stamp from 2012, commemorating contribution to British fashion by designers from Granny Takes a Trip.
As far as the original founders of Granny's are concerned, two of them are still around. Weymouth is a graphic artist living in Los Angeles. John Pearse had left tailoring in the 1970's but came back to it in the mid-1980's. He opened his own shop in Soho, and today is one of the most successful London tailors. One of his most famous clients (as well as his Meard Street neighbour) was (recently deceased) artist, writer and dandy Sebastian Horsley
Sheila Cohen has not been in touch with her former partners for years and her whereabouts are unknown.
Photos used here come from personal collection of Roger Klein (former employee and manager of LA branch of Granny's) who shared them via Granny Takes a Trip Facebook fan page.
