Blades and Savile Row's reaction to 1960's Peacock Revolution

Rupert Lycett-Green

Tailoring establishment known as Blades was started in 1962 by three partners: Rupert Lycett-Green - a 22 year old ex-Etonian with aristocratic connections, Eric Joy - a cutter from Clerkenwell, and an accountant Charlie Hornby. They specialized in bespoke suits, but they were also selling ready-to-wear ones in their shop on Dover Street. Although as far as prices were concerned , they were at the same level as Savile Row (around £60 for a suit), their clothes were far more modern and innovative. The early success of Blades was a result of combining the novelty of clothes from Carnaby Street with the quality and fine tailoring than has been a trademark of Savile Row. The man responsible for this success was cutter Eric Joy. As Nik Cohn wrote: Before this, if you'd wanted to dress adventurously, you travelled to Carnaby Street and suffered agonies of bad fit and tightness. Now Joy would make you look just as wild and you'd be comfortable as well (Nik Cohn, Today There Are No Gentlemen, p 98). But it was the designer and owner, Rupert Lycett-Green who gave Blades the most publicity.

Rupert Lycett-Green, 1965.

Lycett-Green might have not been the first aristocrat who invested in tailoring, but he certainly was the first who was doing it so openly. His good looks and impeccable style also played important role in his success. Nik Cohn on Lycett-Green: Very tall and very skinny, he was married to John Betjeman's daughter and was charming, quick with a quote and well equipped with enemies. All in all, he was a columnist's dream (Cohn, p 98).

Despite all this Blades made made hardly any money during first few years of existence.In 1965 the shop was faced with an uncertain future when Charlie Hornby left, and was quickly followed by Eric Joy (who went to work for Mr. Fish before opening his own shop in Cork Street).Rupert Lycett-Green was faced with a dilemma.As he remembers: In 1965, I asked myself , am I going to start doing this properly or should I get out? - and I decided to carry on. So I moved to Savile Row and became a professional (Cohn, p 99). His new shop was situated at 8 Burlington Gardens, in Georgian townhouse that overlooked one end of Savile Row. The atmosphere in this discreet new location resembled more gentlemen's club rather than tailoring shop. This brave move was a form of a challenge. 'Hip' new tailors took on conservative 'old guard' of Savile Row. 

Lycett-Green in typical Blades suit during shop's early period.

In Burlington Gardens, Lycett-Green started putting more emphasis on himself as a progressive designer rather than on Blades as tailoring venture. Apart from suits, Blades was now also selling coats, shirts and various accessories. Keeping up with rapidly changing fashions , by 1967 Blades started offering 'bespoke hippie gear'. Nik Cohn described it as a period of utter disaster. He wrote: Not wishing to be left behind, Lycett-Green began feverishly to turn out fancy dress - kaftans  and fringes and Nehru suits, the full psychedelic production.  

Rupert Lycett-Green in a Blades suit that must have given old tailors of Savile Row heart attacks. The lady in the photo is Lycett-Green's wife, Candida. (1967)

Financially it worked. The press still loved him and his turnover rose to £200.000 a year. But clownishness was not truly his style, and he found himself continually outgimmicked and out-outraged by Mr. Fish, just around the corner. In the end, he gave up and reverted to what he did best, well-cut and unfussed suits, knocked down for £100 a time (Cohn, p 100). 

Although Lycett-Green returned to simplicity, he stayed innovative and in touch with latest male fashions. The combination of velvet suits with Liberty print shirts was one of his specialties.

Velvet suits from Blades, 1969.

On the left: Typical late-1960's suit from Blades - double breasted and with wide lapels.

Blades held first ever ready-to-wear men's fashion show in Savile Row in 1967. It was a great publicity stunt and it received a lot of press attention. It also caused the outrage of future Prime Minister Edward Heath who lived in Albany apartments adjoining Burlington Gardens and made a formal complaint about the noise.

By the late 1960's, Blades was more successful than any tailoring establishment fin Savile Row. There is nothing in all London as elegant and as wearable as the simple Blades suit -announced The Times in March 1969. In the same year Blades opened a branch in New York on Madison Avenue, right opposite the New York branch of uber-hip London boutique Annacat. Unlike Annacat though, which closed after few months, Blades remained opened for four years. 

As for Blades' attempt to challenge the old Savile Row, it was more than successful. Nik Cohn wrote: Savile Row, at first was unimpressed by Rupert Lycett-Green (...) For five years, the established firms sat back smug and waited for the upstarts to collapse, and for Carnaby Street to come to nothing, and for everything to return to pre-war sanity. By the time they saw it wasn't going to happen like that, most of their younger customers had left them (...) By 1970, if it hadn't been for the American tourist trade, Savile Row would have been a wreck (Cohn, p 101).    

About Lycett-Green, Nik Cohn wrote: His reputation varies. One view puts him very high indeed, possibly the best designer in England; another dismisses him altogether, giving all the credit to Joy and to the ideas of customers like Christopher Gibbs and Michael Rainey. For myself, I'd put him about halfway: a good shopkeeper and clever self-publicist, but with undue pretensions. What is certain, however is that Blades itself had mattered. (Cohn, p 100).

Lycett-Green remained in business much longer that any other innovative 1960's menswear designer. He sold Blades in 1980. Of his reasons he said: I sometimes think I was put out of business by people like Giorgio Armani. Not literally, of course. But while our clothes were well made and expensive, I just couldn't see how to diversify so as to compete effectively (...) I thought, if Armani is going to be the man of the future, where am I? The writing was on the wall. I thought, this is the moment to get out. Otherwise I am going to have a bespoke, slim suit, tailoring business and I will be sitting here for 20 years waiting for the business to come back. I was 41 and still young enough to do something else (Geoffrey Aquilina Ross, The Day Of The Peacock, p 102).

Today, Rupert Lycett-Green is a chairman of oil exploration and production company. He has his place in fashion history however, as the innovative 1960's menswear designer, and a man who, along with Michael Fish and Doug Hayward brought colour, originality and freshness into the British bespoke tailoring.

Blades suit from 1968 displayed in Victoria and Albert Museum.

   

  

Dedicated Followers of Dandie Fashions

I have accidentally found this photo of very sharp-looking gent from 1960's. It turned out to be Nicholas Hoogstraten - an infamous property magnate, a man who to this day is said to own half of Brighton (at least). In 1960's he was the youngest self-made millionaire in Britain. This photo was taken in Hove in 1968. He is wearing the same suit as Bill Wyman wore for Stones photoshoot in Green Park in January 1967.

It is very likely that this amazing suit was from Dandie Fashions. It looks very similar to the Dandie Fashions suit modeled by Alan Holston on the photograph below.In fact, it is exactly the same cut, although the fabric is different.

It is always great to find some   new photos of clothes from that fantastic King's Road boutique.

1968

Patrick Lichfield - 1960's Peacock Style Icon

Patrick Lichfield in 1969

Fashion photographer Patrick Lichfield was one of the most flamboyant dressers in 1960's Swinging London. His full name was Thomas Patrick John Anson, the 5th Earl of Lichfield. He was Queen's first-cousin-once-removed.  Born in 1939 , he inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960. Educated in Harrow and Sandhurst, after brief spell in Grenadier Guards, he decided to pursue his passion for photography in 1962. He chose the name 'Patrick Lichfield' - a combination of his christian name and his title - as his artistic pseudonym. He started his career as a photographer for Queen magazine shooting debutantes. Because of  his aristocratic background, he struggled for a long time to be taken seriously as a photographer, especially at the time when a lot of other leading fashion photographers - such as David Bailey, Terence Donovan or Brian Duffy - were from working class backgrounds. His first breakthrough came in 1965, when he was commissioned by Vogue magazine to take photos of Duke and Duchess of York - a reclusive couple who lived on exile in France. Lichfield's photos presented them as a relaxed, happy-looking couple. Diana Vreeland, an editor-in-chief of Vogue, was so happy with the results that she offered Lichfield a ten year contract.

Lichfield quickly became part of Swinging London's 'In-Crowd'. He was known for his distinctive, very flamboyant style. He was a close friend and a big fan of Michael Fish - during late 1960's he wore  clothes from Mr. Fish's boutique on almost daily basis. He also supported other young designers."Everybody who was anybody had an interest of some sort in a boutique - he wrote in his autobiography - "Mine was in Annacat in South Kensington, started by two of my old girlfriends, Maggie Keswick and Janet Lyle" (Patrick Lichfield, Not The Whole Truth, p 116). Lichfield's financial backing for Annacat - small boutique which opened in 1965 on 23 Pelham Street, certainly added to the prestige of the place. It was one of the few small boutiques which was featured regularly in Vogue. Janet Lyle's designs were characteristic for the use of vibrant, coulorful fabrics combined with lace trimming. Annacat doubled its first year's takings during its second (Richard Lester, Photographing Fashion: British Style in The Sixties, p 152) and in 1967 it moved to the new location on Brompton Road, and in 1968, it opened a branch in New York. Apart from the financial backing, Lichfield also had lent his name to the short - lived line of male clothing in Annacat.

Patrick Lichfield (right) with two designers whose work he supported - Janet Lyle of Annacat (left) and Michael Fish (centre) circa 1968.

But Annacat was not the only 'hip' investment of Patrick Lichfield. He also financed two successful West-End shows - "Hair" and "Oh, Calcutta!". The star of 'Hair', singer Marsha Hunt posed nude for Lichfield, providing him with probably the most memorable photograph he took in the 1960's.

His other  photographic work includes the wedding of Mick and Bianca Jagger in 1971, various portraits of Royal Family, and most famously, the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana in 1981.  

Patrick Lichfield modeling Mr. Fish's designs in 1971.

Patrick Lichfield died of stroke in November 2005. He contributed to the colorful world of 1960's fashion not only as a photographer but also as one of the most notorious wearers of the Peacock Style.

Swinging London's rich and famous portrayed by Patrick Lichfield.

Back row (from left to right): Susannah York, Peter S. Cook, Tom Courtenay, Twiggy.

Centre row (left to right): Joe Orton, Michael Fish

Front Row (left to right): Miranda Chiu, Lucy Fleming.

18.07.1967.

Jane Birkin by Patrick Lichfield, 19.09.1969

Cecil Beaton by Patrick Lichfield, October 1968

David Bailey by Patrick Lichfield , April 1969

Patrick Lichfield, 1965

Patrick Lichfield with Allegra Carracciolo in the Bahamas, 1968. 

Above and below: Lichfield with fellow photographer (and close friend) David Bailey and his girlfriend Penelope Tree circa 1968.

Emanuel Ungaro dress from the 1960's

These days, it is not often  you see an original designer dress from 1960's outside fashion exhibitions. It is certainly rare to see them in charity shops. Needles to say, my girlfriend and I were stunned when we saw this orange sleeveless dress by Paris couturier Emanuel Ungaro in Help the Aged shop in Brighton. They certainly know what they have - the item is priced at £450. It is very early Ungaro (he started his own line in 1965) probably from around 1965 - 1967. The design is heavily inspired by Andre Courreges (for whom Ungaro worked prior to starting his own line).

Unfortunately, we could not afford to purchase this amazing item, however my girlfriend could not resist the temptation to try it on and take a photo ( I apologize for the poor quality of the photos, it has been taken on my phone). This dress is slowly becoming a talk of vintage obsessives in Brighton, but it is still yet to find the new owner. No one is willing to spend £450 , and so far charity shop had been rejecting various offers (the highest of which was £250, apparently).

   

Mellow Yellow

Here are some photos my girlfriend and I took recently in her flat. The amazing yellow dress is from Velvet Cave. 

I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet

The boutique called I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet started in 1964 as a stall on Portobello Market. It specialized in selling replicas of Victorian military uniforms and other accessories from Victorian era. The popularity of the stall grew, and, in 1966 it evolved into a shop on 293 Portobello Road. The shop was owned by Ian Fisk, and run by John Paul and Robert Orbach.

Ian Fisk (right), the owner.

Although not the designers, Orbach and Paul spotted the gap in the market, and skillfully exploited the mid-sixties fad for second-hand Victoriana. The real breakthrough came in 1966. As Robert Orbach remembers: I’m sitting there one morning and in walked John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Cynthia Lennon. And I didn’t know whether I was hallucinating… but it was real. And Mick Jagger bought a red Grenadier guardsman drummer’s jacket, probably for about £4-5. They all came from Moss Bros and British Army Surplus. In 1966 it was only fifty or so years from Victorian times, when we had an empire. We used to buy fur coats by the bale… we had to throw quite a lot away.

So Mick Jagger bought this tunic and wore it on Ready! Steady! Go! when the Stones closed the show by performing 'Paint it Black'. The next morning there was a line of about 100 people wanting to buy this tunic… and we sold everything in the shop by lunchtime (www.vam.co.uk).

Mick Jagger wearing a tunic From I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet on Ready! Steady! Go!, 27.05.1966

Jagger was not the only pop star who shopped at I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet. Jimi Hendrix was another prominent customer.

Hendrix outside I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet wearing a tunic, 1967.

In 1967, I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet opened two new branches - in Fouberts Place (just off Carnaby Street) and Piccadilly Circus.

The boutique was very fashionable.This is how one reporter remembers the visit: "A girl assistant was wearing a full dress jacket of the old Hertfordshire Regiment over skin - coloured tights, another customer was strutting around in black and gold 'diplomatic gear'" (Richard Lester, Boutique London, p 70). 

This appropriation  of British Army uniforms was not looked well upon by older members of respectable society (especially ex-soldiers), but perhaps that is why the uniforms were so popular. As Richard Lester points out: "It was almost unimportant what the shops sold, such was their reputation for anti-establishment stunts (...) In September 1966 The Times reported from the Guildhall that a 'Muswell Hill youth' had been conditionally discharged after being stopped wearing a Scots Guards tunic. 'I think it looked fashionable and smart' - the unnamed defendant commented (Richard Lester, Boutique London, p 68-70).

An article about I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet, circa 1967.

Tie from I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet (Photo courtesy of Peter Feely)

Some ads for I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet from 1967.

After the success of I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet, Victorian uniforms started being sold in many other shops in London.

The red tunic from I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet had become one of the most evocative male outfits of the 1960's London.

The Invisibles - a comic from the 1990's set in 1960's Britain. An example of how red tunic entered pop culture as a symbol of 1960's.

In 2002 , indie band The Libertines (who were obviously very steeped in 1960's pop culture) wore red tunics during gigs and in few videos. What followed was an unexpected 'comeback' of tunics into fashion. Even today they are easily available in Camden Stables Market. It is interesting how many of young indie enthusiasts who purchase and wear the tunics, have heard of I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet... 

The influence of I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet on 1960's male fashion was recognized by fashion history. Museum of London has on display an original sign advertising the shop as well as a Union Jack shirt.

Mick Jagger wearing a jacket from Hung On You

This photo of Mick trying on a new jacket was taken by Bob Whitaker in 1967 in Chelsea boutique Hung On You, where Jagger (and a lot of other 60's pop stars) was a frequent customer. As Bob Whitaker remembers: Hung on You was just around the corner from my studio and it was always full of pretty girls. There was a lot of paranoia surrounding the shop. The clothes were very flamboyant and the police took that as an excuse to bust you" ( Q magazine, special edition, Feb 2005).