The Fashion and Textile Museum: Swinging London: A Lifestyle revolution Terence Conran and Mary Quant I came of age in the sixties. This was my era so my visit to the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey Street was more than a little tinged with nostalgia. I had grown up under rationing so my family home was one of make and mend. Even our Christmas presents were recycled from ones my father had fashioned previously. My middle brother searched in vain for his old wooden steam engine. It had become a fire engine for our younger brother. I learned to sew at a very young age; so young in fact that I was accused of lying when I took some doll’s clothes in to show my needlework teacher. My mother bought printed cotton fabrics in Romford Market and I was allowed to make my dresses. The fifties styles had plenty of full skirts, which ate up the material and didn’t suit my shape at all. Therefore Mary Quant, with her short skirts and simple shifts came at a perfect time in my life. At college, I had the latest fashions in my wardrobe at a fraction of the cost, which suited my meagre finances. Quant’s Butterick patterns were a Godsend. I could buy the fabric in the morning, cut it out and hand sew it in the afternoon and wear it in the evening. The exhibition focused on Mary Quant and Terence Conran, but also featured Mary’s husband Alexander Plunkett Greene, Eduardo Paolozzi and the Ashleys: Bernard and Laura. These made up the ‘Independent Group’, whose designs for fashion and the home changed styles so radically. High streets were places for the young with their rash of coffee bars, trattorias and bistros. Cookery and travel writer Elizabeth David and artist and illustrator John Minton were also part of this movement.
Mary Quant set up her ‘Ginger Group’ in 1963 with Conran opening his first ‘Habitat’ the following year. Most of the exhibits reflected this era as you can see by the photographs. Quant even started to develop a range of make up to give ordinary women the opportunity to share the same look as the fashion models. Recently, I found a little box of eye shadow in yellow, lime and olive, with the familiar white flower on the lid. How long must I have had that! She even experimented with man-made fabrics such as PVC. I made a white coat, which was hideous to sew. No mistakes were allowed; the stitches had to be long to avoid ripping the material and left a line of holes if you had to undo it. What we did for fashion’s sake! This was a most satisfying exhibition. There was plenty to see with good labels plus a little booklet to keep. It is always worth keeping an eye on their website for future exhibitions, talks and workshops. www.ftmlondon.org/ Lesley Ottewell Comments are closed.
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