Y BLOG
Mary Quant
Today we’re talking a little bit about Mary Quant. All of you original Quant fans will have more than likely had a dressing table full of her nail polishes and cosmetics and I’m sure you or your friends were sporting THE hairstyle. Those of you rediscovering her as vintage, may relate the iconic flower image with your mother or grandmother. I know I have such strong memories of being a child playing with the pretty, brightly coloured pots of nail polish with flower shaped lids on my mothers dressing table. Whichever it is, there’s no doubting Mary Quant was pretty much a movement unto herself.
The 60’s was really all about Quant. After all, she is credited by many as being the designer who gave us the mini skirt and mini dresses in the early 60’s, and who later gave us hot-pants and her stunning range of tights and body stockings, really confirming her status as a British fashion icon.
For Quant the mini skirt wasn’t just a fashion item, it was a liberating piece of clothing. The mini-skirt allowed women to not only look how they wanted to, but also on a more practical level, she believed it gave girls the ability to move around more freely. In the london suburbs that she was aiming at this was just what the girls needed. In designing the Mini-skirt (apparently named after her favourite car) Quant claimed to have merely been responding to what the girls in London wanted, the higher she raised the hemlines the higher they asked for them to go.
Lots of people also associate Mary Quant with the Mod 60’s style. She may not have created everything herself, but she was certainly the one to make it all popular. With her own geometrical hairstyle and eye-catching wardrobe in geometrical blacks and whites, she was and still is the image of the 60’s.
In the 70’s and 80’s Quant went on to focus on cosmetics and household goods, designing everything from make up to bed linen, she even went on in the late 80’s to design the interior for the Mini 1000.
We adore all things Quant at Little Treasures Vintage and we are actually lucky enough to have some of her Lace body stockings in stock right now, (follow this link to have a look http://www.littletreasuresvintage.co.uk/index.php/2010/07/mary-quant-body-stockings/ )
Keep your eye on the website for more Quant treasures, we do get them in from time to time, we’ll try to let you know.
Keep and eye on our blog, next week we’ll be talking about Lycra and how it changed our wardrobes FOREVER!
BIBA
And today vintage fans we’re going to spend a little time paying some attention to the vintage brand of all brands BIBA
Now we don’t manage to find too much Biba, but when we do we LOVE it. Biba, for those of you that don’t know was an iconic London based fashion label and store in the 60’s and 70’s.
Biba was created by Barbara Hulanicki, a Polish born fashion designer. Starting off as a mail order company, mainly selling via publications such as the daily mirror, it attracted a wide audience from the start. The original Biba created a fun and exciting product which encapsulated the mood of the era.
In 1974 the flagship store was opened at Derry & Toms department store, this really put Biba on the map and immediately attracted up to a million customers weekly, making it one of the most visited tourist attractions in London.
Biba started off as a thrifty store where young people could go to buy the latest fashion at affordable prices. By the 1960’s Biba was recognised as a household name. The art deco stye black and gold logo was, and still is, iconic and instantly recognisable.
The brand and the image of the customers who use Biba, have now become so well known. The image is so iconic, some say it even provided us with our visual image of the 1960’s. It’s smocks & mini skirts defined 60’s fashion.
The main appeal of Biba was it’s price range, the low prices of high fashion clothes was a new concept, offering girls the opportunity to buy fashion, they were literally able to afford similar dresses to the ones that celebrities were wearing.
Biba has been re-launched at house of fraser, and while it’s nice to see the brand again, the look and feel is not widely considered to be in the style of the original brand. For vintage fans the real treat is finding an original piece of history.
Keep an eye on our website and look in store at little treasures (www.littletreasuresvintage.co.uk ), you never know…..
Sign up to our blog, next week we’ll be talking a little about Mary Quant…
Anami & Janine press (casimira)
A little look at the celebs in our wonderful Anami & Janine dresses!!!!
Fun jewels
More cool and funky jewels!!!
Spring Parade
Little Treasures will be showcasing it’s Casimira Spring/Summer collection on Thursday 15th April 2010 at THE RYE RETREAT – SPRING PARADE
Pop along to get a sneak preview of Casimira’s wonderful clothes, designed for women by women, inspired by 1940’s vintage, truly beautiful, classic dresses made with love x
Spring/Summer Hair, Beauty, Fashion. A luxurious evening of live music, dance and fashion. Champagne and Canapes, Aveda goodie bags. In aid of St Michael’s Hospice.
To be held at The Powder Mills Hotel, Battle, East Sussex.
7pm – 9pm. Tickets £30 from The Rye Retreat – 01797 222211
Hello My Lovelies …
At the resent Pure trade show at Olympia i found a lovely new exiting company called Cushh Clothing, can’t wait to get there things!!!
Orders in and should due with us by April, so keep an eye on My Blog page for updates!
They are soooo fab, cute little skirts, playsuits, polka rain coats, lace dresses, body con dresses, all so great!
Funky Cushions
Fun fab handmade retro kitsch cushions with inner.A blump 16″ x 16″ cushion with deep envelope back for easy removal and washing.
Lots of fun designs coming soon, including cartoon dysfunctional family, funky flamingos, cool russian dolls, mexican our lady, lucky cats, 50’s pin up girls, 50’s paris….plus more….sooooo much fun!
Check out the cushion section…!