1960s Mary Quant

[SomethingElse]

Made in a rich purple hopsacking-type fabric, it shows the simplistic, sport-inspired cutting of her earliest work - which was so radical at the time. It also has the much desired 'gold label', which is believed to be the highest Quant label available, indicating quality and rarity. The early signs of mod are here, with the plain decoration in the horizontal black bands at the hem of the tunic top and the double buttonholes on the cuffs. I'm unsure if anything was actually meant to fasten through these, or if it was a quirky feature just for show.

vintage-a-peel.co.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

Wool jersey dress, 1966.

Mary Quant saw the future of fashion in ready-to-wear. Her non-conformist approach contributed to London's reputation in the 1960s as a young city bubbling with ideas.

She designed this simple, drop-waisted dress to wear when she received the Order of the British Empire in 1966 for services to exports. Its chunky zips, topstitching and navy lined collar and cuffs are functional and sporty evoking the casual chic and crisp modernity of the earliest designs of Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, whose work Quant admired.

museumoflondon.org.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

The Dress of the year is a significant symbol within the fashion world of today. Chosen by members of the Fashion Writers’ Association and started in 1963.

This significant choice for the very first Dress of the Year saw Mary Quant head the lineup.

Mary Quant was just making her name in London for exciting but inexpensive clothes for young women. She designed the most beautiful childlike clothes. Later in her career she was accredited with the mini skirt which was created in 1965.

Quant’s grey pinafore dress is knee length and made from fantastic light weight wool. It hosted the beginning of what has proved to be an important fashion title for future designers.

fashionmuseum.co.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

Raincoat and sou'wester, 1963.

museumoflondon.org.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

Looks as though the dress fabric is moiré!

1965 Watered rayon dress trimmed with marabou, 1967. Designed by Mary Quant for Ginger Group. Mary Quant started her wholesale company, Ginger Group, in 1963. She designed four collections a year for it. This drop-waisted, 1920s-style dress is unlined. It was purchased from the June Elson Boutique 'Serendipity' in Notting Hill Gate for £9.00.

museumoflondon.org.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

Apparently, Mary Quant donated 37 complete outfits to the Museum of London. Here is a different color of the "Peachy" dress with its terrific hat.

1960 - This dress and hat are versions of an original Mary Quant design from the 1960s. They were remade by Mary Quant Ltd for the exhibition 'Mary Quant's London' held at the London Museum, 29 November 1973- 30 June 1974 after an original design by Mary Quant. The outfit was called 'Peachy'.

museumoflondon.org.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

A later version of the outfit worn by Mary Quant when she went to Buckingham Palace in 1966 to accept her OBE from the Queen. It was worn with a navy wool beret, navy leather shoes, and navy tights.

museumoflondon.org.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

1965 Girdle with suspender belt, sold as part of the Mary Quant range and marked with her trademark daisy.

museumoflondon.org.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

1960s Mary Quant Pumpkin Tweed Blouson 2 Piece Dress.

Mary Quant holds such a dear place in fashion's heart because she was really one of us. Not a man designing for women and not a mother designing for her daughter but a hip young woman really sort of designing for herself. To understand the Quant style, all you have to do is look at old photos of Mary and you'll see that she is everything herself that she expected her customer to be. Not only did she have that insanely hip Vidal Sassoon haircut (the first to have it, mind you) but she sported tiny minis with striped jumpers and looked amazing in 'em. Her proportions were quirky too - sometimes a massive blouson top that would serve as a pull-on jacket over a slim skirt that hit above the knee. This one, done in pumpkin and black wool tweed, it has that typical wide black V neckline that was always present in her mid-60's collections. Kangaroo pocket and deeo dolman sleeves, this is meant to be worn over a black turtleneck with low-heeled black court shoes and bare legs. Both pieces lined in pumpkin crepe, the top's measurements are oversized and may make no sense so our best advice is that it is for a modern 8 and is 23" long.

enokiworld.com

 

[SomethingElse]

1966 - 67 Platform shoes.

yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

Gorgeous Mary Quant hat from the 1960's. Mary Quant was the darling of Carnaby Street, London, in the 1960's. This is one of her wonderful designs, a beige hat with cut felt petals of hot pink, gold, red, and brown as a colorful accent. The brim measures 2.50" and the circumference is approximately 21". The inside tag is curling a bit.

againandagainvintage.com

 

[SomethingElse]

beverlybirks.com

 

[SomethingElse]

Jean Shrimpton in Mary Quant, photograph by John French

studio-international.co.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

Model wearing Mary Quant dress with the Rolling Stones, photographer John French.

studio-international.co.uk

 

[La bordélique]

^ That's Patti Boyd!

I had no idea Jean Shrimpton and Patti were wearing Mary Quant in those photos. Thanks SomethingElse!

 

[SomethingElse]

Thanks for the identifications, La bordélique. I am very poor at people's names, I'm afraid.

 

[SomethingElse]

c. 1964. Wool and silk. `Quant designed a diffusion line, Ginger Group, but continued to use her own name for more exclusive designs. This elegant, formal dress is made in fine silk and wool with exquisite seam detailing.

vam.ac.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

This is the dress in #54!

'Little Miss Muffet' Dress. c. 1964. Wool crepe. Remade 1973.

Skirts above the knee first appeared in 1964, at the Courrèges 'Space Age' collection, but long skirts were also popular that year. Mary Quant's classic crepe dress with ruffles was made in several colours.

vam.ac.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

"Christopher Robin" Raincoat, c. 1963. PVC - Remade 1973.

In 1963 Mary Quant showed a collection of her designs in Paris, the international capital of fashion, for the first time. The show included the famous 'Wet Collection', the result of Quant's experiments with PVC. It had taken two years of manufacturing trials to bond the seams of PVC garments successfully,

Model Jackie Bowyer in "Christopher Robin" raincoat (Getty Image)

vam.ac.uk

 

[SomethingElse]

Tabard Raincoat, c. 1963. PVC - Remade 1973.

In 1973 Mary Quant's contribution to British life was marked by a retrospective exhibition at the London Museum. The exhibition included many of her most revolutionary garments, some of them remade as facsimiles if the original ones could not be found. This raincoat was made for that 1973 exhibiti

vam.ac.uk