Saturday, May 11, 2013

Colour Me Bad

There isn't a theme to this post, but I promise that it will not feature any animals. All of the following illustrations have been discovered during the last few days.

I've always had a soft spot for 1970s fashions, particularly the neo-Victorian style of Jon Pertwee's Doctor Who and Peter Wyngarde's Jason King. However, these migraine-inducing designs from Sewing Illustrated show a very different sartorial zeitgeist:

The woman looks a little uncomfortable, and it's not just because the man's hand is dangerously close to her left breast. She knows that she looks utterly ridiculous.


"A colour-co-ordinated lawn rake? Thanks Dad!" 

Designs like these are enough to make anyone yearn for the age of clothing coupons and post-war austerity. These pictures, from two decades earlier, show a very different world:

"I say. Awfully well done Mr Fuller. Your merrows have surpahhhssed themselves this year..."

"Ebsolutely splindid! Congretulations!"

Did these people fight for a world of patchwork denim and yellow garden rakes? No. But somehow this period was the midwife to the age of Garry Glitter, Jimmy Savile and the Bay City Rollers.

A decade earlier, the stakes were even higher than gardening competitions:

It all has me longing for a quieter, more innocent age, before people said "Yay!" and "LOL". A time when gentlemen of commerce would have to sit in silence during train journeys. Perhaps the 1880s:

This 1886 Boy's Own illustration looks as if it's recording the very first use of a smartphone, but actually the young man is looking at a portrait of his recently-deceased sister. In my desire to escape to the past, I'd forgotten about consumption, rickets and polio. I wouldn't have made it to adulthood.

Finally, my favourite cover this week. Did you know that Japanese women used to look like Elizabeth Taylor?

6 comments:

Rog said...

You've just reminded me of my multi coloured Dr Who scarf that has mysteriously disappeared.

Harry said...

Your Japanese Elizabeth Taylor reminded me of this remarkable picture.

Tim F said...

Talking of weird early 70s clothing, Steerforth, you live in Lewes, the birthplace of Clothkits. I spent a good chunk of my pre-teen years swathed in their cod-Aztec garb. I even had a hat that I only threw out in the late 80s, mere months before Reni out of them Stone Roses made it a fashion must-have...

zmkc said...

LOL (joke)

nilly said...

I don't know about LOL and Yay - I'm desperately awaiting an opportunity to say "My bad".

Steerforth said...

I'm still recovering from the shock of Harry's link!

I'd never heard of Clothkits, but I now see that they have been revived after a 17-year hiatus.

The title of this post came from the absurd 'Color Me Badd', who sang the equally ridiculous 'I Wanna Sex You Up'.