Boutique Chic

BOUTIQUE CHIC 

at Horsham Museum

Runs until 30^th April 2016

Noisy, dark and cramped.

No. Not Horsham Museum. Boutiques.

I‘ve been to see Horsham's current exhibition ‘Boutique Chic’.

Tucked away upstairs in the museum in a quiet corner next to the sewing room and accessories there is a gem of a gallery. A large display case more of an attic room really, is imaginatively arranged to suggest the essence of a fashion boutique of the 1960s. All vivid colours, styles and patterns.

You can get right up close to the smaller case.

 It contains two Laura Ashley dresses.This brand perfectly captured the dreamy country milkmaid clothes with bibs and lace and long sashes and they were quite quite different to the bright mini skirts. 

The style looks older than the 1960s, almost Edwardian, but this epitomises how ‘60s fashion was being split in many directions.

 A trend that has never really gone away.

Like teenagers in any era, the desire to look different from your parents was paramount. Boutiques were smaller spaces, completely at odds with the chic quiet temples in a department store where your mother bought her clothes.

They had coloured lights and loud music. 

And the young assistants wore the fab clothes the shops sold.

And they didn’t call you madam. 

New designers meant new fabrics made into young bright colourful clothes, styled in mini,midi or maxi lengths. Unlined clothes underlined the cheap fast production methods that got goods into the shop the minute they were made. Stories were told of dresses being run up in one place and gathered up in an assistant’s arms and run along the street to the next door boutique and straight on the racks.

Horsham’s exhibition showcases the BIG trends of the sixties.

Wet Look fabric.

PVC Macs with welded seams.

Psychedelic patterns.

Short skirts. Long dresses.

Button up the front skirts.

Waistcoat and skirt suits.

Brands like Dollyrockers and Mary Quant Ginger Group.

Pucci and Vogue are represented too

 

The proof that the 60s freedoms in dress went up the age groups as well as down, was a Jean Allen  metallic gold lace mini cocktail dress. Teenager style for those old enough to drink.

It is just visible in this photo beside a snappy red wet look waistcoat and mini skirt. 

My favourite item was the green psychadelic dress. Lovely also to see the Twiggy coat hanger and the hem to neck feature zips with big rings to pull them up (and down).

I thought how the blue wrap over Mary Quant Ginger Group dress with its short puffy sleeves looked very 1980s and how the 1930s influence was represented by the purple satin Biba midi dress.

Looking at these with an older perspective, I was surprised to see how many of the clothes were dry clean only. In 1968 a mans suit cost roughly 10/6 (52p) to be dry cleaned. And as a shop assistant would be earning approx. £4 a week, it meant you had to take very good care of your clothes.

And finally.

There they were, hung up near the back.

Silver mesh stockings.

I had a pair of those.

Felt groovy. Looked mod.

Itched like mad.

And on mature reflection, pairing them with green platform heels might have been a mistake……..

A museum well worth a visit.

My grateful thanks to Jeremy Knight and Horsham Museum for permission to use the photographs.

www.horshammuseum.org