Because you can't have depths without surfaces.
Linda Grant, thinking about clothes, books and other matters.
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Net-a-porter UK

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Mary Quant

Mary Quant, now in her seventies, is interviewed about her mini skirt being commemorated on a Royal Mail stamp as an example of 60s design.


There is one way to age gracefully, retaining your style without the facelifts. Love too the upper class accent from an earlier era

11 comments:

dana said...

Perfect black and white lines. Would you send me one of those stamps? What if I told you my favorite Xmas gift was the Clothes on Their Backs?

And for all who can pull off the Louise Brooks bob, more power to you. It's a fantastic haircut, and Quant proves anyone of any age can wear it.

Anonymous said...

Now that is how you wear a bob, Anna Wintour.

Lovely accent, and as this interview proves, you can get away with anything in this accent and it will never sound vulgar but utterly charming.

Anonymous said...

The only parallel accent might have been what came out of Katherine Hepburn's mouth - she had a way of speaking which was very time and space bound: Very Upper Class Connecticut from the first half of the last century. Supposedly no one speaks that way in Connecticut any longer, and having heard speaking styles from people who are considered 'upper class' here (that is to say, people with a great deal of money), I have to agree that the way she spoke has basically disappeared.

Anonymous said...

"heart shaped pubic hair" (!)

When I was a college freshman from the hinterlands of Pennsylvania coal mining country in the 70's, a drugstore on Charles Street in Boston that was about the size of my bathroom had fabulous Mary Quant cosmetics display and I so loved buying her makeup.

Mary Quant is hugely iconic for me. LOVE HER.

Anonymous said...

P.S. Hilary's coat is killer too - there is a great view of the flared skirt as she bounds up those steps.

Anonymous said...

Charming ... absolutely charming!

And love Hilary's neckpiece too. I wouldn't mind a trawl through her jewellery box, she always has something interesting hanging round her neck, but never falls into the 'eccentric older arty' look. I've always thought Hilary is a prime example of how important it is for older women to keep their figure - she always looks chic to me.

Anonymous said...

Actually you (I) here this kind of accent with regular frequency if you go the Cotswolds (Moreton in Marsh, Chipping Campden etc) - the ladies who lunch or garden are spot on in this respect. Then again they were probably from london from mary's time and have retired to the country.

Duchesse said...

Love her, with her bob (and its lush colour) and unspackled facial creases, beautiful carriage, and evident pride in making a dress that moves beautifully (and is now on a stamp). Notice how her hands stroke each other a bit more nervously when she begins to talk abut her pubic hair, but she doesn't back off!

75 doesn't get any better than this.

Anonymous said...

I was bought my first Mary Quant dress around 1964 - 11½ guineas at Fenwick in Newcastle! - when I was 15. A dusky pink wool shift with a narrow black belt at waist height, it had epaulettes and a high collar, both with gold lion head buttons and I adored it. I longed for each new edition of Honey magazine so I could see what was coming up from Mary's 'Ginger Group' and bought many more of her clothes in the 60s. I moved on to use her perfumes and make up.

So pleased to see she still has the same haircut! As for the accent - Joan Collins (Rank charm school) to a 'T'!

Anonymous said...

I remember my second wife coming home one day in 1973, telling me all about Mary Quant's latest fashion statement (it took a while for these things to filter through to Canada) and asking me to shave her pubes into a heart shape. Being an obliging sort of hub', I readily agreed. When I finished, we smoked some hash and made love for two hours, until we were both exhausted. Very memorable encounter. Thanks Mary Q.

Anonymous said...

My wife liked to keep up with fashions and she shaved her pubes into a heart shape just like Mary Quant, I wasn't best pleased at the time bloody ruined my lawnmower!