emmapeelpants

I'm really starting to think that Young Edwardian were a crafty bunch of complete geniuses. Again and again, they have produced dresses which are more typical of their time than most non-designer labels and are still so ridiculously wearable today I can't believe it. This dress is seriously fabulous, and a gloriously fruity sartorial 'up yours' to the dreary winter months. It's a short pile velour or velveteen, and yet its vivid colours and exotic floral print suggest warmer climates and exotic lifestyles. So cheer yourself and the people around you up with this seriously groovy original Sixties winter dress.

Sometimes, just sometimes, you can be lucky enough to get a garment which still has its manufacturer's label deep inside. Often this gives you little insights into the frock, the maker, the date, the fabric and sometimes even the name of the dress. John Bates was particularly fond of naming his dresses and this one has its label declaring its name to be 'Juniper'. I'm assuming this means the embroidered motifs on the lace trim are Juniper berries, how insanely adorable is that? The cut is pure Seventies Bates. Billowing sleeves, plunge neckline and heavily gathered skirt. The addition of the lace trim is pure perfection, giving definition to what might otherwise be quite a plain black frock. It's utterly romantic without being twee or silly. Bates is an absolute icon and thankfully is being better appreciated for his incredible body of work - and this is one of the loveliest Seventies frocks!

For someone so prolific and popular at the time, Gerald McCann's work still remains incredible rare. Perhaps because his speciality was wearable daywear with a clean, sportswear influenced line (which meant he was one of the most popular exports to the USA). This skirt suit is from the mid-Sixties and is a stunning example of McCann's signature loosely cut and tailored style, very few of which turn up today! The boxy jacket is softened by the rounded shoulders which give a great silhouette. The placement of the vertical pockets is also well done and a very classic example of British tailoring. The collar is intended to button and therefore stand up, but this button has gone walkabout at some point. The collar does look lovely down as well, but I'm sure a similar plain black button (or even a brooch) would do the trick because I love the way it looks when it's stood up like that!

Lee Bender was not only a genius when it came to tea-dresses and wearable separates, she was also brilliant at creating wearable suits for women in the early Seventies. Mostly what we see are skirt suits, but her trouser suits were something of a trademark at the time - and are bizarrely somewhat rarer to find nowadays. This suit is a wonderfully relaxed, pyjama-style cut which would have been a superb alternative to floaty, plungey dresses for a groovy young hostess at the time (very similar to the Ossie and Jean Muir suits on my inspirational images page - see below). The trousers are, frankly, enormous in width and flare out beautifully from a typical high waist. The jacket is cut loosely and flares out from the gently gathered front yoke and completely freely in the back, it is then tied to fit in the waist with a completely separate satin tie. There are no belt loops, so presumably this is also an optional thing and you could just as easily tie the satin belt around your hair if you wanted to keep the jacket lovely and loose. I love Bender's work in satin backed crepe, and the way she used the satin to trim the jacket so beautifully at the collar and cuffs.

Breathtaking Biba dress from the early Seventies in a delicious flower print slinky, sheeny rayon fabric. A deep plunge front is framed by a sharp collar, which is also reflected in the super sharp pockets in the front. I love the flared sleeves which hold their shape thanks to stiffening around the hem, and the flippy little skirt. True to form, there's the distinctly art deco touch with the gorgeous buttons down the front (although it actually fastens with a side zip!). This is completely archetypal Biba from top to bottom, and moves so beautifully.

Formed in 1965 by society friends Jane Lyle and Maggie Keswick, Annacat was the Biba of The Brompton Road. Although little is known about the origins of the boutique, it is easy to show the sense of fun and youthful enthusiasm which encapsulates the Boutique Movement through the designs of Annacat. There is a real sense of fun and decadence about their pieces, regularly trimmed in ostrich feathers, printed in feminine, swirling psychedelics and with historically influenced, sexy shapes. Their frocks also bore adorable, quirky names such as Spotted Dick, Buy British, Jane Eyre, Bathsheba, Miss Muffet and Milkmaid. Some of you may recognise this dress from my very own personal collection. I have the same design in pink, which was exhibited at the V&A for their Sixties exhibition, and have had to resist all natural temptation to keep it. Yes, ridiculous but can't a girl want her favourite dresses in every colour?? No? Ok, so here's a rare (and I mean that!) opportunity for you to own this Annacat design. Annacat is rare enough, but this is such an archetypal piece for them. Made in black moire velvet with white broderie trims down the bust and on the cuffs, it's the ultimate winter mod girl mini dress!

Beautifully straight cut super mini dress from around 1967 (the look is very summer of love and this was one of the mini-est years for skirts too!) by British Boutique label Miss Impact. I love the pale pink patterned with eastern-inspired gold motifs and heavy borders around the hem and the neckline. The shape of the neckline is incredibly flattering, and of course the straight trapeze type cut is also very forgiving and au courant. Just add some matching gold sandals and paint flowers on your face....

Utterly beautiful and very unusual dress by legendary boutique designer (and Miss Peelpants favourite) John Bates for his Jean Varon label. I have dated it to about 1973 because that year he was showing several different styles of dresses with these mesh and sequined backs (including spiders webs!). Crafted in a heavy black jersey, it looks almost monastic from the front with its buttons going all the way from the crotch up to the high neckline. The sleeves are simply cut, and it's otherwise a very unassuming frock. Turn around, however, and you are met with an 'impact back' in an oval mesh window - covered in a gorgeous, almost art deco, sequined floral design. When I met Bates a few years ago, he told me to 'surprise' people with my clothes - and this dress would certainly do that to perfection!

Utterly fierce, in the best kind of way, is this amazing cheetah print Janice Wainwright dress from around 1970 and possibly one of the last she ever did for the Simon Massey company. Very transparent, just to warn you, and very sexy in a gossamer light lurex fabric. She's balanced it very beautifully; the transparency and brashness of the fabric is tempered by the lack of flesh on show. Much like her friend Ossie Clark, she was incredibly good at knowing how to flatter and enhance by covering up where necessary. But this is no cover-up for a shrinking violet. This requires a certain amount of chutzpah and some equally fierce hair and make-up!

Bus Stop were the high-kickin', fun-loving antidote to moody Biba on Kensington High Street in the 60s and 70s. Started by Lee Bender, and named to reflect their quintessentially British look. They also produced some of the finest Boutique clothing of the period, always wearable and flattering (so of course it's always hard for me to part with them...) Officially, well according to me, this is the sexiest Bus Stop dress ever! Long and lean in crushed black velvet, a fabric Lee Bender was very fond of using, with a sexy halter neck exposing your back. The real focus of the dress however is the sexy tied front feature which reveals a very sexy little segment of skin and cleavage.