emmapeelpants

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!

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!

Stunning and very wearable button front halter neck Ossie Clark dress with beautiful Celia Birtwell garland print. It does have issues stemming from the notoriously unstable dyes used at the time and presumably a few glasses of champagne spilled down it (I like to think it was worn to a few hedonistic parties at the time!) so it is being sold as seen but structurally it is absolutely without problems and so you could easily have it shortened (for the price of a bottle of champers) and it would be immensely wearable. In many ways, I love a good flawed Ossie. My own wardrobe has many of them because I can wear them endlessly without worry, and I love the story you can just sense they possess!

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!

Sultry halter neck and skirt ensemble by Radley. Famed largely for their connection to Ossie Clark, Radley were also in the business of producing some seriously sexy, sassy own-label versions of his very distinctive deco-groupie style. This two piece, oh! so adaptable as separates as well, is made from delicious black moss crepe and cut beautifully to drape. The skirt is a very simple, straight cut from a high waist and the top is just dreamy. Banded with black satin to fit at the waist, then trimmed with blue bias satin around the top and to create the halter ties....it captures the decadence of the era so perfectly. The embroidered detail on the waistband is the finishing touch to what is one of the best Radleys I've seen yet!

Incredible early piece from Janice Wainwright's Poland Street label. So early, in fact, it bears the incredibly rare satin version of the label which would later always be woven. Although famed for her embroidery later on, and her use of vividly printed fabrics early in her career, Janice was a master of any fabric and this transitional example of her work is a continuation of the style she had developed under the Simon Massey label....but with hints of what genius was yet to come. Made from a gorgeous silver lurex, placed over an orange lining with dramatic effect, it's also a little bit saucy where the lining stops between the front and back panels - giving a glimpse of flesh under the gathered lurex. I love the draped and puffed sleeves, and the ruching down the front and back panels in the top section. All in all, it's a stunning dress and a superb example from a very collectable designer!