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Did you ever buy a Mary Quant dress?

(124 Posts)
trisher Fri 21-Feb-20 14:44:39

I was watching the TVprogramme about the V&A museum (fascinating) One woman donated a 1960s Mary Quant dress. It cost 8 guineas when she bought it. Did you ever spend as much on a dress? I know I didn't. C&A was my shop of choice.

pinkquartz Fri 21-Feb-20 16:07:00

I was a bit too young for Quant plus she was expensive. I was a Biba girl.

patriciageegee Fri 21-Feb-20 16:12:35

Riverwalk love the pics!..the whole thread has cheered up a very wet, miserable Friday afternoon.

Yiayia4 Fri 21-Feb-20 16:14:56

I was a hairdressing apprentice so could only afford one from Chelsea Girl it was orange and black,I loved it and did get the hair cut to go with it.

tanith Fri 21-Feb-20 16:26:30

Anyone have one of those pvc macs? Mine was black white and yellow with a zip front. Again a C&A copy ?

J52 Fri 21-Feb-20 16:33:49

Yes, I had a black one. Not Mary Quant, probably C&A as well.
Very trendy, but the rain ran off and dripped on your legs!

Joelise Fri 21-Feb-20 16:52:11

I went to the Mary Quant exhibition a couple of months ago , but was a little disappointed that there were fewer Ginger Group outfits than I’d hoped to see . I had two Quant copies , a gorgeous black wrap around dress with a white collar, and a navy dress with a Peter Pan collar . I remember my friend having a baker boy beret . I also loved Biba , and there was a great boutique on Kensington Church Street that had some wonderful outfits !

grannyactivist Fri 21-Feb-20 17:04:11

patriciageegee my sister's Saturday job was at Miss Selfridge from when it first opened in Lewis's in Manchester. She spent all her wages in Lewis's. She used to buy Clinique soap at a cost of almost a week's wages - she never used anything else, but when she died last year at the age of 68 her skin was still beautiful.

lemongrove Fri 21-Feb-20 17:09:54

I saw the programme on the VA trisher very interesting.
I loved the bright mustard lacy dress that somebody donated,
Would have lusted after that as a teenager.
I never had any money, I remember paying £2 for a rather nice dress at C&A, royal blue with a white peter pan collar,
Which worn with white lacy tights was my favourite for a while.I had my blonde hair cut short like Twiggy at the time.

ananimous Fri 21-Feb-20 17:12:57

I never bought any, but had some given to me, as my mother's friend knew her really well, not my taste but the height of fashion was all to me back then.

vegansrock Fri 21-Feb-20 17:31:08

You could buy Mary Quant patterns and I made a white broderie anglaise mini shift dress which my friend borrowed and never gave back. We are still friends believe it or not. I loved the Mary Quant exhibition brought back loads of memories, and the pattern was on display!

Devorgilla Fri 21-Feb-20 18:11:11

I didn't have a dress but I did have a blouse. I still have it. I bought my sister a scarf for her birthday which she still has. We both went to the V&A exhibition and wore them in honour of the lady.
I too loved the Biba store in Kensington High Street and have some children's items from there which I can't bear to part with. Happy days.

suziewoozie Fri 21-Feb-20 18:17:44

I bought one of these and still have it

www.google.co.uk/search?q=mary+quant+rain+poncho&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#imgrc=RoVu4Gdhqc_nyM:

patriciageegee Fri 21-Feb-20 18:18:36

Grannyactivist what a lovely story about your dear sister. I can just imagine her going down on the escalator to the ground floor where I guess she would have friends in 'Beauty' as we did, trying the latest make up and perfume and going for it even tho it was so expensive. Classy ladyflowers

NotTooOld Fri 21-Feb-20 18:19:42

Like others, I couldn't afford MQ dresses but bought copies from C&A at Marble Arch. I also made dresses for myself. They were quite easy as mostly they were shift shapes. I do remember a black and white houndstooth check dress with a long pointed collar. I wore it with my white plastic boots and a bunch of artificial cherries pinned on the front.

NfkDumpling Fri 21-Feb-20 18:27:20

I could never have afforded the genuine thing - or known where to buy one. But my best friend was very handy with her mum’s sewing machine!

tanith Fri 21-Feb-20 18:48:48

NotTooOld Marble Arch was my branch maybe I served you, cheaper dresses were in the basement, 1st floor for upmarket ones.

Lilypops Fri 21-Feb-20 19:02:04

Glammanana, I used to shop in C&A Liverpool and got a lot of the latest fashions , but in 1964/65 I worked in Lewis,s Liverpool and that Christmas a ground floor boutique was opened , myself and three other girls who were already working in Lewis were put in there, we were given black &white mini dresses with a cutout hole in the neckline and white knee length boots, we were allowed to play our own 45 records in , We were the envy of all and we thought we were the bees knees, Every time I hear any Beatles song or the Rolling Stones " Get off my cloud ". I am transported back to that happy carefree time in the 60's

Witzend Fri 21-Feb-20 20:30:49

No, I was always too skint!
C&A, Dorothy Perkins and Etam, or Peter Robinson if I was really pushing the boat out.

Deedaa Fri 21-Feb-20 22:15:48

I bought a lovely mustard Ginger Group dress second hand on a market stall. It had purple borders round the hem and sleeves. For my 21st birthday I treated myself to an unbleached calico dress trimmed with broiderie anglaise. I think it cost 9 guineas and I later saw it in French Vogue! The rest of the time I was strictly Biba.

Elrel Sat 22-Feb-20 00:23:58

Such memories! I was given white lace tights one ‘60s Christmas. I had forgotten the pvc mac and can’t remember either where it came from or the colours. White?
There was an authentic Mary Quant table in a friend’s flat, black, shaped like her iconic daisy. There may have been a white daisy painted on in the middle.
Courrege did colour block shifts. Mine was not the real thing but I loved wearing it, green with a white yoke and matching green coat, a thick crisp cotton.

GrannyMary1 Sat 22-Feb-20 09:59:35

For anyone visiting Scotland in April, the V and A in Dundee is having a Mary Quant exhibition. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

Greciangirl Sat 22-Feb-20 10:01:47

Oh! I loved mini skirts and hipster trousers with wide leather belts in the 60’s, which was my era.
I looked good in them too.

Also loved the Biba clothes. I used to send of for the mail order catalogue, then rip the pages out and stick them all around my bedroom wall.

Theoddbird Sat 22-Feb-20 10:03:32

I used to make all my own clothes...had my own style. Mary quant did not design clothes that I particularly liked.

Sue500 Sat 22-Feb-20 10:05:23

No I didn’t but did go the exhibition at VA. It was brilliant and evoked so many memories of teenage years.

Rosina Sat 22-Feb-20 10:06:03

I had two of the genuine article and a few 'copies'. How I wish I had kept them! I was a tiny person them - also used to buy 'Junior Miss' clothes as they fitted perfectly and were ideal for the office. Oh, if only!