25/10/2022
The great thing about the Vintage Clothing industry is that sometime you stumble across an item with a unique pedigree!
This Ladies leather waistcoat from c.1967/8 is a good example, coming from 'Dandy/Dandie Fashions' 161 Kings Road Chelsea, owned at one time by The Beatles, and their clientele included Status Quo, Jimi Hendrix, Rodger Daltery, Brian Jones and Twiggy to name just a few!
Who owned this waistcoat we will never know, but with a little imagination it would be nice to think it was one of their regular customers from the music industry!
"Dandy Fashions opened on 161 King's Road in October 1966. It was a brainchild of two young entrepreneurs - John Crittle (an Australian, former employee of Michael Rainey in Hung on You) and Tara Browne (an heir to the Guinness fortune) who wanted their boutique to be a retail outlet for their new tailoring business Foster and Tara. Unfortunately, in December 1966, Tara Browne died in a car crash (he was on his way to discuss designs for a shop front with graphic artist David Vaughn). His share of the business was bought by Crittle.
Crittle, in his policy was essentially copying Hung on You - from Art Nouveau designs for the shop front to clothes themselves - silk frilled shirts, velvet suits in every possible colour and double - breasted jackets. Nevertheless, shop proved a quick success and soon its clients included Brian Jones, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix. Brian Jones became so friendly with John Crittle, that he had lent him his chauffeur Brian Palastanga and limousine when Crittle was on his way to the court after the drug bust on Dandie Fashions in May 1967.
Beatles were also customers at Dandie Fashions, and , seeking an investment opportunity, they bought the shop in May 1968 and transformed it into Apple Tailoring - part of their ill-fated, badly ran Apple Enterprise. John Crittle was employed as a director; however his skillful management could not save the boutique from quick bankruptcy in the late 1968. Crittle returned to Australia where he died in 2000. He is now also remembered for being a father of a ballet star Darcy Bussell - his child with Andrea.
