The Carol-Anne Martin Photostory

There seems to have been a lot of confusion and curiosity going around among some Whofans relating to a selection of John Entwistle photographs featuring a little known young lady.

As much as it would amuse John that I'm defending his honour I do perhaps owe him a little for somewhat defending mine in the past, so let's clear this situation up. ...admittedly I'm doing this more for the lovely Alison Entwistle than John.

All of the following images were taken on Thursday 2nd March 1967 and star Who fan Carol-Anne Martin spending a day with her idol, John Entwistle, and accompanying him to the Marquee Club that evening where The Who's performance would be filmed for Beat Club.
I don't know whether the girl was a true Who fan who had won the day in a competition, whether it was a publicity excercise or whether it was a photo op set up with a model. What I am certain about is that three months after these photos were taken John married his childhood sweetheart Alison Wise whom he had met and school and had been dating steadily since 1962. Alison had been dutifully attending John's gigs since he was in The Detours, so she wasn't exactly going to miss any girls hanging around him at gigs in London several years later. These photos were posed for fan magazines, and John wasn't stupidly going to suggest a secret girlfriend for the photo shoot either (that honour goes to Paul McCartney, maybe I'll explain about that another time).It's worth noting that the carpet and wallpaper in the bedroom photos match those in the picture of Carol-Anne sat on her sofa in front of a wall full of Who pictures. Whether those who read magazines in the 60s actually beileved that a photographer could sneak a girl into John's bedroom to wake him up without him noticing is unknown. ;)The following two photos were taken by Ray Stevenson who covered the Beat Club recording. All of the other images were taken by David Magnus.








If anyone else has any additional information or more photos from the shoot, please contact me and I'll update this to share with everyone else out there. All images and footage remains the property of their original creators and are reproduced here for educational puroses (setting a bit of pop history straight).

The Foale & Tuffin Exhibition Launch

Anyone wanting a quick and informative review, head over to Liz's blog entry at vintage-a-peel because I'm going to ramble and muse a lot here.

I promised to post properly about this forever ago and am only getting around to it now because of the lovely new Youthquake tour pictures Lynn has posted over at Pattie Boyd's Sixties Style.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the much anticipated launch for both the book and exhibition because the lovely M had put me on the guest list after I'd almost jumped up and down at the mention of a Foale and Tuffin book (embarrassingly during the launch party for the John Bates book and therefore in the presance of John Bates when I'd previously been doing very well at appearing half normal... well, apart from my bright pink Westwood cardigan and my hair-do which encouraged someone to take pictures of it from all angles) and then supplied an excited ramble about them being the Peter Blake of the fashion world when asked what questions I'd like to see answered in the book.

Anyway, off I went in the company of M and the elegant vintage goddess that is Liz. I tried to behave myself appropriately, but within minutes of the exhibition being officially opened I was discussing make-up with a nice lad who knew Sally Tuffin and had the most amazing pair of false eyelashes on. You'd think with the amount of art exhibition launches I've hosted that I'd be able to deport myself with more style and calm, but seeing as I only ever attend things I'm enthused about this never happens. Incidentally, the lad with the phenomenal professionally applied make-up spoke to me first. Possibly because I'd gone to the party made up like some junior version of the Fashion And Textile Museum's founder Zandra Rhodes, half due to the fact that that's where the exhibition was staged and half because I'd got some new cobalt blue make-up in Harrods the day before and couldn't stp myself from throwing several tonnes of it all over myself. Oh, and also because Liz's mirrors all have gorgeous images of fashionable ladies painted all over them so I can't actually see when to *stop*. That's always my excuse when I stay at Liz's anyway. ;) ;)

The downstairs area of the exhibition was mainly arranged to emulate the original F&T shop with items not only on mannequins but also hung in enticing rows near a faux changing room and surrounded by the accessories sold alongside them at the time. So many items of clothing I'd only seen in books before.

Marion Foale (left) and Sally Tuffin (right) outside their original shop

When you're someone who wears vintage fashion and collects vintage magazines, one of the most frustrating things (yet not as frustrating as the existance of Kate Moss) is sighing over pictures of outfits that you may never see in person, let alone own or find in your size. In my early twenties when I lived in Liverpool and immerced myself entirely in 60s culture (a home full of 60s furniture, listening to vinyl, wearing 60s clothes every day and reading only magazines from that period because I found the modern clothes and modern discussions in up to date magazines somewhat distasteful) stepping out of my front door into the modern world was always a culture shock. I'd often be reading through new magazine finds, spot a fabulous outfit, read it's price and who it was by and think "ooh, that's not too expensive and there's one of those shops down the road" and then reality would hit and I'd realise the shop would have been out of stock of this item over thirty years ago. At the F&T exhibition two such dresses that I'd had this experiance with were within excruciating touching distance and yet I couldn't go and try them on.

It was truly fabulous to see them in real life though. Actually, there were three such outfits, but the pain was lessened with the third due to it having been leant to the exhibition by one of my closest friends, Liz. I remember the strange but wonderful moment when we realised that she owned the dress and I owned a period image of it. ...if you're a vintage fashion junkie having the piece and the period image is an exciting moment. Trust me. You either get it or you don't. ;)

I didn't dare wear either of my F&T pieces because Liz had previously terrified me over the lovely designers reactions to the condition of some of their old pieces and one was a little worse for wear while the other was too casual for a party. I instead opted for something that could never be considered too casual for a party. One of the most fun to wear things in my wardrobe which is saying something when over half of my wardrobe is basically fantasy flamboyant fashion.
Despite my tastes in fashion, make-up and hairstyling I'm not a very outgoing person. Unless you put me in the right outfit around the right crowd. The crowd at the launch all seemed to be wonderful, free minded, creative types wearing fabulous clothes and make-up so I ended up doing what you just have to do in this outfit and flounced about like a dancing butterfly talking to loads of people who just walked up to me to admire my rainbow sequin ensemble and take pictures of it. I wished I'd had a stack of Liz's business cards to hand out, but instead explained where I'd got my sequin trouser suit and pointed Liz out in the crowd.

Then I was taken again by the sight of more fabulous F&T pieces or magazine pictures of the clothes from the period and flounced off again. You can't walk around normally in this kind of outfit. You have to dance around in it. I excuse this behaviour with the fact that it had the same effect on Twiggy when she wore the dress:

On the way around the exhibition you could help but be in awe of the video installations playing. I spent a lot of time watching them, loving the 60s footage set in among the footage of the pieces being modelled in the modern day. I especially loved the way that the new model they'd chosen was being instructed in sixties modelling poses by the original F&T model Jenny Boyd. Other people around me kept asking each other "is that Marianne Faithfull" and I corrected them all that it was in fact Jenny.

To my great excitement Jenny herself was present, and after I'd gone to get my book signed by the lovely Marion and Sally I plucked up the courage to pounce demurely upon Jenny. She seemed a little surprised to be asked for her autograph but was absoloutely lovely about it and I came away finding her easier to chat to than her sister Pattie who had - if I'm honest - terrfied me when I met her. I don't think it really helped back then that I'd long admired her modelling career and was therefore a tad nervous to be in her presance, or that I'd arrived almost like a mini not-as-cute 60s version of her with my long blonde hair sixtied to the max and resplendant in a Dollyrockers mini dress and Biba velvet jacket.

Anyway, back to Jenny who was a pleasure to meet. I remembered to say how much I loved her book Musicians In Tune for being fascinating, enjoyable to read and absoloutely spot on as a psychological study if the mind of the musician. I think I rather shocked her by knowing about her book, but she was gracious and seemed pleased to hear my thoughts on it.

The original Foale&Tuffin crowd with Jenny fourth from left.

Sally Tuffin (left) and Marion Foale (right) either
side of the trouser suit Jenny wore for the event.

As well as the fabulous clothes, the walls of the exhibiton were filled with well placed images from fashion magazines of the era featuring their clothes. Having spent a lot of my free time in the Liverpool days sat in the Picton Library looking through the bound 1960s volumes of Vogue, Tatler and Queen there wasn't anything to surprise me in the images, but it was fabulous to see them in this context.

The main section upstairs was styled to represent the work room and was scattered with unused buttons, labels and buckles and piled high with the original patterns for their work which in all honesty made me feel honoured to be there. People didn't even get to see that in the 60s.

Another fabulous part of the upstairs display was the section dedicated to the two designers' modern day work. Marion Foale moved into knitwear while Sally Tuffin went on to become one of the UK's leading pottery designers.

Later we moved on to the after party where I quickly found us a booth to sit down in and we spent the rest of the evening there eating cake and I tried to walk as nonchalantly about as you can in a full length rainbow sequin ensemble when Jenny Boyd is sat at the next table to you.

Circumstances resulted in neither Liz nor myself being able to photograph or film any of the event, but luckily someone who attended the exhibition when it was open to the public filmed some of the downstairs display:

The "decadence" that makes my skin crawl

This is mainly a picture post for Lynn and Liz collating images of the Avengers Collection fur coats as worn by Pattie Boyd and Cynthia Lennon. Also included are a couple of pictures of Pattie in a wedding outfit by the same designer, John Bates.
This is one of the few times you'll have me posting on fur or feathers as I abhor the wearing of animal skins and am a card carrying vegetarian. Fur and feathers in fashion break my heart. I love decadence but the sight of those two remind me of when my cat died and dead birds that my cats bring in. Needless to say, they do little for me but churn my stomach and are as far from indulgent decadence as I can get.

But it's fabulous to share the work of John Bates, a little mentioned fashion genius. And besides, what is there not to love about my fave rave girl from The Avengers and the Beatle girls?

Pattie Boyd photographed for Vanity Fair in 1965 wearing a black and white rabbit fur coat. Shown with the original sketch for the coat by designer John Bates.

Avengers star Diana Rigg modelling the same coat worn by Pattie. The outfits were originally designed for Diana, as can be seen noted in the design sketches. Also pictured is the cover for the Avengers Collection brochure which features another image of Diana wearing the coat in the centre.

Cynthia Lennon photographed at the theatre in early 1966. Shown with the original sketch for the coat by designer John Bates.

Diana Rigg modelling the same coat as worn by Cynthia Lennon.

Back to the animal related fashion question. I have to admit to loving silk, but I have issues about the fact that getting silk kills the silk worms... so I make sure not to fund the practice and indulge my silk love via vintage and second hand pieces. I found the launch of the Yasmin Le Bon fashion range excruciating. Such beautifully made, gorgeous flattering items, and the majority in silk. Basically I stocked up on the non-silk pieces and have been grabbing what I can of the rest via the wonder of ebay. ...I still have mild guilt about the silk issue but it doesn't nauseate me like leather, feathers or fur.

There's quite a few more images of Pattie in Varon knocking about Liz, so if you remind me I might get round to digging the others out.

And to finish, one final Beatlegirl fashion comparison for Lynn. I'm certain that the dresses pictured below must be from the same collection. Both in the exact same lace and both with embroidered flowers in a contrasting shade:

For the rest of the readers, if you want to indulge in further images from Pattie Boyd's modelling career, step across to Lynn's group at Yahoo http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pattieboydssixtiesstyle for the untimate collection because my website on Pattie's modelling career needs a major overhaul and I daren't even link to it at this stage.

For more vintage fashion by someone who deeply loves the work of John Bates head over to Liz's blog http://emmapeelpants.blogspot.com/ or even stock up on some fashion history of your own at her online boutique http://www.vintage-a-peel.co.uk/ which comes highly recommended. I buy a lot of pieces there and have done for years. Every piece is sourced, researched, cleaned, repaired and then presented beautifully by Liz herself. And her prices are as gorgeous as the fashions she presents. She also does international postage so no-one is safe from her wonderful pieces. You have been warned.

Finally, I'd like to recommend drooling over the images in the John Bates Fashion Designer Book http://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Bates-Designer-Richard-Lester/dp/1851495703

Missing A Maureen

I've just realised I've now met everyone in the wondrous Apple Boutique modelling photo apart from the most admired and beloved Maureen. *sniffles*

Joyously at ease around Cynthia, intimidated in the presance of Pattie and rather overly giddy to meet Jenny. Had I ever met Maureen I'd prolly have just cried buckets like a demented little fangirl. Then again, Mo is the one I'm most like so maybe she'd have been even easier to be around than Cynthia. I shall never know.

"Is she pretty? Yes ever so."

Last night I had a fabulous time at the launch of the new Foale & Tuffin exhibition and book (if you're a 1960s fiend you really must see both ASAP) where I saw lots of ultra fabulous people and briefly met the lovely Jenny Boyd. More on all of that tomorrow when I've had some rest.

Til then, here's a splurge of Jenny modelling for the lovely and super talented Foale and Tuffin, the "Peter Blakes of Fashion". ;)


F&T's Y-front Dress


F&Ts's Double D Dress
yes that's in the exhibition)


F&T's Crossword Puzzle Dress
(also in the exhibition thanks to the phenomenal collection of the lovely Liz of Vintage A Peel)


Youthquake Tour


Jenny in F&T Funburst
Pattie in F&T Double D variation.


Super cool pic of Jenny in an ultra bright Funburst dress. There was some footage showing at the exhibition of lots of running round this phone box in fab outfits, but I don't recall seeing Jenny wearing this one.


the sisters in the window of the F&T shop.

...I'll have to do a quick raid and dig out loads more pics of F&T outfits. I know there's tonnes more starring Jenny, Pattie, Jane Asher and Marianne Faithfull.

It had to be mine

I shall soon be re-launching my Little Willow website... thanks to geocities for closing down (that's a great help, thanks!)

...but before then a special gem from my collection. Bought in auction a few years ago, this is a Starkey family photograph taken during a party at Ringo's mum Elsie's house by the man himself. I fought over it tooth and nail with a dealer because it was a picture of my idol Maureen taken by her husband. And for that reason, it had to be mine.

D is for Dandy

(originally written as a segment for the Vintage Fashion Guild's label resource)

SHOP - Apple Tailoring / Dandy Fashions
DESIGNER - John Crittle

At the end of May 1968 John Lennon made his first public appearance with his new girlfriend Yoko Ono at the opening of a second Apple fashion outlet at 161 King's Road. It was originally a shop called Dandy Fashions and run by Australian designer John Crittle who designed clothes for The Rolling Stones, The Who, Procul Harum, Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix. Dandy Fashions had been a joint venture with Tara Browne, a friend of The Beatles and heir to the Guinness brewery fortune. Tara died in a car crash in December 1966, prompting a verse in the Beatles song A Day In The Life.

John Crittle went into business with The Beatles in February of 1968, George Harrison remembering that "we bought a few things from [John Crittle] and the next thing we knew, we owned the place!" John was a highly respected designer and retained the position of Director of the enterprise working alongside Apple manager Neil Aspinall and Apple accountant Stephen Maltz. This store was re-named Apple Tailoring and specialised in civil and theatrical wear.



When the Apple Boutique closed, the Beatles ended their connection with Apple Tailoring and gave the premises back to the manager. Paul McCartney issued a press statement declaring that "The Kings Road shop, which is known as Apple Tailoring, isn't going to be part of Apple anymore. But it isn't closing down and we are leaving our investment there because we have a moral and personal obligation to our partner John Crittle, who is now in sole control."

In 1975, John Crittle split up with his wife Andrew, leaving her and their six-year-old daughter behind and moving back to Australia. Their daughter Darcey Bussell (who took on the surname of her stepfather) was estranged from her father but made him very proud when she became the Royal Ballet's youngest principal ballerina at 20 years old. He returned to London two years before his death to watch his daughter dance but she refused contact with him. He died aged 56, suffering from emphysema.

A is for Apple...

(originally written as a segment for the Vintage Fashion Guild's label resource)

SHOP - Apple Boutique
DESIGNERS - The Fool

In September 1967 while filming Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles decided to open a fashion boutique as the first venture in their newly founded Apple Corps empire. Their accountants had already acquired a piece of real estate at 94 Baker Street in London's W1 as a long-term investment and so they decided to give the "Fool" £100,000 to design and stock the new Apple Boutique in the premises.

The Fool began by engaging a group of art students to help them paint a huge psychedelic mural that they had designed across the while exterior of the store, and were instantly met with complaints from other merchants in the area. The interior of the store itself was being organised by The Beatles so every morning Paul McCartney would turn up to ask the workmen to literally move the walls around, and John Lennon would turn up every afternoon and demand they be put back.

John Lennon's childhood friend Pete Shotton had been managing a supermarket that John had purchased and was brought in to manage the store, helped by George Harrison's sister-in-law and sometime model Jennie Boyd whose presence seemed to attract more stares than purchases. When additional staff were aquired they fitted the shop's strange atmosphere perfectly. One was a self-styled mystic named Caleb who slept underneath a showcase during his breaks, and the other was a larger than life lady who floated around the store in authentic gypsy costume.

Jenny Boyd working inside the boutique

The first business problem Pete Shotton came across occured before the stock had even been created. Cutting rooms had been established above the shop where tailors could begin turning thousands of pounds worth of fabric into Fool creations. Amongst the orders for vast bolts of raw silk and lush velvets The Fool had ordered multi coloured silk labels for all their designs which resulted in the label often costing more to produce than the clothes could eventually be sold for. Pete tried to bring this problem to his friend Lennon's attention and was told "Oh, let them do what they want. We're not business freaks, we're artists... if we don't make and money, what does it matter?"

clothing label

The opening night party was held in the first week of December 1967, attended by John Lennon and George Harrison. Celebrity friends such as Cilla Black were handed apple juice as they walked in and entertained with a fashion show and a variety of circus acts.

launch party invitation

Beatles and wives attending the launch party

The Apple Boutique like many other Apple ventures that followed was a financial disaster and closed after eight months. The trinkets stocked in the shop were of the sort people could already buy in various shops throughout London, much of the fashion seemed to be in the style that everyone had worn last Summer and the huge changing rooms were perfect for shoplifters. The shop hadn't even been open two months before it's manager Pete Shotton quit.

"It was total madness! I had four bosses for a start, all giving different orders. Paul would come in and tell me where he wanted a partition. Almost as soon as we had done it, John would arrive and say, 'what the ****'s going on here?' He'd then want the partition taken down. There was so much back-stabbing and status seeking as Apple took on more and more people, often just because they'd met in a club or a gallery. Then there were the suits, pushing around their bits of paper, sending memos. Most of them didn't have a clue. I'd come from running a little supermarket to find I was supposed to organise something which was taking on the size and complexity of ICI. The Beatles wanted the shop to be a beautiful place where beautiful could buy beautiful things. They also wanted everything to be for sale. So if a customer fancied a light fitting or a display case, that was for sale as well. Imagine trying to stock for that! The boutique originally gave every indication of being a success, but the trouble was that so much of the stock seemed to disappear from the premises without the benefit of a cash transaction. Our turned-on, tuned-in staff were not only loathed to apprehend shoplifters, for fear of appearing un-hip, they also felt no scruples about helping themselves to goods which happened to take their fancy."

Pattie Boyd and two other models displaying fashions on sale at the Apple Boutique

The boutique had managed to loose The Beatles nearly £200,000 in only seven months, and was still loosing money after the new manager John Lyndon took over and threatened to ban The Fool from the premises if they removed any more stock or charged any more debts to Apple. The bold psychedelic mural proclaiming the Beatles' presence on the street had disappeared in May after the Civic Association had begun proceedings to have it removed. The shop was now a stark white with tiny writing above the windows nonchalantly declaring you were at Apple, and the flat atmosphere inside the shop seemed to match it perfectly.

On the morning of 30th July 1968 the staff were told to open the doors the following day and give the stock and fabrics away, prompting John and Yoko to turn up that night and be the first to raid the place. Staff stood by and watched in amazement as Yoko marched into the cutting rooms to collect large swatches of fabric which she laid on the floor, piled high with merchandise and then dragged into the back of John's Rolls Royce. Paul arrived later and found a jacket that he liked but Ringo went away decalring that he couldn't find anything that fitted him.

The giveaway had been publicised via the newspapers and the television and when the doors opened there was a queue of scavengers three blocks long. It was decided to open the basement doors to allow the crowds to walk through the store and right out the other side. The Beatles had ordered that no limit be put on the amount of stock people could take, and after armfulls of clothing and uncut fabrics disappeared out of the doors, coat hangers and shop fittings began to disappear. No-one was stopped until the moment when one woman began trying to prise the carpet up off the floor.

Paul declared in an interview that "We decided to close down our Baker Street shop yesterday and instead of putting up a sign saying, 'Business will be resumed as soon as possible', and then auction off the goods, we decided to give them away. The shops were doing fine and making a nice profit on turnover. So far, the biggest loss is in giving the things away, but we did that deliberately. We're giving them away - rather than selling them to barrow boys - because we wanted to give rather than sell. Originally, the shops were intended to be something else, but they just became like all the boutiques in London. They just weren't our thingy. The staff will get three weeks' pay but if they wish they'll be absorbed into the rest of Apple. Everyone will be cared for."

The final disaster that the boutique was involved in took place a week after the shop had closed down. Paul McCartney and his live-in girlfriend Francie Schwartz decided to publicise the new Beatles single by writing it's name on the whitewashed shopfront. The single was a double A-side, prompting they to scrawl "Hey Jude" and "Revolution" in huge letters across the store, and resulting in a backlash from the local Jewish community who felt threatened by the words. Paul's dream of "a beautiful place where you could buy beautiful things." was well and truly over.

Beatlegirls advertising Apple Boutique designs. Top left: George's wife Pattie in blue satin shirt and red satin pantaloons. Back centre: John's wife Cynthia in pink-purple chiffon dress with a lurex tunic and mauve stockings. Back right: Ringo's wife Maureen in apple green jacket embroidered in gold, over night blue baggy pants appliqué with yellow stars. Front: George's sister-in-law Jenny in print trimmed jacket, gathered skirt and chiffon trousers.