I'm sure that many of you are already quite familiar with this photograph of Jane Asher, it has been reproduced several times in various fashion books over the years, but it was originally published in a magazine editorial called The Time, The Place, The Dress, and (if you still need it) The Food, by Molly Parkin for Nova in 1966, and printed poster-sized over a double-page layout, measuring 51.5 cm x 34cm for full visual impact! Molly commissioned Ossie Clark and Celia Birtwell to design the dress especially for the feature, she specifically wanted something which represented not only the fast-paced, disposable, transient nature of the current youthful attitude towards fashion trends but also something with enough decorative value to end up on the wall in a bedsitter as pop paraphernalia after it had been worn at the weekend, rather than thrown out with the trash!
So what better candidate for potential 'wall art' than a printed paper dress! Celia painted her initial ideas in gouache, inspired by the work of Paul Poiret and illustrations from La Gazzete du Bon Ton. The finished designs were then printed onto a suitable Johnson & Johnson manufactured paper by the 'Art to Wear' company of Zika Ascher, and the dresses were made to order for the sum of 17s 6d each. I love the fact that Celia also took it upon herself to paint the vinyl floor tiles in the mock-up bedsit, mirroring the design detail from the border of the garment to complete the overall look. And that Molly (a woman after my own heart), attributed just about every single item on display in the magazine feature to its original source, from the Biba beads right down to the Woolworth lollipops and sticks of rock!
On the floor: Jane Asher in a dress designed by Ossie Clark made of printed paper fabric designed by Celia Birtwell; made to order in small, medium and large sizes, approximately 17s 6d. Bangle at Woolworths, 2s 9d. Vinyl floor tiles painted by Celia Birtwell. Lilac patent shoe by Russell & Bromley, 7½ gns. Amber patent shoe by Elliot, 8 gns. Coloured cigarette by Sobraine, 7s 2d for twenty. Coloured crepe stockings by Russell & Bromley, 6s 11d. Pop tin tray by Goods & Chattels. 9s 6d.
Close-up of the design detail from the border of the dress.
Above: One of Celia's initial designs for the paper dress rendered in gouache, inspired by the work produced at the Martine School of Decorative Arts in Paris. The school was set up by designer Paul Poiret in 1911 at 'La Maison Poiret' in an endeavour to realise his dream of creating a decorative arts movement in France which would be on par with the new developments in the arts taking place in Vienna and Germany at this time. The students mainly consisted of young working class girls between the ages of 12-15 years old, Poiret encouraged them to work freely from nature, organising trips to the countryside and conservatories whenever possible, but apart from this input they were otherwise without artistic supervision. His role was merely to stimulate their artistic taste without influencing or criticising them, in order to maintain the purity of the original source of inspiration in the work. He would then select a range from the finished designs which were suitable for reproduction and have them applied to fabrics, wallpapers, carpets, cushions and ceramics.
The work received an excellent response amongst art circles, and following an exhibition at the Salon d'Automne in 1912 the demand was such that Poiret opened a retail outlet called 'Atelier Martine' on Rue du Faubourg St Honoré. With a very favourable review in Vogue, the Martines went from strength to strength, also using their designs to create magnificent large scale murals, transforming hotels, shops, offices, private houses and the studio of dancer Isadora Duncan into exotic oriental palaces in the process. An international reputation was quickly established, however, the gathering momentum of the Martines success was stopped in its tracks by the outbreak of WW1 in 1914. The school closed for the duration of the war, with many of the students relocated to a safer environment. Business eventually resumed as normal in the aftermath, but although Poiret tried several times to re-establish his career and the Martine style, most notably in the mid 1920s with an extravagant display at the International Art Deco Fair in Paris, both failed to ever regain the immense popularity of their glory days.
Three designs for round carpets, typical of the Martine style, from the workbooks of the School of Decorative Arts.
The Table: green paper drum table by Hull Traders Ltd, £3 13s. On the table: Large glass jar, £2, full of Smarties, Liquorice Allsorts and Barratt's assorted sweets; glass-topped storage jar, 6s 6d, containing dolls' eyes from Pedigree Dolls; spice jars, 2s 9d; glass dish, 7s 6d a pair, contain bath oils at Boots, 6s 6d. All the glassware from The Scientific Glassblowing Co Ltd. Hexagonal coloured boxes by Goods & Chattels, £1 17s 6d a set.
On the wall: wooden beads at Biba's, 11s. Striped shoes at Fifth Avenue, £3 19s 11d. Red and green shoe by Walter Steiger for Bally, 9½ gns. Bead bracelet at Biba's, 5s 6d. Dress designed by Ossie Clark of printed paper fabric designed by Celia Birtwell, made to order, 17s 6d. Plastic earrings by Paco Rabanne, £1 10s. Bangle at Woolworth, 2s 9d. Pink patent shoe by Russell & Bromley, £3 19s 11d. Woolworth lollipops. Paper roses from Portobello Road market. Dried flowers at Natural Fern Display Ltd, from 3s 6d each. Large wooden beads at Biba's, £1 2s 6d. Pearly Queen dress from Hector Binney stall, Bermondsey market.
The Bed: emerald green wooden bed by Gary Griffiths at Vasa, approximately £30. Green sheets at John Lewis, £5 19s 6d a set. Orange and red shoe by Walter Steiger at Bally, 9½ gns. Leather and suede shoe by Salvatore Ferragamo, 14 gns. Woolworth's rock, 1s a stick.
IMAGE CREDITS
All content scanned and transcribed by Sweet Jane from an original article by Molly Parkin for NOVA, September 1966. Model; Jane Asher. All Photographs by Duffy. Celia Birtwell design in gouache scanned from Celia Birtwell by Celia Birtwell. *The Close-up of border design detail on the printed dress courtesy of the V&A collection. Carpet designs from the Martine School of Decorative Arts were scanned from A Fashion For Extravagance by Sara Bowman.
LINKS
Visit the Celia Birtwell website here. Listen to Molly Parkin on Desert Island Discs here. Watch Great Lives: The Molly Parkin Documentary here. Read about the life and times of of Zika Ascher here. View an issue of La Gazette du Bon Ton from 1914 here. And finally, read more about the career of designer Paul Poiret and view examples of his work here.
I first knew about Jane Asher when I was a teenager. We really loved The Beatles since we were little, and at the time The Spice Girls, the Back Street Boyd and Britney Spears started to be popular among our classmates, me and my sister stuck to The Beatles (Queen, Guns'N'Roses, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith...)
[Jane and Paul at the 'How I Won the War' premiere, October 1967]
By then, we knew about Linda, Cynthia and Yoko. but one day, at our granny's, she had these magazines about gossip, and there was an article about an upcoming biography about Paul McCartney. In the same article there was this black and white photo of Paul and Jane at How I Won the War film premiere and said "At 25, Paul had a romance with stage actress, red-haired Jane Asher".
RED HAIRED STAGE ACTRESS you said?
[Jane in 1965]
I LOVED stage and I LOVED red hair!! (I still do!!!). So I memorised her name and as soon we got internet at home we started googling her and found out LOTS OF AMAZING websites about what was called "the Beatlegirls". My sis back then still loved Cynthia, as John was her favourite Beatle, but soon changed onto Pattie.
And Jane, of course, was not only a stage actress, but also a film and TV actress, a model, a cook, an author, an activist... And her romance to Paul was not only when he was 25, but for five years!
[1964 - Jane in Regent's Park]
We started saving pictures of Jane, Pattie, Cynthia and Maureen, guessing the years pretty well! We were hesitant to join yahoo groups because you needed a yahoo email, but in the end we did, and we found a great collection of photos and met fans alike!
[Jane in 1967, for the Ladies Home Journal]
And, of course, like the other muses we had, we started to build websites, then MySpace (remember that?!), facebook, here on tumblr... Always trying to find the best picture and the most accurate information about them.
What I really love about Jane is that now I don't "care" about Paul anymore, now it's her. and she's still acting! Maybe I knew her as a "Beatlegirl" but she is far more than that, she is not that anymore (to me). Like all the muses, she is her own person, and she defines herself as a "science groupie", isn't that fabulous?
[Jane in 1970, in "The Philanthropist" play]
Finally, after watching some of her films, collecting many of her magazines and photos, watching "An American In Paris" play that was filmed for cinemas, we're going to see her live in a theatre production in London this summer. We are very excited!
[Jane in the play "Moon Tiger" in 2014]
Today, for her birthday, we wanted to share with all of you, dear followers, how we knew about Jane and what made us love her.
The cuties from Amazing-Models were updated. New outfits in photo sets and charming videos – the new year of nonude modeling begins. In 2016 we will see few new girls, high quality updates of existing beauties and much more. Below are the latest photo sets and videos:
