Browsing Tag Helen Barrell

The first in a 3 part series on Mod jewellery, starting with swinging, moving onto Classic Chrome and ending up all Glamorous. Marvellous…..

Not all Mods wear jewellery – certainly not most Mod blokes! But what is true about jewellery is that it is an accessory, and accessories are vital to Mod style, whether it’s a handbag or bracelet or a hat. Attention to detail is paramount. As with any accessory, you have to make sure it matches, and with the case of women’s Mod style, it means you really need lots of different pieces of jewellery to make sure that every outfit is accessorised well. A diamante bracelet will go nicely with a plain black dress, but not that well with a swirly paisley patterned shirt! And plastic daisy earrings would look daft with an early 60’s cocktail dress (unless you’re one of these lucky people who can carry anything off!).

Of course, it all depends on what jewellery you find. Even though original pieces of 60’s fashion are increasingly hard to come by, junk shops are literally heaving with pieces of 60’s (and 60’s-style) jewellery. You can find all different kinds – from big, plastic, square rings to small diamante necklaces. This means it’s up to you, to use your own discretion when matching these finds with the outfits you have.

If you’re what is known as ‘swinging’ or ‘psychedelic’, diamante and pearls are probably not your cup of tea. A quick look around you at any Mod night will tell you that most girls seem to be more along those lines than the early 60’s style. My own reading of this is that, because most Mod nights are in need of air conditioning, it’s far more comfortable to be wearing a shift dress than a suit or a roll neck or a cardigan. And as the shift dress figures so predominantly in the swinging and psychedelic look, it is perhaps little surprising that most girls at Mod dos adopt those looks. Especially in the case of younger Mod girls, the early 60’s look isn’t flavour of the month.

And so we enter the realm of plastic jewellery, seeing as most girls own this more than they do diamante and pearls. The range of jewellery available is only hindered by the imaginations of its manufacturers and designers. With the case of a material as chameleon as plastic, it is little surprising that so many styles can be found made with it.

Enormous rings are available made from plastic. Some of the best of these are slightly transparent, in colours such as orange or yellow. Following on from this, perhaps, was the fad (I don’t know, it might still be continuing) for wearing rings with huge lumps of amber set in them. And these are worn both by men and women.

Gigantic plastic earrings were very popular in the 60’s, as can be seen by the number of women wearing them in 60’s films (Adrienne Posta’s vast collection in ‘Up the Junction’ being a prime example!). I can’t claim to ever having seen a mod bloke wearing this type of earring, but who knows what some of the crazier element get up to…! One problem with wearing this type of earring is purely practical – they can feel quite heavy after a while, so make sure you have a handy pocket or handbag to stow them away in!

I own a pair of plastic daisy earrings which shout ‘swinging 60’s’ – perhaps rather to loudly, as you can see in the above photo! It is impossible to be subtle in plastic earrings, especially in the biggest size ones, which can reach down to your shoulders. This means that they must match what you are wearing – they are so obvious that if they don’t go, it will only emphasise your fashion faux pas. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t attempt this style. One way to carry the look off would be to wear a dress of the same colour as your earrings, or to wear bold, contrasting colours, such as white earrings with a black and white dress, or pink earrings with an orange dress with pink dots. You see what I’m getting at…. It might even be a good idea to match the colour of your plastic earrings with your shoes or handbag or other pieces of jewellery. This is where your own innate sense of style will dictate what you should do!

Plastic bangles are quite fantastic, and would be a good way of harmonising your plastic earrings with the rest of your outfit. They’re quite easy to find new on the High Street. Although that may make it seem like they’re not ‘exclusive’, at least by buying new, you can avoid the brittleness which you get with old items of plastic. I once had a 60’s necklace, with a black and white design in plastic, but it snapped! Boo-hoo!

So as long as your jewellery matches your clothes, and vice versa, you can’t go wrong.

© Helen Barrell 2001 – 2012 [Published 16 August 2001]

Shoes can make or break an outfit, but original 60′s shoes are hard to find. When women’s 60′s shoes are available in second hand shops, they are rarely in sizes above a 6, and wearing someone else’s old shoes isn’t really healthy. Helen Barrell gives you a guide to High Street mod shoe shopping for girls.

Most of the shoes I have at the moment are from Rackhams in Birmingham. This is because they have a tremendous selection of designer shoes, from Italian, French and Spanish labels such as Carvela, Roland Cartier andRoberto Vianni. But when I was marooned for 3 years on the Isle of Wight, I had only the shoes in Next and Curtess to choose from. So instead I got my shoes (as well as my false eyelashes – see make-up article in Dansette #7) from a stage shop. I have enormous feet (so people say), an 8 (though in Ancient Greece big feet on women were considered very elegant, and oddly enough, Audrey Hepburn’s feet were an 8 as well!), and though 8′s were, a few years ago, non-existent, one of the few places you could buy size 8′s from were stage shops. Don’t ask why. So I used to wear tap shoes. The first pair I got were white Oxford taps. They are fantastic – white, pointy-toed with a Cuban heel, laced up. Only thing is, someone sincerely asked me why mods wore ‘American nurses shoes’. Still, I rather like them!

The next pair were the more traditional type of tap shoe, and unlike the Oxfords, these ones came with an enormous chunk of metal – the tap – which I had to prise off with a screwdriver! And it wasn’t easy! These are pointy-toed, though not severely so – perhaps more of a pointy-almond, if such a thing exists. Well, it does now. These are black leather and have a Cuban heel. As you can see from the photo, they are very close in style to shoes that were available in the 60′s. I suggest you take the tap shoes to the cobbler and have them re-soled and re-heeled, as you’ll probably find that the soles are too thin to walk about the streets in.

Taps are great as they are such a wonderful shape, and it may make you look like an extra in Billy Elliot, and dance all around and about the streets (which reminds me – ballet slippers…). They are perfect for dancing in – being dancing shoes, but if your feet are wide, the pointy-toe makes the fitting rather snug – perversely, you will find blisters developing from a gentle stroll, but a feeling like dancing on air if you wear them to an allniter where you can’t stop dancing!

Dear Audrey Hepburn – she really is a ‘shoe icon’ of mine – there is a movement who want her to be canonised and I think she should be made the Patron Saint of Large-Footed Ladies! She wore ballet slippers – the iconic photos of Audrey dressed in black roll neck and slinky black trousers with decorated ballet slippers really are the epitome of style. When everyone else was wearing 5″ spiky stilettos and destroying their toes and backs permanently, Audrey wore flatties. For your own pair of ballet pumps, tryFrench Sole, Ellis Street, London, SW1 or Munster Road, SW6. I think they do mail order as well. Phone ‘em on: 020 7471 4867. Otherwise, get back to the stage shop and again, see if you can get proper ‘street’ soles put on. Ballet-style leather pumps are quite easy to come by in those shoe boutiques for ‘mature’ ladies.

I was lucky to get some leather ballet-style pumps from Bella Ricco (now disappeared). Entirely flat heel, I really can’t tell you how much I love to wear these shoes! The sole is leather, which makes me swirl about the house when I’m wearing them, with a very low (well under a centimetre) rubber heel. This makes them ideal for dancing in as you can spin on the leather of your toe, and use the rubber heel as an effective brake! My pumps are also mock-croc burgundy leather and look lovely with early-60′s style outfits.

My other ballet pumps are more ballet-esque, as they have a tiny leather bow at the front. They’re by Principal Studio, and I found them in one of those shops where old ladies who wear lots of gold jewellery shop! Of course – after all, these shoes are silver!!! Very comfortable (I really am of the opinion that shoes shouldn’t be an implement of self-inflicted torture…) and they look lovely in the Audrey-style outfit of black trousers and roll neck. Intellectual Beatnik-style chin-stroking not necessary (though fun accompanied by a copy of Sartre’s Nausea, a packet of Gitanes and a cappuccino outside a Soho café, or somewhere on the Left Bank in Paris…or maybe even your local Costa Coffee).

Continuing on an Audrey note, there is the kitten heel. It has been said that the kitten heel was expressly designed for Audrey for her performance in Sabrina. Kitten heels around now have a modern twist, though to be quite honest, I much prefer the 50′s/60′s style heel. But then, I’m just difficult to please. Schuh do a nice selection at the moment (that is, Autumn/Winter ’00), and I bought a pair of what I thought to be my ultimate shoes – pointy-toed, kitten heeled slingbacks! I can just hear Eartha Kitt purring in delight from her post on the grand piano! They don’t pinch the toe as much as you might think, as the toe is extremely long (now, with size 8′s, you can imagine how long these shoes make my feet look!). But sadly these shoes are unwearable! And why? Because the slingback won’t stay on my heel; it keeps bloody sliding down! What should I do? Use surgical tape? Or how about a bolt in my ankle, like Andy Warhol had on his skull to keep his wigs on?!

Carvela, my favourite shoe makers, are doing a lovely range of kitten heels, very 50′s/60′s styled. Just check out the photo – marvel at the shape of the heel! Gasp at the point of the toe! And these don’t even fall off when I’m wearing them (always a bonus!). They are maroon/red mock croc and are my current favourite shoes. With a heel thicker than a kitten, we have the court shoe. The most 60′s style ones should have a square heel, covered the same as the upper of the shoe. There were a lot in this style around a couple of years ago, and I got mine from Jones. The photo shoes these – black patent, square toed, with the silver buckle over the toe (I also found some similar ones the year before in Faith). As the heel is wider than the kitten, they’re not so ‘wobbly’ to walk in. Marvellous. Ravel had some lovely ones with tortoiseshell tags instead of silver buckles, and every summer some shoe labels include white versions with the tortoiseshell tags.

Carvela, again, did the black patent court thang this year. Chisel toed, with a leather bow at the front. The heel’s lovely, being a cross between the square court heel and kitten. Marvellously sophisticated. Carvela do some lovely colours – I also have these in pale blue.

Now for the ‘dolly’ shoes. As you know, these have been popular on the High Street for well over a year now, and it’s really refreshing to be able to find, in such abundance, so many low heeled, wide-fitting, blunt-toed shoes! We girls have fond memories of our school shoes from Clarks and Startrite… (remember them? And Clarks’ ‘Magic Steps’ with the key in the sole which allegedly had something to do with Peter Pan and princesses? – it was the shoe that every seven-year-old girl wanted!).

I have to come clean – in Dansette #6, I sung the praises of my Carvela dollies. Well, I am now completely obsessed with these shoes, which can only be described as beautiful, and own 5 pairs of them – all plucked from the sales in Rackhams, though! They have a low heel, square toe, with the strap quite near the front of the shoe (see photo). I own two pairs of very pale pearlised grey ones with a small buckle on the strap, and then three with the strap being elasticated. These three are in different colours – black, dark grey and pale blue.

Roland Cartier are doing a similar shoe. The heel is similar, but is better described, perhaps, as a cross between the ballet pump and dolly – see photo. They were my favourite shoes, until I found my Carvela kitten heels! There are loads of dollies about – some with bigger heels are quite nice.

Then Roberto Vianni – the outfitters of Milanese housewives? I have lots of loafers, but my favourite, just for sheer chutzpah, are the YELLOW SUEDE ones from Vianni. Ah, marvellous!

So there you go… even though the stocks of original 60′s ladies shoes are drying up, quicker than the European beer lake does at a scooter rally, there are still shoe designers out there who are making 60′s style shoes which you can buy new, or other shoes which you can just improvise with. This article barely scratches the surface, but I hope that if any of you are stuck for shoes, then you’ll get some ideas from here. Men are more lucky when it comes to finding good shoes on the High Street as men’s styles never seen to go through the drastic changes that women’s styles do, but just keep your ears and eyes to the ground, and 60′s shoe delights shall be yours, my sisters!

© Helen Barrell 2001 – 2012 Uppers [Published 21 March 2001]