The "Afghans" posts got a bit untidy the last few days, so I'll put them all together for your further confusion....
What started it all, was my good friend Jeannette sending me Sweet Jane's wonderful fashion site, http://sweetjanespopboutique.blogspot.com/2012/05/rise-and-fall-of-afghan-coat-1966-197.html. The blog has a well-written article about "The Rise and Decline of the Afghan Coat 1966-197?"
Sweet Jane has a fabulous collection of 60s fashion Pictures. Here's a sample, Eric Burdon (singer of the fabulous Animals R&B group), getting married in an Afghan coat in September 1967:
We had an extra thrill here in Ojai, California early this year, when Eric made an unexpected appearance on stage at our local open-air theatre, along with Dave Matthews. As the MC, Malcolm McDowell, said, "Eric has an amazing set of pipes."
I remember hitchhiking to Turkey in the winter(!) of 1969, and coming back with my rucksack stuffed with white sheepskin coats, pretty much in this style:
They too had "the smell" that Jane talks about.
At this stage of the 60s, I guess after Carnaby Street and maybe at the same time as the King's Road Chelsea's height of boutiquerie, the cool place to shop on a budget was The Antique Hypermarket in Kensington High Street, a huge building which had been divided into market-stall-sized mini-boutiques. I left my coats there on consignment with a hippie trader - and got ripped off. No doubt Instant Karma got him.
Sweet Jane's Blog includes a link to Craig Sams' recollections of importing Afghans from Kabul ("... a phone call from John Pearse, one of the owners [of a boutique with the wonderful name Granny Takes a Trip], "I hope you've got plenty of those Afghan coats in stock, Craig, because the Beatles have just gone out the door of our shop wearing them."), as well as "kaftans from Tunisia, shoulder bags and Khamba boots from the Tibetan refugees at Dharamsala India and silk from China that a designer called Aedan Kelly would dye in blobby psychedelic patterns"...
There's also a fun link to Craig's musical autobiography, which got me thinking of the lovely movie that came out last year, "Pirate Radio", starring Bill Nighy and a wonderful cast.
The Trailer is totally cool, man! As Bill Nighy's character says, "Governments loathe people being free". And that, my friends, is why we are all here.....
Speaking of being free, I'll take this opportunity to re-post one of my favorite Hippie pics, though it can hardly be called a Fashion picture, for reasons that will be apparent....
What started it all, was my good friend Jeannette sending me Sweet Jane's wonderful fashion site, http://sweetjanespopboutique.blogspot.com/2012/05/rise-and-fall-of-afghan-coat-1966-197.html. The blog has a well-written article about "The Rise and Decline of the Afghan Coat 1966-197?"
Sweet Jane has a fabulous collection of 60s fashion Pictures. Here's a sample, Eric Burdon (singer of the fabulous Animals R&B group), getting married in an Afghan coat in September 1967:
We had an extra thrill here in Ojai, California early this year, when Eric made an unexpected appearance on stage at our local open-air theatre, along with Dave Matthews. As the MC, Malcolm McDowell, said, "Eric has an amazing set of pipes."
I remember hitchhiking to Turkey in the winter(!) of 1969, and coming back with my rucksack stuffed with white sheepskin coats, pretty much in this style:
They too had "the smell" that Jane talks about.
At this stage of the 60s, I guess after Carnaby Street and maybe at the same time as the King's Road Chelsea's height of boutiquerie, the cool place to shop on a budget was The Antique Hypermarket in Kensington High Street, a huge building which had been divided into market-stall-sized mini-boutiques. I left my coats there on consignment with a hippie trader - and got ripped off. No doubt Instant Karma got him.
Sweet Jane's Blog includes a link to Craig Sams' recollections of importing Afghans from Kabul ("... a phone call from John Pearse, one of the owners [of a boutique with the wonderful name Granny Takes a Trip], "I hope you've got plenty of those Afghan coats in stock, Craig, because the Beatles have just gone out the door of our shop wearing them."), as well as "kaftans from Tunisia, shoulder bags and Khamba boots from the Tibetan refugees at Dharamsala India and silk from China that a designer called Aedan Kelly would dye in blobby psychedelic patterns"...
There's also a fun link to Craig's musical autobiography, which got me thinking of the lovely movie that came out last year, "Pirate Radio", starring Bill Nighy and a wonderful cast.
The Trailer is totally cool, man! As Bill Nighy's character says, "Governments loathe people being free". And that, my friends, is why we are all here.....
Speaking of being free, I'll take this opportunity to re-post one of my favorite Hippie pics, though it can hardly be called a Fashion picture, for reasons that will be apparent....
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