Whenever the British boutique boom of the 1960s is mentioned, the focus is always immediately centred upon London and predominantly towards the Carnaby Street and King's Road areas, nevertheless the boutique phenomenon wasn't merely confined to the Capital. I'm pretty sure that there were equally influential and important boutiques in some unlikely location off the beaten track in just about every city, town and village throughout the land at some point and that their legacy still lives on in the memories of the teenage clientele who frequented them..and yet I feel that it is in someway a cultural loss that these boutiques (to my knowledge) have not been properly documented, apart from The Birdcage in Nottingham which was covered quite extensively by Marnie Fogg in her book about the boutique culture of the era, perhaps saved from obscurity while others were lost, through it's connection with the evergreen career of designer Paul Smith who played a pivotal role in it's origin and has therefore taken it through time with him.
The Birdcage was the brainchild of designer Janet Campbell, a native of Nottingham. On leaving college she spent some time working for other people in the fashion business in London, where she formulated her plan to open her own shop. Upon her return to the city in 1965, she gave herself a week to find a suitable property for her new venture and with the help of her friend Paul Smith she quickly found the ideal location in an old tailor's shop at the end of Bridlesmith Gate, paying twenty pounds a week for a six-month lease. The shop became an instant success with a queue of people three rows deep outside on the opening day admiring the window display by Smith. A year later in 1966, Janet Campbell expanded the business, moving the machinists from the first floor of the building to make way for a menswear department which she asked Paul to run, he travelled to London to source labels which were previously unknown outside the city and over the next four years built up an extensive customer base for the boutique throughout the midlands until 1970 when he made his departure from The Birdcage to open his own shop, and the rest as they say is history.
The story of The Birdcage ends in Marnie Fogg's book with the departure of Paul Smith and as far as I can gather it continued to trade at the same location until it moved elsewhere in the late 1980s, but I have no idea what became of Janet Campbell or any of the other key figures within the staff from that point onward or how far into the next decade that it continued to exist. However, while researching the information for this post I did find an amazing array of other boutiques from the Nottingham area which I wouldn't have been aware of otherwise, even though more boutiques opened in Nottingham during this period than in comparatively larger cities such as Manchester and Birmingham. The following are just a few names and details of what I have discovered so far.
Carnaby Styles which was situated in Wheelers Gate in the early 70s (sold Budgie Jackets, Tank Tops and Loon Pants); Pennnyfeathers owned by Mike & Shirley Benwell would later become known as Gladrags/Backstage; Peru run by a girl called Zena circa 1973; Image Boutique in St Peter's Gate (sold Ossie Clark/Radley); Grapevine situated on Goldsmith Street next to Paraphernalia; Campus on Victoria Street (sold Jeff Banks & Mr Freedom); Madcap Boutique on Carrington Street circa '66 (ladies clothing made on the premises, shirts for guys made on request); Bus Stop (a Lee Bender outlet); Nonsuch situated in the Bridlesgate/Byard lane area (sold hippie clothing, afghan coats etc); Razzamatazz on Trent Bridge; Boogaloo (no details yet); I'll Leave It (high waisted flares, bowling shirts circa '73); and lastly Roxanne& Roxy Threads (1972) which were run by Robert Ivars Michailov-Mètra otherwise known as Roxy Rob, I've left this one until last because i've managed to unearth a little more information about it than the others which you can read for yourself here. And I suggest that you do, he's quite the 'character'! And the man has also made everything from loon pants in the late 60s to Oxford Bags in the early seventies for the Northern Soul scene enthusiasts.
The staff of The Birdcage in Nottingham 1966: Ian Longdon, Paul Smith and Valerie Longdon. They're wearing graphic t-shirts, a new phenomenon sold through mail-order by the satirical magazine Private Eye. The shirts were designed by Nottingham art student Dave Humby.
Paul Smith photographed at his first boutique in Byard Lane, Nottingham, which he opened two weeks after leaving The Birdcage. It was a very small space measuring a minute 3 metres x 3 metres at the back of a tailor's shop, the rent was free for the first 3 months and fifty pence a week thereafter, the use of a damp basement was also included in the agreement, which Paul eventually turned into an art gallery called The Pushpin, exhibiting limited edition lithographs by Warhol and Hockney. He remained here for the next four years, opening for business two days a week (fridays & Saurdays). A full scale recreation of this shop is included in the current Paul Smith exhibition at The Design Museum.
Ian Longdon outside The Birdcage in Bridlesgate, the original Edwardian facade was reworked in maroon and gold to suggest that a trendy boutique now lay beyond the traditional tailor's shop. The Boutique sold garments designed and made by several people under their own label. Ian Longdon not only manufactured the clothes for the shop but also designed the publicity and packaging, constantly updating the style and presentation.
Birdcage swing ticket 1971, with thirties and forties cinematic references, illustrated by Ian Longdon.
Designs by Ian Longdon for The Birdcage.
IMAGE CREDITS
All relevant information/images scanned by Sweet Jane from Boutique-a 60s cultural phenomenon by Marnie Fogg. *Additional location information in the final photograph courtesy of Robert Orbach.LINKS
The current collection of Liberty's classic Tana Lawn prints as worn by Paul Smith in the final photograph can be found here.
'Hello, My Name Is Paul Smith' a major exhibition celebrating the career of the designer which spans a forty year period runs at The Design Museum from the 15th of November 2013 - 9th March 2014. Further details can be found on The Paul Smith blog here.
'Hello, My Name Is Paul Smith-Fashion And Other Stories' the accompanying book to the exhibition is available to preview and purchase here.
Watch Design At Work by Paul Smith a video podcast from Apple Inc here.
Roxy Threads original Northern Soul Oxford Bags here.
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