The Carrot On Wheels & The David Bailey Connection, 1965.

I've been curious to know more about The Carrot On Wheels ever since it first came to my attention a few years ago via 'Get Dressed' Millicent Bultitude's guide to London's Boutique's published in 1966, which does indeed give the reader a very concise description of the shop (as you can see in the first scan below).  However, although I've searched every so often, nothing else of note has ever really shown up, apart from a few images of clothing items or the occasional reference to the actual name itself  (usually to be found listed alongside various other unusual/quirky boutique names of the era)...nothing until now that is! I just happened to glance through my copy of Felicity Green's Sex, Sense And Nonsense again yesterday and noticed a snippet of information at the end of an interview with David Bailey that I had somehow previously overlooked.  As it turns out.. he was the original owner! He opened the shop in partnership with model Pat Knight in 1965 (precisely one week after the Daily Mirror article went to print) and also had plans to open an Antique shop the following spring, I have no idea how long the partnership prevailed as the piece in Get Dressed refers to a Gitta Brewer as the owner a year later so perhaps his involvement was short lived, either way it makes perfect sense that he would have a clothes shop at some point, it would seem that it was the thing to do back then afterall, to quote the well known journalist Clement Freud speaking in 1967  'One feels almost a fool if one doesn't own a boutique'.  It's not a lot of new information but it's a good start in the right direction! So for now I'm just going to post what I have and hopefully add to it at a later stage as more comes to light, I'd love to eventually see a photograph of the facade & interior... I find it hard to believe that Bailey opened a boutique without there being some kind of press/publicity coverage, it's got to be out there somewhere! 

Far Right: White coat with fox fur trim available from the Carrot On Wheels, as seen in The Daily Mirror September 7, 1966.


                                                            IMAGE CREDITS

All images scanned by Sweet Jane from the following publications: Get dressed A Useful Guide To London's Boutique's by Millicent Bultitude, RAVE Magazine July 1966, RAVE Magazine November 1966, Sex, Sense And Nonsense, Felicity Green On The Fashion Scene.

                                                                        LINKS
             The original location of The Carrot On Wheels 84 Fulham Road S.W.3, as it is today here.
             My previous post about Sex,Sense And Nonsense, Felicity Green On The Fashion Scene here.
A QUEEN fashion editorial featuring some more items from The Carrot On Wheels on the excellent Get Some Vintage-a-Peel blog here, further information about 'The Bend' dance craze  can be found over at The Holy Church of Iggy the Inuit here and finally all things Bailey can be found here.