Monday.
The Ha’penny Bridge, Dublin, 1962, photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Sold out!
Victims of Dunblane
Portrait of Scottish painter Anne Finlay, 1920, by her teacher Dorothy Johnstone (1892-1980), Scottish painter and watercolourist (Aberdeen Gallery).
A fitting footprint on the history of our Isles. Review of 'These Isles: A People's History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales' by David Robinson last month in the Yorkshire Post magazine.
She designed the interior of the Mini (1000) Designer in 1988. In 1990 she was awarded the prestigious Hall of Fame Award by the British Fashion Council and became a dame in the 2015 New Year's Honours list. 8/8
Quant said: ‘I was making easy, youthful, simple clothes, in which you could move, in which you could run and jump and we would make them the length the customer wanted. I wore them very short and the customers would say, “Shorter, shorter.”’ 7/8
While there is dispute about who first invented the miniskirt, Quant gave it its name after her favourite make of car, the Mini. They were popularised by the era's most high-profile model, Twiggy. 6/8
Quant wanted ‘relaxed clothes suited to the actions of normal life’. Pairing short tunic dresses with tights in bright, stand-out colours – scarlet, ginger, prune and grape – she created a bold version of outfits she had worn as a child at school and at dance classes. 5/8
Within seven years the company had expanded throughout Europe and the US and was mass-producing designs worth millions of dollars a year. Bazaar offered a radically different shopping experience with loud music, free drinks, witty window displays and extended opening hours. 4/8
Born in Blackheath, Quant studied illustration at London Goldsmith’s College and spent two years designing hats for a high-end milliner. In partnership with her husband and a friend, she opened a boutique, Bazaar, on London’s King’s Road in London in 1957. 3/8
Fashion journalist Ernestine Carter wrote: ‘It is given to a fortunate few to be born at the right time, in the right place, with the right talents. In recent fashion there are three: Chanel, Dior, and Mary Quant.’ 2/8
THESE ISLES: Mary Quant (1930-2023), born in London to parents from Welsh mining families, was the iconic Swinging Sixties designer of young women’s fashion who popularised the ‘Chelsea look’, hotpants and miniskirts. 1/8
Haworth High Street, Yorkshire, 1968, painting by Herbert Whone (1925-2011).
Moss Side, Manchester, 1974, photo by Martin Parr.
Big River, painting by Alexander Millar, Newcastle-based Scottish artist.
Stockport, 1983, photo by Shirley Baker.
Chemist, natural philosopher and liberal political theorist Joseph Priestley was born on this day 1733 (on the Julian calendar) in Birstall, west Yorkshire. Credited with discovering oxygen by the thermal decomposition of mercuric oxide.
Brilliant.
I'll be talking about 'These Isles: A People's History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales' at Rochdale Probus Club, Weds April 8th 10.15am, Rochdale Masonic Rooms, 2 Richard Street, OL11 1DU. Visitors welcome, male or female, £3 inc refreshments.
Helen Matthews (c. 1872–1950), Scottish artist, footballer & suffragette (below left), also recruited the first Black woman footballer in the UK. Emma Clark (below right) is thought to have made her debut for the British Ladies' Football Club in 1895. #WomensHistoryMonth ⚽️
Remains of Hotspur Press in Manchester, devastated in fire last year, to be demolished and replaced with flats. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The Lonely Tree, Llanberis, north-west Wales, photo by Victoria Ashman.
I'll be at Hexham Book Festival talking about 'These Isles: A People's History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales' on Sunday April 26th, 11am-12pm. Book here: www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk/event/brian-...
James Joyce Meets W.B.Yeats on Merrion Square, Dublin, painting by Cupar Pilson, Irish artist.
'These Isles: A People's History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales' is number ten British history bestseller at Waterstones. Currently 20% off the cover price. www.waterstones.com/book/these-i...
In Henry IV Part I, Shakespeare portrays rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr as mystical and valiant, though he fails to turn up at the battle of Shrewsbury, leaving his ally Harry Hotspur with diminished forces. (Portrait attributed to John Taylor, National Portrait Gallery.) 9/9
There are more Welsh characters in Shakespeare's plays than from any of England's other neighbouring nations, including Sir Hugh Evans in Merry Wives of Windsor and Captain Fluellen in Henry V. They tend to be portrayed as patriotic. 8/9
Shakespeare's maternal grandmother, Alys Griffin, was Welsh. He also had an influential Welsh schoolteacher and several of his fellow actors were Welsh. 7/9
