A CHEQUERED PAST : LIVES OF THE ARTISTS, LIVES OF THE FRIENDS

Key witness to the 60s and 70s, Peter Schlesinger captured his era like no other. Artists, lovers – great names or perfect strangers: his subjects dress up and down every tradition.

Lightness of the time, lightness of the dress. David Hockney revives the tradition of the Grand Tour in a corduroy overcoat and sky-blue scarf. English aristocrats dress down their Victorian coats with sequined trousers.

Bryan Ferry, W.H. Auden, Robert Mapplethorpe – Paris, London, Cannes. Writers are serious: Isherwood and Auden in beige tweed or sharkskin, ties or button-downs – one open button only.

Photographers abandon their shirts entirely. Eric Boman mixes white gingham, blue stripes and a red cotton jacket with wide lapels and a slight heel. Mapplethorpe thwarts his midnight blue smoking jacket with a denim shirt and jeans. Only Cecil Beaton retains his collar stays: stiff collar, stiff upper lip.

Soft-shouldered tweeds reveal a rugby shirt, high-waisted brown herringbone trousers, pumpkin or cherry-coloured jumpers, pink, black and white Prince of Wales, heeled brogues, strong stripes, fair-isles, “Lanvin”-blue shirts, patterned V-necks, seersucker thrown over t-shirts – the sudden black of dinner suits as night falls on Glyndebourne.

Andy Warhol, Rex Reed. Monte Carlo. 1974.

Celia Birtwell, Ann Upton, David Hockney, Udo Kier, Glyndebourne, 1975

Celia Birtwell, Ann Upton, David Hockney, Udo Kier, Glyndebourne. 1975.

Christopher Isherwood. Santa Monica. 1968.

David Hockney and Cecil Beaton, 1970

David Hockney, Cecil Beaton. 1970.

David Hockney. Paris. 1969.

Eric Boman, Paloma Picasso. 1971.

Eric Boman, St Tropez, 1978

Eric Boman. St Tropez. 1978.

George Lawson, Wayne Sleep. Wigmore Place. 1971.

Hockney drawing Auden. London. 1969.

Mark Lancaster. Brussels. 1970.

Peter Schlesinger as an art student. 1968.

Robert Mapplethorpe. Boulevard St Germain. 1971.

  • JAMES BALDWIN
    « clear, lucid, and familiar, yet punctuated and powerful »
  • THE SHOULDER
    « tailors also see it as the place of their uniqueness»
  • KITANO, THREE MOVEMENTS
    « His countenance and clothes then become the way to read him.»
  • THE PICK STITCH
    « historically done by hand, with a striking visual detail in lighter, brighter fabrics »
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