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.