He pushed the boundaries of excess

From the fantastic tribute in the Evening Standard by David Johnson (editor of one of my fave websites Shapers of the 80s):

The press called them the “New Romantics” and the “Blitz Kids”, declaring the Eighties the “Age of the Pose”. Art-school tutor Rosetta Brooks compared their self-consciously styled poses to “street theatre ultimately extended into continuous performance as a post-punk embodiment of Gilbert and George in one person (the individualist).” Each poser, she believed, is a ready-made. Step forward fashion student Stephen Linard, who ticked all the above boxes – a flamboyant Canvey Island boy, ...who yearned to make a statement in every street or room he graced.

Arriving at St Martin’s School of Art in London (1978-81), Linard pushed the boundaries of excess…His outrageous fashion details flagged direction for the two dozen sharpest Blitz Kids who shaped the New Romantics silhouette from the Blitz onwards...

“The competition pushed you on... you might change what you were going to wear eight times on a Tuesday to try to outdo everyone else at the Blitz.”

...“The Blitz was an art students’ club. The place was choc-a-bloc with artists: Brian Clarke, Zandra Rhodes, Molly Parkin, Antony Price, Duggie Fields, Kevin Whitney and us because it was halfway between Central School and St Martin’s. People who said ‘Oh you Blitz Kids don’t DO anything’ were talking rubbish, because WE all did. We were the ones with our work in the glossy magazines long before the rest.”

Always centre stage...

With friends/fellow squatters that included Boy George, milliner Stephen Jones, "scene queen" Princess Julia, the faboo Eve Ferrett, assorted fashionistas such as The Clothes Show's Caryn Franklin and art-model Sue Tilley, and the Pet Shop Boys, and clients that included Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Spandau Ballet, Fun Boy 3 and even David Bowie, he became legendary in couture circles. He was unique!

RIP, Stephen Linard.

[click any pic to enlarge]

Viv

“It is not possible for a man to be elegant without a touch of femininity.”

“I never look at fashion magazines. I find them incredibly boring. To me, reading a fashion magazine is the last thing I need to do. I've got books I need to read. More people should read books. It's the most concentrated experience you can have. You know, all those incredible geniuses concentrated their lifetimes' experiences in books. It's much better than chattering away to somebody who's never read anything and knows nothing at all.”

“Culture is necessary for human beings to evolve into better creatures.”

"If you wear clothes that don't suit you, you're a fashion victim. You have to wear clothes that make you look better."

"I may be a rebel, but I am not an outsider."

"If in doubt, dress up."

Yet another icon has departed, on a mission to make Fabulon a more stylish place...

RIP, Dame Vivienne Westwood DBE RDI (8th April 1941 – 29th December 2022)

Yo-ho-ho!

From Marie-Claire:

For her first ever catwalk show in 1981 Vivienne presented Pirates – a collection that kick-started the new romantic look and dominated 80s sub-cultures. It was anti-Dynasty, shock-and-awe styling, a whole mix of historical references mashed together in a single outfit. Fans from Boy George to Adam Ant loved her work.

From the V&A museum website:

Vivienne Westwood's designs were at the forefront of the early 1980s Neo-Romantic movement in fashion. This movement led to a wave of nostalgia featuring colourful masquerades of highwaymen, pirates and other characters. Westwood expressed her philosophy in an interview in Harpers & Queen magazine (April 1983): "I'm very anarchical and perverse about what I do with clothes but what I drive at is simplicity... The great thing about my clothes - the way they make you feel grand and strong - is to do with the sexy way they emphasise your body and make you aware of it."

Some people wore the complete Pirate Outfit, while many took elements from the collection and freely mixed them with other clothes. The tunic, with its powerful meandering print, and the fall-down stockings were particularly popular.

Yes. You guessed it - today is International "Talk Like A Pirate Day".

Why just talk like one, when you can dress this way as well..?

Arrr!

Freak Unique

"I'm not a camp, throwaway queen; I'm not in Neverland. I'm not Jennifer Lopez with three people to pluck my eyebrows. I've made myself what I want to be - not everybody's cup of tea. And people wanna have a look at me. I fully accept that. People have always wanted to have a look at me."

"If people don't think I can fall into what the norm is, that's their problem and not mine. I'm not the norm; I'm not deluded."

The late, great, dearly-missed Mr Pete Burns would have been 60 years old today.

Faded to Grey

"I was the freak of the village, long before Matt Lucas started doing those sketches. I was banned from school but I was a grade A student. It was ridiculous. I wasn't going to be a rugby player and I wasn't going to go down the pit, I was a creative spirit and so I ran away."

"I [became] known as the strictest door whore in London!"

"I don’t think there’s anything as pioneering now as there was in the ‘80s... [The] whole Blitz scene was incredibly pioneering. No one was doing what we were doing."

It is a very sad day for those of us who lived through that magical era that was the early 80s - dressing-up to go to the most selective of clubs, the mix of electronica and (Northern) soul dance music, the carefree toying with the notion of "style" as an antidote to punk, the outpouring of artistic creativity not seen since the rise of David Bowie and Roxy Music - for the man who did more than any other to bring us that world is dead.

Rest in peace, Mr Steve Strange. We all owe you an incredible debt of gratitude.

Steven John Harrington, aka Steve Strange (28th May 1959 - 12th February 2015)

Fashion is the way you walk, talk dance and prance

From the comprehensive guide to everything you ever needed to know about the decade that created "posing", Shapers of the 80s, a marvellous article first published in 1981:

Who are the New Romantics, what are their sounds, and how do they dance?

The new dances
Four basic styles have emerged since disco went elektro. They owe more to stylish swaying motions than pelvic gyrations. Control is essential: the chin provides a focus; footwork is immaculate. Above all these are personality dances where your own variation wins.

1 ELEKTRO HUSTLE Easiest style, solo or for two. Began with Moroder’s The Chase as development of The Hustle (1976). Lots of posy swaying. Variations include high steps, waxed feet and jelly knees. The Ballet Sway is the live concert variation for a restricted space near the stage, featuring wobbly heads and twitching shoulders. Devoted audiences move as one when syncopating the from-the-waist, sway-and-pause-and…

2 THE ROBOT Self-centred hi-tech technique for the committed non-dancer. Features raised elbows, hand-passes and other frozen extremities. Ideal with Kraftwerk. For obsessive posers and geeks.

3 THE WARREN STREET JIVE For born dancers and style-leaders such as the Blitz Kids of Warren Street. Adapted jive with exaggerated added sway and knees rising to waist level, while partners keep both hands clasped to each other’s. Ideal to Don Armando’s I’m An Indian Too. Variations include reverse kicks, jack-in-box bounces, giant whiplashes. Measured not frantic, yet exhausting to watch.

4 THE GROUCHO French import that arrived with the Ze label from the Bains Douches club in Paris. Learn with B52s: knee bends on beat, rise and fall, moving knees and shoulders in opposite directions. A cross between Groucho Marx’s famous creep and Cossack leg-kicks while crouching. Exposes dancer to ridicule unless ultra-cool.



The Look
“Style is not what you wear but the way you wear it. Fashion is the way you walk, talk dance and prance,” says Perry Haines, editor of i-D, the movement’s magazine. Hairstyles are a focus, and anything that breaks the rules of fashion: blue lips or an 18-inch rise on trousers. Take a theme – and twist it. And never copy anyone else (even Steve Strange). Strange says: “Within days of my Bonnie Prince Charlie look appearing in NME, I passed myself three times in King’s Road. So I dropped it right away. The idea is to express your own individuality and ‘fancy dress’ is not the answer. Dressing up for me is a way of life; everyone should experiment for themselves.” Since Strange can’t please all sorts, three basic camps have emerged:

1 ROMANTIC From the wilder elements to the outer limits. Colour comes first. Choose from pirate/minstrel/doxey/nymphet etc. Ingredients: make-up, scarves attached randomly, rags in hair, doublets, breeches, cocktail dresses, old lace. Girls favour through-the-hedge-backwards hairstyles or straight tonsures. DIY or shop at PX, Axiom, World’s End, Kahn & Bell, Martin Degville, Judi Frankland, Stephen Linard, Stephen Jones hats.

2 THE BIG MAN The Rusty Egan broad-shouldered 40s suit, silk printed ties, fob-chains, no sideburns, Brylcreem. Favoured by former soul boys. Partners wear rock’n’roll party frocks (from Costumes Set The Mood in Kensington Market).

3 POST MODERNE Progressive art tunics in neutral colours or black. Severe, understated, geometric, includes unisex dress/tabards. Bespoke from new generation of designers: Melissa Caplan (who dresses Toyah Willcox), Willy Brown, Simon Withers. For none but the brave.

Ah, memories...

Throwing shapes, sucking in their cheeks

Unknown punk and Steve Strange, 1978


Marilyn, Princess Julia and Boy George, 1978


Martin Degville (Sigue Sigue Sputnik), 1978


Boy George and Patti Bell, 1978


Jeremy Healy (Haysi Fantayzee), Andy Polaris (Animal Nightlife) and friend, 1978


Billy's Club punters, 1978


Joan, Marilyn and Kate, 1978


Princess Julia and Boy George, 1978


Siobhan Fahey and friend, 1978


Steve Strange and friend, 1978

"Anything went at Billy's, the more theatrical the better." - Photographer Nicola Tyson.

Back in 1978 Billy's Club, a small venue in Soho, held a David Bowie tribute night each Tuesday.

Although it only ran for three months this most influential of venues, run by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan (later to form Visage), and its punters - including Boy George, Simon Le Bon, Gary and Martin Kemp, Princess Julia, Marilyn, Siobhan Fahey and Isabella Blow - went on to dictate the tastes of the nation in the 80s and beyond. The club served as inspiration for other seminal London nights, such as Blitz (read my previous blog about that club) and Taboo, as well as the basis for the New Romantic style of dress and music.

Another mighty trendsetter, the writer and journalist Robert Elms, was there:

"We're starting a new club at place called Billy's in Soho, Tuesday nights, come along," said Steve Strange. The 1980s were about to begin a year and a bit early.

Tuesday night, the deadest time in this always near moribund playground, was the night we were invited out, to gather at Billy's, a small, unspectacular club down a suitably unmarked stairwell. Above it was the Golden Girl, a grubby whorehouse, where tarnished brasses lazily tempted the seedy mac men. The girls would occasionally give a whistle as we walked by, and we'd shimmy and blow kisses, confident that we had made it to our destination in one piece. Tuxedos and wing collars, padded shoulders and cummerbunds, T-shirts, diamanté brooches, taffeta gowns.

That first night at Billy's, I had on my quarterback PX top, a pair of voluminous white linen harem pants with Melissa Caplan had made and a pair of Kung Fu slippers from round the corner in Chinatown. I had no idea what I was supposed to look like, but we all knew you had to look and make people look. Steve Strange was on the door, camply clocking your get-up as he let you in and took your two quid. For the first few weeks he didn't have to try too hard to keep people out. The very idea of a one-off night, where an outside promoter fills and otherwise empty club with his own punters, was entirely new. The logic for the club owner (in this case a wide black guy named Vince) was obvious. On Tuesdays he couldn't even attract sufficient lotharios and nurses to make the place viable, so why not invite this weird Welsh shop assistant, who claimed to have lots of friends to take over and take a share of the takings? There were maybe only thirty or forty elaborate souls at most, gathered up by the bush telegraph, to answer the call. Billy's wasn't a big place, a couple of dark rooms and a shiny mirrorball, and the few who gathered there on the first few Tuesdays could find a corner each to lurk in, bits of their extravagant outfits protruding from the murk.

Rusty Egan was on the record player. As yet there wasn't much choice for the selector. A staple of Bowie and Roxy, Kraftwerk's Germanic machine music, and a touch of slick Euro-disco, like Georgio Morodor's pulsating The Chase. The sound was electronic, Teutonic, avowedly fake, a fabulous respite. From the murky corners of the club came a few dancers, posers rather than hoofers, throwing shapes, sucking in their cheeks and extending their lithe limbs for all to admire, proto-vogueing. I'd gone in my Chinese space-cossack attire with Chris Sullivan in monocle and spats, Ollie O'Donnell as a tartan Teddy boy, Melissa Caplan as a psychedelic swinger and Graham Smith as a mod matelot. Billy's was like a do-it-yourself, teenage version of a Neue Sachlichkeit painting.

The nucleus of what would become known as New Romantic, which would go on to define the 1980s stylistically, which would shift the tastes and the desires of an age, (and which would be derided like no other) was weaving its way through the wreckage of the "Winter of Discontent" to get to Billy's on Tuesday nights in 1978. This cadre in ridiculous clobber has been portrayed as the extravagant over-reaction to Punk's ripped and torn anti-style. But that is to completely misunderstand both movements. Almost all the kids, and there were few people in Billy's over twenty-one, who made it past Steve Strange in those early days had been punks. They'd been the eager-eyed young ones at the back, too young to really make a mark or form a band, but they'd been punks in the glorious early days, when Punk itself was an underground, individualistic, overdressed style statement. Billy's was like Louise's only more so. Billy's was for those who'd tasted the thrill of wearing "clothes for heroes" and wanted it back.

Punk had been a thrashing spasm of brilliance, but despite its apparent nihilism had actually shown that even here, in "sick Britain", you could accomplish something. The handful of self-obsessed, self-confident exhibitionists gathered at Billy's on a Tuesday night had learnt the lessons of punk and were determined to create shining lives for themselves, or at least look good trying.

After a couple of months, Steve Strange and Rusty Egan had a falling out with the owner of Gossips. The place had got a little more popular as word spread, and Steve began his gleeful act of rejecting anyone who wasn't sufficiently spectacular. But there still weren't more than sixty or seventy regulars and no one was really making money, so we were evicted.

The Way We Wore: A Life In Threads by Robert Elms

Heroes

"Of the New Romantic moment I have always said, "It was all Bowie's fault", but factor in Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Marc Bolan, Quentin Crisp, Sally Bowles, and a whole daisychain of others who made us dream of a magical world without rules where there really was a wizard behind the curtain."
Boy George, interviewed in The Guardian



Graham Smith was a self-confessed "enthusiastic amateur photographer" at that time, yet managed nevertheless to perfectly capture the New Romantic era of the early 80s in his black and white snaps.





Now he plans a book that promises to bring all these memories together in one place. Of course, first he will need donations to get it published:

Graham Smith - We Can Be Heroes

Alongside over 500 fantastic photographs from the era the book has forewords from Gary Kemp, Boy George and Steve Strange, an introduction by Robert Elms and text by Chris Sullivan. To contribute to the publication of We Can Be Heroes, visit www.unbound.co.uk