Vintage 1970s iconic pale fawn oatmeal wool real sheepskin fur collar fit and flare belted coat immaculate condition flattering for figure & bust!
Fabulous vintage 1970s oatmeal pale fawn coat with huge sheepskin collar, suitable for a size 6-10 perhaps a small 12 UK .
This one is believed dating from c 1973-76 because of the A line and the gap in the button front for the belt. Later coats were longer and straighter; earlier ones shorter and more flared and tended to have cuffs too.
I love these coats. They epitomize the glamour of the 1970s to me, that such coats were worn to work, shopping day to day coats with these huge bust enhancing fur collars, usually in real sheepskin as this one, unlike the dire modern cheap ugly fake fur impersonations of them the high street now does. But these WERE done in the High st back then. They didn't - or rather couldn't as we were more educated about fabrics etc - take us for mugs. These were quality items in quality fabrics be they leather suede or wool with real sheepskin collars.
Ah, "Como estas chickadee?" So started another icon of the 1970s, Slade, in their song 'Thanks for the Memory'. And I have such memories of these coats, from childhood to teenage years throughout the 1970s, as I wanted one so desperately. I was a gymnast, and while a flat chest was an advantage to me for that, I was so concerned about it as all my friends were growing boobs. Yet these coats had such a full fur collar it looked like you had one even if you didn't. Which is why you didn't see many teenage girls wearing them despite wanting them: I was told in no uncertain terms they were for grown ups. So concerned was I that I wasn't growing a bust, My doctor asked me at a check-up if everything wad ok and so I told him. He LAUGHED at me *I guess I was about 11) and he told me to "Eat an Apple every Day". Lying toad it made no difference! I was sick of apples. These coats were my only chance. So Slade's song is my 'Spirit of the Age and garment' inspiration for my video. You can pause it to read, or see the minute and a half with the music on my Insta!
"Como estas chickadee?
Have some honey with your meat Eat an apple ev'ry day
The doctor has got to keep away
He'll tell you
Thanks for the memory
Thanks for it all
Wham bam
Thank you ma'm"
Speaking of chickadees, I also watched old Mae West movies, and she always had these colossal fur collars in her movies too. And, the attention of fellahs for what lay beneath them, as did her curvaceous dresses such as the gorgeous gown in My Little Chickadee, 1940. But was " Every Day's a Holiday" 1937 I would heartily recommend for those flattering huge fur collars and yet more gorgeous gowns, which were designed by Schiaparelli. In many ways, the 1970s with designers like Bárbara Hulanicki's Biba and Lee Bender's Bus Stop, & Aristos. etc were a reinvention of the the 1930s glamour. So perhaps inevitably these collars would be part of that, rebooted with fab fit and flare A line belted.
My teachers had these coats, especially the ones who'd visited the UK. I saw them on tv and in movies. Then late 70s I saw the Exorcist made 1973, though still under age. I wasn;t bothered at all about the horror bit but I was getting obsessed to point of possession myself for one of these coats, and while Ellen Burstyn didn't exactly have one, she had a gorgeous white belted coat, and another coat with huge fur collar. So yes, I even watched The Exorcist for fashion lol! And then I knew I wanted a white one with the fur collar. And, finally, I got one! Off white, exactly this style. By which time, they were considered 'outdated' but I didn't care; nobody would have dared call the glamorous goth fashionista I was by then old fashioned! Looked dramatic with my black plunging neckline dresses. I was all fancy pantry and the cupboard was still bare but at least good bras helped!
I didn't know about Eastenders back then in my country but read about Angie Watts, the wife of Dirty Den, played by Anita Dobson. She had one of these coats, in camel. BUT what people don't know, is that the original actress chose for the part Jean Fennell, was sacked because she insisted on playing the character with some elegance and panache. And while the BBC bemoan the fact the clothes she wanted were more than entire wardrobe budget, the coat in the publicity stills with her show a coat with huge fox fur collar. So...why wasn't that used if so concerned about budget? Because they wanted to make Angie Watts look trashy or as they put it:
“Jean felt Angie should be very elegant, but Angie had to ‘miss it’, not by a mile, but get her clothes slightly wrong. I hate to say it but the role was wrong for her. And she would have blown the budget.”
Of course it still backfired, and the sniggering at working class glamour of those at the bourgeois BBC saw Angie even played by Angie Watts with the 'outdated' coat become a bit of a style icon! By the 1990s the Spice Girls Geri Halliwell for eg was wearing the coats with huge fur collars like Angie's as were other fashionistas. They were back! I guess someone at the Beeb decided to try one last laugh at expense of working class glamour by giving the coat to Dot Cotton, an elderly character, in relative poverty. Again, backfire, people still liked! Even Dot looked glam in it to us! These coats are fab for women of any age, if worn authentic spirit. And they've been in fashion ever since.
So the 70s ones have been raided from mums wardrobes since the early 1990s by grunge girls to Spice Girls , to 21st century fashionistas. You HAVE to have one, but they have had a hammering being utility coats that have had revival after revival and most are a little worse for wear. Not this one. SHE IS A BEAUT ! Immaculate condition looks new so clean looking and while it's darker than my off white one, and the sheepskin collar has natural fawn tufts. it's still amazing to find a pale one so well kept.
No label in it, and while likely someone like C&A or a dept store or catalogue, who all did them, because of the condition and unusual colour, I am going to ask appropriate price for it. I want YOU to appreciate such a piece as much as I do. Understand what they mean. They aren't to ride your bike on, or wear a rucksack with. I catch you doing that there will be trouble. Someone, a lady of the 1970s, had prized this, and looked after it. Who knows it may have played an important part in her courtship, so had sentimental value eg. For whatever reason, this HAS been looked after very well. And YOU if you want, will care for her too. She needs to be worn with nice heeled boots not trainers, with fine leather gloves, maybe with a fine retro silk scarf; with panache basically: she needs to be worn with swagger in your walk. Maybe with a pair of the new flared pants co-ordinating colours of course, and a tank top and dagger collar shirt?
And I want you to give her some real great times again. You can wear to work but you take that office by storm with style and hold you head high among the anoraks. She is very definition of working class glamour, was made and worn with love, and deserves it again.
Thanks for the Memory, I salute this beautiful coat ! Will you be her next custodian?