All’s fur in love and fashion

Animal prints were a strong theme on the catwalks this summer. Alexander McQueen and Francesco Scognamiglio used them in graphic black and white on a coat and trouser suit respectively. Michael Kors did a calf-hair clutch bag and cowhide trousers, Jill Stewart a printed rabbit skin skirt and Giuseppe Zanotti trotted out pony-hair boots … and that’s even without the perennial ubiquitous leopardskin print, always to be seen on every high street. Year in, year out, from one decade to the next.

A leopardskin loincloth is essential wear for those big state occasions, as King Mswati III of Swaziland demonstrates

For when were animal prints not in vogue? Ever since Man (and woman) first ventured outside their caves with a freshly skinned bison covering their naughty bits, animal prints have been a hot trend. From skins being valued for their warmth, they evolved into status symbols for kings and the nobility – exotic furs imported from Africa were affordable only to the richest and most powerful members of society. Leopardskin is still worn as ceremonial dress by the highest-ranking men in African tribes. King Mswati III of Swaziland particularly favours loincloths made from the real McCoy. And on state occasions, British peers don ermine-trimmed robes, despite central heating having reached Westminster.

Many psychologists actually believe that fashion’s fascination with the look is due to the patterns being engrained in our DNA from those prehistoric times when nothing came between an animal skin and Man’s own.

The cult of Dionysus has much to answer for, too. The god of wine, revelry and debauchery is often shown riding a leopard and wearing a leopardskin. Myth has it that his followers wear the look in homage to him.

More recently, Hollywood and celebrities popularised animal prints, especially the leopardskin. In the 30s and 40s, Joan Crawford, Carole Lombard, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis and Josephine Baker (who had a pet leopard named Chiquita) lent the style an elegant and sophisticated image. But in the 50s, screen sirens Bettie Page and Jayne Mansfield gave it a sexier, even a little vulgar, edge. Bonkbuster novelist Jackie Collins kept the trend going virtually single-handedly throughout the 80s. Today, no-one rocks leopardskin quite like Kate Moss. And she’s a paid-up follower of Dionysus all right.

Kate rocks the leopardskin look

Ocelot and tiger and zebra stripes are also fashion favourites, while snakeskin, crocodile and alligator – the genuine article and, more ethically, reproductions – are popular for bags and belts.

My animal print garments from the 80s are an enduring hit at the retro clothes fairs where I sell. At November’s Vintage Event at Balham Bowls Club and at Clapham’s Art + Cake in October, it was the leopard skin print shell tops, T-shirts and scarves that went as fast as a puma hitting the January sales. But there are still a few prize items left for sale, including this gorgeous, never-worn snakeskin print dress.

It was bought in the 80s from the British upmarket fashion chain Warehouse, and has never been worn. A size 12 (USA 8/9), it’s 39 inches long from the neckline to just below the knee. It’s made of a stretchy jersey fabric (100% polyamide) with a velvety finish and a black / white / beige snakeskin print. And it’s yours for just £19.99.

The silver-coloured metal chain belt with Navajo symbols on it pictured with the dress is also for sale separately at £7.99.

I accept payment by PayPal. If you’re interested, please contact me at metroretrooflondon@gmail.com.

Ms Metro Retro is selling this 80s snakeskin print dress for £19.99 SORRY - NOW SOLD!

Navajo-style metal chain belt, £7.99 SORRY - NOW SOLD!

Wallis, Diana and Kate – a right royal passion for fashion

She caused an international scandal, a constitutional crisis and a King to abdicate. But this powerful woman said of herself: “My husband gave up everything for me. I’m not a beautiful woman. I’m nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else. If everyone looks at me when I enter a room, my husband can feel proud of me. That’s my chief responsibility.”

And dress to the nines is what Mrs Wallis Simpson did. Her tiny frame — just 31½ -23-30 and with size 4 feet — was always attired in the most elegant garments. In the 1930s, when she first met Edward, she was noted for her gowns and suits, cut in the quintessentially 1930s style on the bias, which gave her petite form the most sensuous curves. She changed her clothes several times daily. Her hairdresser came every day. And when she got up in the morning, the sheets were taken off her bed, ironed and replaced in time for her afternoon nap. Everything had to be just perfect.

Now her wardrobe is to be seen in all its finery on the silver screen. Madonna’s latest film, W. E., compares and contrasts the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson and a contemporary relationship between a married woman and a Russian security guard. It opens in the US today (9 December) and in UK cinemas on 12 January.

Andrea Riseborough stars as the American twice-divorced Wallis Simpson and James Fox as King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in order to marry the woman he loved. The scandal rocked Britain in 1936 and led to the couple – henceforth styled the Duke and Duchess of Windsor – becoming ostracised from the royal family and British society, virtual exiles living out the ensuing years in the West Indies and Paris.

Earlier this year, the sale of many of the Duchess’s clothes and household possessions caused a stir in London when they were auctioned for charity. The Passion For Fashion and Fine Textiles – It’s a Right Royal Affair! sale took place in March at La Galleria in Pall Mall.

Included among the 35 lots were a vampish scarlet chiffon nightdress, capelet and full-length cape from the late 1940s or early 1950s (which were estimated to sell for up to £1,000 but in fact went for £5,500), a Christian Dior black crocodile handbag from 1964 (sold for £9,500) and a Louis Vuitton vanity case (estimated at £6,000-£10,000, which realised £40,000). Also coming under the hammer were alligator handbags and Anglisano crocodile shoes, an ocelot fur sweater, lace boudoir jackets, an ivory crepe de Chine nightdress and a Marc Bohan for Christian Dior glass droplet beaded evening bolero.

It was a fitting time for the sale of the Duchess of Windsor’s effects, coming just as Britain was gearing up for the Royal wedding of future heir to the throne Prince William and Kate Middleton at the end of April, and the British film The King’s Speech having just won four Oscars – a film which reminded us that without Edward VIII’s abdication, his stuttering brother would never have become George VI.

But what else would you expect of sales-savvy former retail tycoon Mohammed Al Fayed, who last year sold his Knightsbridge department store Harrods to the Qatari royal family for a reported £1.5bn. Never one to miss an opportunity, when the Duchess died in 1986 he acquired the lease on the Windsors’ Paris mansion and bought all its contents for £3 million. So he was quick to cash in on this year’s interest in Royalty and its heirs by selling the Windsor collection in aid of the Dodi International Charitable Foundation, the fund he set up in memory of his son, Dodi, killed in Paris alongside Princess Diana in 1997, which helps children in need of medical care.

Also included in the sale were the see-through knitted lace dress designed by Charlotte Todd which Kate Middleton modelled at the St Andrew’s charity fashion show in 2002 where she first caught Prince William’s eye, and two dresses worn by HRH the Princess of Wales for state visits to France and Japan in the mid-1980s – a Catherine Walker formal white lace evening gown (sold for £30,000) and a Zandra Rhodes pink chiffon dinner gown (£25,000). You could buy four terraced houses in Burnley for the same sum as those two frocks.

Wallis Simpson’s fashion influence has even permeated down through the decades to Kate Middleton. The blue wrap dress she wore for the announcement of her engagement to Prince William is based on the design of one worn by the Duchess in the 1930s by American couturier Mainbocher.

Kate’s dress was designed by Daniella Helayel of Issa. Helayel also designed the costumes for the new film, W. E.

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