Fashion and make-up designer Dame Mary Quant, credited with some of the most iconic fashion looks of the 1960s including the mini skirt, has died aged 93. A statement from her family said she "died peacefully at home in Surrey, UK this morning". It continued: “Dame Mary, aged 93, was one of the most internationally recognised Fashion Designers of the 20th Century and an outstanding innovator of the Swinging Sixties.” RIP
British fashion designer Mary Quant. A very talented lady. RIP please log in to view this image The Sydney Morning Herald Fashion designers How counter-couturist Mary Quant revolutionised fashion ByLisa Armstrong Paco Rabanne, Pierre Cardin, Yves Saint Laurent and John Bates were also touted as its parent) but with her endless legs, hers was the most compelling. Born in Blackheath, a London suburb, to two Welsh school teachers, she didn’t set out to be a fashion designer, although her penchant for cutting up bedspreads and turning them into clothes was a clue. At her parent’s suggestion, she studied art at Goldsmiths where she found herself in life drawing classes gazing at a naked Quentin Crisp. In 1953, at the age of 23, she met the aristocratic Alexander Plunkett Greene - or APG as she referred to him. He was carrying a trumpet in one hand, a film script in the other. On an early date, he showed up in a dinner jacket but no shirt. “Too broke,” she told me. “He painted on studs and a bow tie.” She couldn’t resist, especially when he later shaved her pubic hair into a heart shape. These two went viral before the internet even existed. Egged on by APG, she bought her fabrics in Harrod’s on his aunt Flora’s account - not the most cost-effective business strategy, but no matter. The resulting short gingham dresses had people banging on Bazaar’s windows, generally in disgust. But all publicity...etc. “I think they sensed that it was about youth and a new generation and that scared them,” she later reasoned. “Don’t forget, there was nothing else then. Fashion was for the elite. You went to Paris to the couture houses, or you tore pictures out of magazines and tried to find a dressmaker ... rationing had only just been phased out. The last big thing had been Dior’s New Look, and if you want the honest truth, that never really took off. It was just too restricting.” please log in to view this image British fashion designer Mary Quant at work with a selection of samples in 1965.CREDIT:GETTY This is interesting, not just because it goes against all those hand-me down tales about the New Look’s impact, but because recently Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s creative director, has been turning out collections inspired by Dior’s archives from the early 1960s – and they’re strikingly in tune with what Quant was doing then. The 1960s, as fashioned by Quant (and Vidal Sassoon) still look modern even now – arguably they’ve become the definition of post-war modernity. She was globally influential, and her clothes were the opposite of the elitist couture coming out of Paris, which, in the early 1960s, was still focused on making one-off couture pieces for the super-rich rather than ready-to-wear, which wasn’t introduced until Saint Laurent launched it in 1966, intuiting perhaps, the social rebellion that would be unleashed on French streets in 1968. Quant by contrast with those restrictive couture clothes, always designed for the modern woman who was pacing out her newly expanded horizons. And she was in the best city to do it. London was grooving to a youthquake and Chelsea was its throbbing heart. It also, according to Quant, had girls with the best legs in the world. There were many firsts. Quant was the first British female designer to be globally renowned. The first to launch make-up and scent. There was a famous pale pink lipstick, bright blue and green eye shadows and a daisy print that at the time, almost certainly eclipsed fustier brand signatures such as Burberry’s check and even Chanel’s double Cs. “Coco Chanel hated me,” Quant once said. “I can understand why. At that time [in the 1960s], all anyone kept asking her was: ‘What do you think of Mary Quant?’” Dame Mary, as she became in 2015, was a natural retail and design pioneer who knew what her customers wanted before they did – because she wanted it, too. What she doesn’t seem to have been, is obsessed with her empire. APG died in 1990 and, despite it going global, she sold her business in 2000 to a Japanese consortium and was later ousted as a consultant. She was perfectly content, however. Her finances were in a comfortable state. Her reputation assured. Mary Quant’s most important changes to the fashion world The miniskirt Quant credited her customers with inventing this: “I wore them very short but the customers would say, ‘shorter, shorter’.” They were daring, yes, but also practical, allowing women to move more freely and run for a bus. The name was borrowed from her favourite car, the Mini Cooper. The haircut Quant, newly graduated from art school in 1953, was seduced into Vidal Sassoon’s salon by a poster outside. “I saw this photograph of hair cut in an amazing diagonal way.” She saved up, returned, and Sassoon gave Quant her very first bob, a cut with which she’d become synonymous. please log in to view this image A collection of Quant’s work shown at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum before travelling to the Bendigo Art Gallery in 2021.CREDIT:GETTY Tights While the invention of tights as an alternative to the faff of stockings is attributed to Cristobal Balenciaga, it was Quant who commercialised them – and made them fun too. Her brightly coloured, textured and patterned hosiery was designed to co-ordinate with her miniskirts and dresses and, by the 1970s, sales of tights had surpassed those of stockings. Smart flats RELATED ARTICLE please log in to view this image Style After a sell-out run in London, Mary Quant is coming to town Another moment of liberation. Flat shoes and boots which were also smart enough to be worn for work or for an evening out were a game-changer. They allowed women to do more without being handicapped by the pain of high heels. They also made Quant’s high hemlines appear more youthful and less suggestive. Stretch appeal Quant pioneered the use of the jersey in fashion, using it for dresses, skirts, jackets, you name it. Stretchy, comfortable and uncreasable, it was loved by her “Chelsea girls”. She is also credited with giving us the skinny rib jumper, after trying on an eight-year-old boy’s top - still an essential layering piece for many of us today.
The Script guitarist Mark Sheehan dies aged 46 Published 2 hours ago Share please log in to view this image IMAGE SOURCE,NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES Image caption, Sheehan performing in Milan in 2018 By Gem O'Reilly BBC News The co-founder and guitarist of Irish rock band The Script, Mark Sheehan, has died. The 46-year-old died in hospital on Friday following a brief illness, the band announced. Sheehan formed the group in 2001 alongside vocalist Danny O'Donoghue and drummer Glen Power. A statement on the band's social media pages said Sheehan was a "much loved husband, father, brother, band mate and friend". It asked fans to respect the privacy of his family and bandmates. Contemporaries of Sheehan's in the entertainment industry were quick to honour his memory. In a statement posted on Instagram, Irish presenter Laura Whitmore wrote: "Thinking of you all at this time. "Mark was one of the nicest and most talented men you could meet." In an Instagram tribute, Irish pop duo Jedward said: "Everyone in the Irish music industry and worldwide mourn your loss RIP Mark such a talented musician from The Script one of the most iconic Irish groups of our generation." Fellow Irish rock band Kodaline have also paid tribute, posting on Twitter: "So sorry to hear (of) the passing of Mark Sheehan." Ireland's president Michael D Higgins said Sheehan was an "outstanding" example of Irish musical success on the world stage. "It was a mark of the originality and excellence that Mark and his bandmates in The Script sought that they saw such success across the world, including six number one albums in the UK and a number three album in the United States - a truly remarkable achievement," he said. please log in to view this image IMAGE SOURCE,ANDREW WHITTON Image caption, Fellow musicians and celebrities have come forward to pay tribute to Mark Sheehan Sheehan was born on 29 October 1976 in Dublin in Mount Brown in The Liberties area, and was married to Reena Sheehan with whom he had three children. He was a singer, songwriter and guitarist, and passionate about music from a young age. From 1996-2001 he was a member of the band Mytown, alongside The Script's frontman O'Donoghue. The Script started in Dublin in 2001 with Sheehan as guitarist, O'Donoghue as singer songwriter and Power as drummer. The band moved to London after signing a record contract with Sony Music Group. It was there that they released their first full album, "We Cry", which went onto reach number one in both Ireland and the UK. After that their next three albums Science & Faith, #3 and No Sound Without Silence, all topped the album charts in both countries. Science & Faith reached number three in the United States and number two in Australia. Since then the band have continued to tour the world and release original music albums, combining Irish themes with pop-rock nuances. They have been known for their writing from the heart, including "If You Could See Me Now", addressing the death of vocalist O'Donoghue's father and both of Sheehan's parents. Fans over the last year have wondered why Sheehan had a short break from the stage. In 2022, Sheehan missed the US leg of the band's tour. O'Donoghue told the media that his bandmate had taken a break to spend time with his family. He explained to Sunday World that the group were supportive of Sheehan's decision and described them as a "a band of brothers" who "stick together no matter what". In 2013, The Script had a brush with royalty, when the Queen visited the BBC's Broadcasting House and watched a performance by The Script, briefly chatting with singer O'Donoghue. Sheehan said when he was told about the royal engagement, he thought "people were playing a joke on us". The Script are scheduled to support the American artist P!nk during her European tour later this year.
Met Ron Phillips a long time ago. He was a really nice man and guided us through the best of times. A true club legend. RIP
I used to sell the programme when a youngster when Ron was in charge. Ron looked after us and was a gentleman. Rest in Peace
RIP Barry, hugely influential in comedy and satire over and above Dame Edna. While still (I think) a schoolboy or student, he took a flight within Australia. He smuggled some Russian salad onboard, decanted it into the sick bag, pretended to throw up mid flight and proceeded to eat the contents of the bag to the horror of his fellow passengers. He was flying alone, there was no audience for this, no one else was in on the joke, purely for his own (wicked) pleasure. Of course he explained the prank to fellow flyers, otherwise we would never have heard about it.
To be fair I actually thought he had died already. Wasn’t my kind of comedy but seemed a nice bloke when he was interviewed. RIP Barry
please log in to view this image A great Aussie, and what a wicked sense of humour. Usually highly suggestive but gentle enough never to make the audience or artists around him feel uncomfortable. A remarkable performer. RIP Barry and Dame Edna
