Dress
1971
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The dress
Ossie Clark designed this dress for Diane Radley, who wore it for her wedding to David Michaels at the Great Portland Street Synagogue on 24th October 1971. Clark created the dress to suit the ceremony and theatre of a wedding but also in observance of the wedding venues requirements with regards to modesty. Following the wedding the dress was featured in a special issue of Brides and Setting up Home (1971/2) in which Clark remarked it was ‘exceptionally extravagant’ and ‘no expense has been spared’.
The designer
Raymond ‘Ossie’ Clark was a favoured London designer from the mid-1960s to the mid- 1970s. He is best known for his printed chiffon dresses but was also an expert pattern cutter and made exceptional tailored pieces. Clark trained at the Royal College of Art and graduated in 1965. In 1966 he began designing clothes for Alice Pollock’s boutique, Quorum. A few years later the boutique was bought by Alfred Radley, Diane’s father, and this started a series of collaborations between Clark and Radley. The most notable of these was Clark’s diffusion line, ‘Ossie Clark for Radley’, which launched in 1968. The diffusion line sold Clark’s designs at a much lower price point than at Quorum, making his designs available to a larger market.
Ossie Clark designed this dress for Diane Radley, who wore it for her wedding to David Michaels at the Great Portland Street Synagogue on 24th October 1971. Clark created the dress to suit the ceremony and theatre of a wedding but also in observance of the wedding venues requirements with regards to modesty. Following the wedding the dress was featured in a special issue of Brides and Setting up Home (1971/2) in which Clark remarked it was ‘exceptionally extravagant’ and ‘no expense has been spared’.
The designer
Raymond ‘Ossie’ Clark was a favoured London designer from the mid-1960s to the mid- 1970s. He is best known for his printed chiffon dresses but was also an expert pattern cutter and made exceptional tailored pieces. Clark trained at the Royal College of Art and graduated in 1965. In 1966 he began designing clothes for Alice Pollock’s boutique, Quorum. A few years later the boutique was bought by Alfred Radley, Diane’s father, and this started a series of collaborations between Clark and Radley. The most notable of these was Clark’s diffusion line, ‘Ossie Clark for Radley’, which launched in 1968. The diffusion line sold Clark’s designs at a much lower price point than at Quorum, making his designs available to a larger market.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 4 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Coat, cut pile silk chiffon.
Dress, plain silk. |
| Brief description | Wedding dress and coat, designed by Ossie Clark, worn by Diane Boucher, England, 1971. |
| Physical description | The dress is made of ivory silk and the skirt and train are heavily pleated to give it volume. The matching sleeveless coat is made from iridescent ivory, cut pile silk chiffon and has pleated wings fanning from the shoulders. The dress has a high neckline. The bodice of the coat closes at the front with pearl buttons and has a high padded collar which unfurls at the front. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given and worn by Diane Boucher (née Radley) |
| Object history | Ossie Clark designed this dress for Diane Radley, who wore it for her wedding to David Michaels at the Great Portland Street Synagogue on 24th October 1971. . Speaking about the design, Diane remarked, ‘The dress is unique. It was made for me and I doubt he ever made another wedding dress that is so demure. Even though neither I nor my husband were in the least bit religious, some of our families were, so the wedding was in an Orthodox Jewish Synagogue. This meant that the design had to have a high neck and long sleeves. I think that was the only stipulation we gave Ossie.’ |
| Association | |
| Summary | The dress Ossie Clark designed this dress for Diane Radley, who wore it for her wedding to David Michaels at the Great Portland Street Synagogue on 24th October 1971. Clark created the dress to suit the ceremony and theatre of a wedding but also in observance of the wedding venues requirements with regards to modesty. Following the wedding the dress was featured in a special issue of Brides and Setting up Home (1971/2) in which Clark remarked it was ‘exceptionally extravagant’ and ‘no expense has been spared’. The designer Raymond ‘Ossie’ Clark was a favoured London designer from the mid-1960s to the mid- 1970s. He is best known for his printed chiffon dresses but was also an expert pattern cutter and made exceptional tailored pieces. Clark trained at the Royal College of Art and graduated in 1965. In 1966 he began designing clothes for Alice Pollock’s boutique, Quorum. A few years later the boutique was bought by Alfred Radley, Diane’s father, and this started a series of collaborations between Clark and Radley. The most notable of these was Clark’s diffusion line, ‘Ossie Clark for Radley’, which launched in 1968. The diffusion line sold Clark’s designs at a much lower price point than at Quorum, making his designs available to a larger market. |
| Bibliographic reference | Miller, Lesley Ellis, and Ana Cabrera Lafuente, with Claire Allen-Johnstone, eds. Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2021. ISBN 978-0-500-48065-6.
This object features in the publication Silk: Fibre, Fabric and Fashion (2021) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.21:1 to 4-2019 |
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| Record created | January 4, 2019 |
| Record URL |
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