Alexander
Coat
late 1967-early 1968 (made)
late 1967-early 1968 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
One of the most notorious 1960s celebrity boutiques was the Beatles' Apple Shop. Short-lived and financially disastrous, the Apple boutique was envisioned as "a beautiful place where you could buy beautiful things". It opened 5 December 1967 at 94 Baker Street in London, and became an instant tourist attraction due to its outrageous design, including a huge psychedelic three-storey mural. The boutique and its stock were designed by The Fool, a Dutch design collective who created exuberantly dramatic garments that were widely illustrated in the contemporary media.
The clothes were extravagant and theatrical, using expensive custom-designed textiles such as the satin and lurex multi-coloured brocade of the "Alexander" coat. This particular coat was made for Simon Hayes, The Fool's business manager, who later gave it to the donor, who also received a complete outfit on his first visit to the shop. (see T.54:1 & 2-2008) Such casual generosity was typical of how the shop was run. When the shop closed down on 30 July 1968, the Beatles ordered that the general public be allowed to take whatever they wanted for free.
The clothes were extravagant and theatrical, using expensive custom-designed textiles such as the satin and lurex multi-coloured brocade of the "Alexander" coat. This particular coat was made for Simon Hayes, The Fool's business manager, who later gave it to the donor, who also received a complete outfit on his first visit to the shop. (see T.54:1 & 2-2008) Such casual generosity was typical of how the shop was run. When the shop closed down on 30 July 1968, the Beatles ordered that the general public be allowed to take whatever they wanted for free.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Alexander (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Synthetic satin and lurex brocade, trimmed with braid |
| Brief description | The Fool. "Alexander". Black & gold lurex brocade frock coat with multicoloured floral pattern |
| Physical description | Black satin frock coat woven over a gold lurex base fabric, brocaded with large flowers delineated in gold and patterned in iridescent tones of peacock blue, red, sludge, yellow, green, and brown. The coat has flared sleeves which are slashed up the forearm, a high mandarin collar, and is partly cut away at the bottom. It is edged with a black and gold Greek key ribbon braid, and fastens with large grey horn toggles down the front. The lining is blue taffeta. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Credit line | Given by Ben Stagg |
| Object history | The donor recollects that he received this coat as a hand-down from Simon Hayes, the UK manager for the Fool. In Paolo Hewitt's book Fab Gear: The Beatles and Fashion (London, 2011), several pages from John Lyndon's costings book have been reproduced, including on page 201, the original costings for this coat. It was called "Alexander" (all the garments had individual names) and had a recommended retail price of £9.3.3d. The page also gives details of the expenses associated with the materials for the coat. The satin material would have cost £4.11.6d, the lining 7 shillings and 4 pence, the Vilene used for stiffening 4 shillings and 5 pence, and the braid for trimming about 26 shillings. The making up costs were estimated at 80 shillings. While this coat has horn toggles, the pencil sketch shows normal buttons. The costs involved clearly show how extravagantly expensive such garments would have been to manufacture. - Daniel Milford-Cottam (February 2014) |
| Production | Attribution note: Custom-made for Simon Hayes |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | One of the most notorious 1960s celebrity boutiques was the Beatles' Apple Shop. Short-lived and financially disastrous, the Apple boutique was envisioned as "a beautiful place where you could buy beautiful things". It opened 5 December 1967 at 94 Baker Street in London, and became an instant tourist attraction due to its outrageous design, including a huge psychedelic three-storey mural. The boutique and its stock were designed by The Fool, a Dutch design collective who created exuberantly dramatic garments that were widely illustrated in the contemporary media. The clothes were extravagant and theatrical, using expensive custom-designed textiles such as the satin and lurex multi-coloured brocade of the "Alexander" coat. This particular coat was made for Simon Hayes, The Fool's business manager, who later gave it to the donor, who also received a complete outfit on his first visit to the shop. (see T.54:1 & 2-2008) Such casual generosity was typical of how the shop was run. When the shop closed down on 30 July 1968, the Beatles ordered that the general public be allowed to take whatever they wanted for free. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.55-2008 |
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| Record created | September 9, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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