FRIDAY CHALLENGE NOVEMBER 15th THE DRUGSTORE YEARS

[Thin White Duke]

Clousea, may I request that you please post up the pic of the Drugstore fella in the white suit here? The exact parameters of the style of the DS lads remains a bit of a mystery to me but I'm thinking of trying to DTO that photo. Cheers!

 

[Clouseau]

Here it is.
Marc Zermati, an 'original' from the Drugstore, here on holidays...



More 'Drug' drawings by Jean-Paul Goude, another 'original'



With these and the 'Inspiration' pictures, you've got enough clues...

 

[Thin White Duke]

Cheers mate. Stand by for my entry.
Didn't know Jean Paul Goude was associated with the DS group. I associate him with styling Grace Jones for the covers of her trilogy of 'must have in every decent record collection' LPs: 'Nightclubbing', 'Warm Leatherette' and 'Living My Life'.

 

[Clouseau]

Cheers mate. Stand by for my entry.
Didn't know Jean Paul Goude was associated with the DS group. I associate him with styling Grace Jones for the covers of her trilogy of 'must have in every decent record collection' LPs: 'Nightclubbing', 'Warm Leatherette' and 'Living My Life'.

Actually, he is not the only one from the Drugstore who became famous...
Cheers !

 

[Mr Knightley]

Monsieur, a great idea for a Challenge!

Had I lived in France then I would have been too young (and too poor) to have been part of la bande.

As it is, I grew up in SE England and from my look-out post watched the British Mods of the early 1960s, always wishing I could be one. When my turn came, many Mods had morphed into hippies and younger guys were flirting with ‘hard-mod’ as it has been called more recently. I too, gave that a try.

But, by 1970 we were adopting the French Cut and hanging out at the infamous Chelsea Drugstore on the corner of Kings Road and Royal Avenue – a wide leafy boulevard laid out in the 1690s. James Bond was meant to have lived in a small flat on Royal Avenue with an elderly Scottish housekeeper called May.

To many of the locals the modern glass and aluminium facade – based on the Paris original – was seen as an eyesore compared to the existing buildings in the area.

The Chelsea Drugstore - then and now!



Today, this is about as close as I get to a Drugstore look:







Suit - Jasper Conran
Shirt - TM Lewin
Tie - Lanvin
Pocket square - Mr Porter
Shoes - Clarks x V&A (from a V&A 60s archive design)
Socks - Missoni

 

[Mr Knightley]

This is not part of my entry but rather a pic of me going off to London in early autumn 1971 (quite probably visiting the Chelsea Drugstore as part of the shopping trip):



Posters on Mod to Suedehead will be fed up with seeing this!

 

[Thin White Duke]

I don't think Fleming ever specified the street Bond lived on, IIRC he just mentioned it was on a small cul-de-sac off Kings Road. I always imagined it to be on or near Cheyne Walk which I think is where John Paul Getty junior and Mick Jagger kept flats at one time, both of them being in a slightly higher income bracket than Bond on a senior civil servant's pay (plus his tax-free bonus and casino winnings!)

 

[Thin White Duke]



 

[Academic2]

Between the early 60s and the early 70s, a wild bunch of young, rich, and beautiful people gathered at the Champs Élysées Drugstore in Paris.

They liked beautiful clothes, gorgeous girls, fast cars, and to party as often as possible.
They were soon called 'La bande du Drugstore'...
They had MtM fitted suits and blazers made by one of their friends… Maurice Renoma. But they also appreciated the best French, English, Italian, and American clothes - and shoes. They were also influenced by Ivy style, soon to be called in France 'Le Kennedy look'.
Late 60s, most of the originals from the 'Drug' had moved on. They left the place to their little brothers nicknamed 'Minets'...

So in this challenge i want you to recreate a 'Drugstore look'. This challenge is CM, but the Drugstore lads, like their English mods cousins, mixed CM with SW & D… So you can add one SW & D item to your CM look - if you want...

Your are free to show your face or not.
As 'La bande du Drugstore' liked to party, you are free to post a picture recreating a party with other people. But you have to be the star, of course.

[...]

Interesting challenge. Is there anything visual which distinguishes this look from the contemporaneous British Carnaby Street “mod” look?

Cheers,

Ac

 

[Clouseau]

Interesting challenge. Is there anything visual which distinguishes this look from the contemporaneous British Carnaby Street “mod” look?

Cheers,

Ac

Hi,

in the 'inspiration' pics (apart the young ones looking at Renoma window display), you only have 'originals' from the Drugstore, early 60s. You'll notice the typical haircut, the slightly flared trousers, the Macintosh (or Burberry or Grenfell, all sought after) the blazer with a badge, the fitted Renoma suits, the Weston loafers, the buckle shoes, etc.

Now see this pic, shot in front of 'Old England' a bit later (i would say around 1966) one of their favorite shops.



Here you can see the Carnaby street influence on the singer Ronnie Bird (AKA Ronald Méhu) and the model Zouzou (for a while Brian Jones girlfriend), two 'originals' from the Drugstore who were moving on.
While at the back, you can see three younger lads, more popular, and the emergence of the 'minet' style. The one in the middle has an 'English style' too. Still, at the time, the Rolling stones had their suits made by Renoma, and were regular of the Drugstore when they were in Paris.

Cheers
C.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Being as how the original English Mods looked to Europe (Belmondo, Mastroianni etc) for inspiration I wonder which came first, and in those pre Internet days, how much was independent evolution and how much was due to some merging and crossover of styles?

 

[Mr Knightley]

I don't think Fleming ever specified the street Bond lived on, IIRC he just mentioned it was on a small cul-de-sac off Kings Road. I always imagined it to be on or near Cheyne Walk which I think is where John Paul Getty junior and Mick Jagger kept flats at one time, both of them being in a slightly higher income bracket than Bond on a senior civil servant's pay (plus his tax-free bonus and casino winnings!)

That was what I thought, but when I was researching the Drugstore history the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's website, among other sources, mentions Royal Avenue as the location. I should interested to see if there is any evidence to the contrary.

 

[Thin White Duke]



That was what I thought, but when I was researching the Drugstore history the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's website, among other sources,  mentions Royal Avenue as the location.  I should interested to see if there is any evidence to the contrary.

http://jamesbondmemes.blogspot.com/2014/11/where-does-james-bond-live-and-other.html?m=1

 

[Clouseau]

Today

 

[Thin White Duke]

Envious of that location C, but you could have made it even more authentic by posing in front of THE drugstore (if it still exists!).