My grandmother's cupboard

My love of vintage clothes was inspired by the contents of my grandmother's cupboard. There hung an amazing collection of designer pieces from the 1930s to the 1980s. Whenever I'm stuck for anything special to wear, I still go and have a rummage around, just in case I might possibly have missed something.  However most of the amazing pieces have already found their way into my own cupboard or my sister's cupboard or indeed the V and A. An amazing Schiaparelli/Cocteau creation that originally belonged to my great aunt is now on show for all to see (see below). However, I am very fortunate to have inherited Biba, Ossie Clark, Zandra Rhodes and if I ever want to feel as wonderful as I possibly can, I wear one one of these beautiful pieces which have proved to be completely timeless. I love wearing them more than anything else that I own, anything else that I have bought or even contemplated buying. I feel so lucky to have them, to have a mother and grandmother who kept rather than threw away. The great thing is that they come with a story.  And as my grandmother is still alive at 101 and able to recount these tales, I know the stories just as well as I know the dresses that starred in them.