The humble comedy repeats of the past often shown on hungover bank holidays hark back to not only a forgotten age away from the comedic stylings of young whippersnappers in trendy 90s wine lodges but to a zeitgeist for misfit apparel. It seemed that he who dares gets a wet blue rinse wet set. Here we ponder the panache of paisley ties, pea coats and ey' up Petunia's of the figureheads of British comedy past.
Gary Sparrow - Goodnight Sweetheart
This slightly far-fetched affair of time travel capers conjures up a hybrid of impeccable 40s pea coats, rayon and wool blended suits and delicate tea dresses mixed 90s bleach jeans and pique cotton polo shirts. Set partly in the 90s and partly in the 40s, TV repairman Gary Sparrow ever so miraculously gets transported back to wartime London where he then parts his time between both eras. The less mentioned about the ever so bland mid 90s costuming probably the better. His wartime barmaid sweetheart Phoebe hits the high notes with pageboy hair-sets, shirred polka dot day dresses and military box coats. He particularly woos her when he brings food back from the 90s that were then under ration, perhaps a packet of Quavers or those Hubba Bubba gooey strawberry liquid gum things I suppose? Gary provides classic staples of British menswear of the era, often wearing brown knitted undershirts, muted herringbone suits and fedoras. So many bizarre question marks hang over its comedic output but what does stand strong is much of its costuming. Far be it from me to draw the guidelines of realism in British comedy but it's a pretty batshit experience.
Valeria Watt - Carry On Screaming
The intoxicating beauty of cunning vamp Valeria Watt is enough to make a mans eyeballs pop from his head like something out of a Tex Avery animation. All men want her and all women want to be her as she lays alluringly on chaise longue in a burgundy velvet floor length gown. With a plunging neckline, long sleeved arms and seductive fishtail skirt, she oozes vampirish sex appeal. Combined with her porcelain skin, painted red lips and flash of electric blue eyeshadow, made popular by New Wave actress Anna Karina, she was like an intoxicating English sixties siren leading men to their doom. We certainly don't mind if she smokes.
Bertie Wooster - Jeeves & Wooster
The attire of 1930s well-heeled vivant Bertie Wooster proves to be commonly admired by contemporary vintage chaps. Bertram Wilberforce Wooster provides multiple precise looks of the 30s. Taken from the P.G Woodhouse 'Jeeves' novels, Bertie is nonchalantly wealthy and reliant on his subservient valet Jeeves. With such wealth Bertie adorns many different looks dependent on backdrop. Double-breasted waistcoasts and silk pocket squares are rather the regular ticket when attending drinks and larks at The Drones Club, although you also get to admire some wonderful ensembles outside of his regular haunt. When at the beach it's a double breasted nautical navy jacket with cream slacks and matching panama hat. Whereas at golfing establishments it is long tobacco socks and buttoned waistcoats on the menu. Mix this with countryside attire of leathers and pocket watches, snap tab collars and bow ties at dinner before a padded collar silk smoking jacket for slumber.
Terry Collier & Bob Ferris - Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads
Alright Thelma, pet. The Likely Lads were the archetypes of working class apparel in the 1970s. Similar proletariat upbrings but two warring opinions on how one should live their life, something which also transcended into both characters costuming. Tinker Terry Collier's casual labourer silhouette was made up of beige Harrington jackets layered with pique shirts, unstiffened collars and jumpers, resonating with the struggle of laboured unemployment and ex-military servicemen in the North of England at the time. Juxtapose to the perhaps less palatable poseur Bob who's strive to Keep Up With The Joneses shows in his tailored pin-stripe suits, stiff collars and silk autumnal ties. Whilst Bob heeds the requests of his aspirational faux middle-class partner Thelma, hedonistic Terry plays up to his wonderfully entertaining promiscuity, twice being caught by the milkman in ill-fitting duck egg blue gentlemens briefs at various ladies residences. The costuming of The Likely Lads is not only one to admire but to dissect in relation to the backdrop of a glum early 70s North-East England.
Mark Lamarr - Shooting Stars
In the words of Bobeth of Mortimer - 'Oh He's a Nineteen Fifties Bin Man! Blowin' His Sexual Bugle Up And Down The Countryside'
He was the modestly mocked other half to Ulrika Jonsson on the 90's Vic & Bob panel show Shooting Stars (also see Snootin' Snars). Religiously teased for his likeness to Eddie Cochran or a 1950s conman, his collar loop shirts with breast pockets and yolk pleats could easily sit at home to a Freddies of Pinewood wearer today. Amongst the hyjinks of men dressed as babies and questions about whether Jeremy Irons, Lamarr often exhibited favourable 50s contrast colours of ivory, air-force blue, pistachio, navy and black, made famous by Elvis in King Creole. Not before competing in challenges to withstand the force of large items of taxidermy in order to win a tin of pineapple chunks. Arguably the icon of rockabilly fashion on mainstream television in the 90s.
Miss Betty Slocombe - Are You Being Served?
The foul mouthed matriarch of Grace Brothers Department Store that makes every geriatric appreciating gal pray for the day it is acceptable to get a blue rinse. Not even just a blue rinse, how about peach, aubergine, apple green, forest green, candyfloss and mermaid. Sod it, perms and colour rinses at any age. YOU GET A BLUE RINSE AND YOU GET A BLUE RINSE, EVERYBODY GETS A BLUE RINSE! With her next-door-neighbour regularly coming round to check on her pussy, her battleaxe posterior and icy stares made her the sassiest and strongest of female characters on British television. It was maximum Edwardian ruffles, tobacco tabards, jewelled cat-eye glasses and foxy fur stoles to counteract the plume of candied creations atop her head.
Granville - Open All Hours
Down-trodden, idealistic and w-w-w-world weary, Granville's woolly and bobbled knitted tank tops always over crisp white shirts and ties was a true example of the staunch internal etiquette of perhaps our own grandparents and parents in order to dress smartly everyday no matter occupation or class. Something perhaps we could all take a leaf out of ourselves. With Granville existing on a Greengrocers apprentice wage, he dreamt of a utopia beyond Arkwright's acrimonious put-downs and dalliances with the erotically charged Nurse Gladys. A coarse apron tied slovenly at the waist, land worker knits and flat caps created a mise-en-scene not dissimilar to the Hovis advert where the young fella nearly goes arse over tit down some cobbles.
Private Helga Geerhart - Allo' Allo'
The only daughter of strudel bakers, Helga was the love maiden of the Luftwaffe in 80s World War II comedy Allo' Allo'. Seductive blue eyes, braided golden locks, a sphinx-like smile and fuck-me stockings, she was the sexy slapstick saboteur you were allowed to crush over on a Saturday evening, even if a pillow was required over your lap. Graduating from finishing school in Heidelberg with top marks in mechanics, corset making and with humble 20wpm shorthand experience, she found herself performing secretarial duties for Colonel Kurt Von Strohm and Captain Hans Gruber. Her most significant relationship however manifests in the form of spherically bespectacled and leather clad Herr Otto Flick of the Gestapo, someone who also shares her rapture for corsetry and fishnet stockings. Unbeknownst to Herr Flick, although having to always grant her permission to kiss him, it was Helga who was holding all the cards upon their endeavours to acquire the portrait of "The Fallen Madonna With The Big Boobies". Kim Hartman, who plays Helga, has revealed in the past that Helga, with her Aryan attributes would certainly have had the possibility of wooing Hitler in her crosshairs, being the ultimate sexual conquest for power. Something Allo' Allo' always achieved under such a cloak of possible taboo, alongside the precise costuming, was to use effortless subtly, naivety and innuendo to put audiences at ease whilst assuming a certain level of intelligence. Being a sucker for all things military, it's hard for me not to strive for such an aesthetic. Upon dismantling the social codes of the past, Allo' Allo' successfully aided to preserve an identity of self-ridicule in British comedy.
