My retro gear - a flower power tie and a Fairisle tank top

I remember buying the colourful tank top in a boutique called Chessmen that used to be in the Castle Arcade in Cardiff. I know it was 1969 because I wore it when I went to my first Isle of Wight festival and I was 16 then. I seem to remember having seen Marc Bolan of Tyrannosaurus Rex wearing a brightly-coloured tank top too and he was and is one of my musical heroes.

All the big shops were capitalising on the 60s fashions and brought out their own versions of flower power shirts and ties and flared trousers. The tie I still have was bought in Woolworths, a chain store that has now recently closed.

I had a few more and some more excellent shirts and I remember wearing them to work at my first job as a sales officer for the Post Office's Telephone House. The job didn't last but the clothes have!

I once had some tartan loons too just like Roy Wood of The Move and Wizzard fame was sporting, and once I really got mistaken for him when I was sat having a drink in the Cardiff Student Union bar. Some guy thought I was the famous singer but I could see the resemblance as both of us had very big masses of hair, full beards and were wearing tartan loons. Roy Wood had supposed to be playing in Cardiff at the time too.

Many years later I won a best-dressed sixties and seventies fashion night with the same trousers. Eventually they wore through in places but they had a great run.

I remember too that ex-military great coats were a hippy fashion and I had several over the years but the best of all was a dark navy coat with big silvery buttons with NFS on them that stood for National Fire Service.

You could get these coats quite cheaply at Army and Navy stores and besides making a fashion statement they were a great protection against bad weather.

Tie-dye T-shirts were something else I remember and I used to love making my own. You never really knew how the colours would turn out and it was always exciting seeing the final product you had made. It was creative art you could wear with pride.

Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.