Formed in 1965 by friends Jane Lyle and Maggie Keswick, Annacat was the Biba of The Brompton Road. Although little is known about the origins of the boutique, it is easy to show the sense of fun and youthful enthusiasm which encapsulates the Boutique Movement through the designs of Annacat. They were highly favoured by British Vogue (something which Biba and Mary Quant struggled with throughout the 60s, despite their fame and obvious charms), and the two female designers would appear to have been very 'in' with the London scene at the time - which might explain their favoured status. There is a real sense of fun and decadence about their pieces, regularly trimmed in ostrich feathers, printed in feminine, swirling psychedelics and with historically influenced, sexy shapes. I have often regarded Annacat as the truly girly version of Foale and Tuffin. Party girls, party clothes and (judging by some comments I've read online by those who went there) a real party atmosphere in the boutique itself.

Annacat founder Janet Lyle with Patrick Lichfield in Vogue, September 1968.
Janet Lyle wears her own sea green velvet dress, Patrick Lichfield his own yellow shantung shirt. Both destined for New York where Annacat has opened a boutique at 924 Madison Avenue. Janet Lyle's dress is full length, with small bodice, cascading white lace sleeves sewn with green satin ribbons. Patrick Lichfield's shirt, with ruffles and a detatchable sash to tie in a large floppy bow, is from his first collection of men's shirts which will be sold in a special boutique inside the New York Annacat. Happily, they are both available at the London Annacat, too, £33, and 15 gns to order, from 270 Brompton Road, SW3

Annacat clothes were decadent, wild and a tad impractical - in my time, I don't think I have ever seen any Annacat daywear!! One of their signature looks was feather trims, as shown in this photo from Vogue, September 1968 and secondly in a mini dress from my own collection:

Left: Vogue, September 1968, 'The Life That's In British Fashion'. Swan-white silk peignoir in the star tradition, right, caught in a mesh of gold, feathered with wild ruffs of white ostrich, cut with vast mediaeval sleeves, a white silk belt buckle din gold under the bosom, 80 gns, to order from Annacat. Right: c1968 feather trim mini dress with psychedelic print chiffon

Green Grecian-styled jersey dress - slashed to the waist. c.1969.

They even managed to give some glitz to dungarees!

Vogue. June 1969. Marianne Benet in snowy crepe dungarees, belted and held up by silver sequins. The Dungarees are 19 gns, the ruffled white crepe shirt, 13 gns, at Annacat.

When the girls weren't adding sequins and feathers to things, their own take on the pseudo-historical trend was unashamedly, girlishly romantic. As you can see on the top picture of Janet Lyle, they were fond of velvets, period bodice styles and Liberty prints.

From my collection. A late 1960s renaissance styled white dress with extraordinary green and orange print.

The shop also stocked concessions by other designers (such as Patrick Lichfield, above), amongst the Lyle and Keswick pieces. Apparently, the boutique was the first London outlet for Laura Ashley in the late 1960s - before her own shop opened on the Fulham Road.

Annacat was sold wholesale in 1970, presumably there weren't enough customers clamouring for sequin trimmed dungarees(!), and failed to continue with the critical success of the early years with a different designer at the helm. From being a seemingly permanent fixture in Vogue throughout the late 60s, I haven't seen anything of them in my 1970s editions. Perhaps proving that the main reason they were so successful in the first place had been the personality of the two young party girls who started it!

Biba truly revolutionised the Boutique as a concept. Opening in 1964 on Abingdon Road, Kensington by Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Steven Fitz-Simon, Biba was aimed at young women, with moderate disposable income who would have felt somewhat disenchanted with the prices at Bazaar, Foale & Tuffin et al. Despite the fact those shops and designers had started with the best of intentions to design for their contemporaries and make it affordable, sadly the prices were still slightly out of range for the average teenager and young women with modest salaries. The clothes were never intended to be in fashion for very long, and the girls naturally wanted new outfits to wear each Saturday night. The first shop was an old chemists, and Barbara thrived on the dark and mysterious interior of this slightly dilapidated old building - seizing on the potential to do something vastly different to the bright and open feel of 'Bazaar'. It inspired the interior design of the three subsequent premises Biba would occupy.

The second Biba shop on Kensington Church Street

1967 print Biba outfits

Left: Biba mail order catalogue, late 60s. Right: Black lace high neck blouse - illustrated in the catalogue - bottom right.

Left: Typical Biba colour palette. Middle: Late 1960s broderie anglaise mini dress. Right: An archetypal Biba girl

Left: Print pieces from the catalogue, late 60s. Right: Print jersey top and skirt ensemble. The top is low cut and tight fitting and the skirt has four splits which practically reveal all!

The interiors of 'Big Biba' in 1973

Soap Flakes, Cheese.....

Sequined Biba dress I recently sold on eBay.

They also ran riot with the deco inspiration:

Biba's naughty Thirties look, 1974