Monday 9 July 2012

I MARRIED A MODEL

Eve and I were married on 27th March 1954 at St James’s Church, Down Street in Mayfair, the reception held at the Naval and Military Club round the corner. It was a wedding with society pretences enjoyed by all and, for me, like jumping  from a frying pan of simmering chipolata sausages into a gold plated salver of ornate elegance.                                                                                                                                        
  From the moment we returned from a brief honeymoon in Paris my life of live patés, venison pies and sturgeon eggs was eclipsed by the glamour of Eve’s new world which I embraced with fervour.
 Up till then I had known little about fashion. I had heard of Balmain, Chanel, Dior and Givenchy, had glanced at their creations in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, but not with that much interest. Now I was thrown in at the deep end. The haute couture names of John Cavanagh, Digby Morton, Hardie Amies, Hartnell and Worth became part of my life, while crêpe de chine, grosgrain, organza, piqué, taffeta and other such words were added to my daily vocabulary.
 I was proud to see Eve in the limelight, going to her fashion shows and accompanying her to all the social engagements connected with the new collections. What took place on the catwalk was glamorous, even theatrical, and I loved it all.
 We moved into a very pleasant rented apartment off Holland Park Avenue and most evenings were more than content leading the happy domestic life.
 Meanwhile, back at the factory I was appointed sales manager which impressed no one but enabled me to escape from the office to the peace and comfort of our clients’ cocktail lounges where I sat in great comfort with pen and notepad to write short stories or playlets but, in fact, mostly doodled while waiting for inspiration. I drew countless pictures of Eve modelling extravagant clothes and ludicrous hats, which amused her enough to suggest I should develop the sketches into cartoons and try to get them published.
 I bought a block of cartridge paper, a special pen and Indian ink and started on the idea in earnest. The result was a series of  12 humorous drawings which I titled I Married a Model, depicting the ups and downs of our lives. I sent these to the editor of She Magazine whom I had sat next to at a fashion show, she published them all in one edition under ther fun name Droo, they impressed a director of Macdonalds the publishers who was himself married to a model, and he commissioned a book of 60 illustrations to be aimed at the Christmas present market.
 The thin volume was launched in October1957 with a fair amount of razzle dazzle. Various newspapers and magazines featured photos of Eve and I posing as in the cartoons,  and a film producer bought an option of the film rights.
 At long last I perceived a light of creative success at the end of the grimy factory tunnel. 



















2 comments:

  1. I have missed these updates. Great post! And very good drawing skills too... Amazed and bedazzled by every post.

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