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Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects by Zandra Rhodes review – wigs, turbans and fly spray


The fashion designer provides an uneven account of her multicoloured career

Ever since arriving in swinging 60s London with a bag full of acid-coloured geometric prints and a signature style comprising zigzag eyebrows and pink hair, Zandra Rhodes has prided herself on taking the road less travelled. All this is bundled under a section titled Fly Spray in reference to the fact that Mrs Rhodes once doused her hair with stinging pesticide after confusing it for the usual silver paint with which she put the finishing touch to her exotic hairdo. This was a delicate cloud of a frock in gauzy off-white fabric, covered in embroidered lace shells and with a flattering cinched-in waist (Prince Philip insisted on his daughter wearing a substantial undergarment to avoid an unbecoming transparency).

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