Vivienne Westwood: Fashion, Perversity and the Sixties Laid Bare by Fred Vermorel

Author:Fred Vermorel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Codes: BIO000000; BIO001000; BIO026000; BIO013000; BIO022000
ISBN: 9781468309850
Publisher: The Overlook Press
Published: 2014-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

Malcolm was eventually thrown out of his home. His parents objected to him staying out all night.

For a time he dossed in the outside studios at the college. Then, when this became dodgy (suspicious caretaker), he slept in the graveyard at Harrow on the Hill. This lifestyle hardly mattered to his appearance, which was always wild-haired and unshaven, and he continued coming to college. At this time he was penniless and I supported him out of my allowance, giving him money and taking food and cigarettes up to the cemetery. We would smoke and talk there, surveying the views across Middlesex.

However, Malcolm’s mother had complained to the college. The principal, Illingworth, and Ivor Fox were alerted to Malcolm’s vagabondage, and Malcolm was now obliged to disappear.

The tutors took this very seriously. I was interrogated. Where was Malcolm Edwards? How should I know? Illingworth and Ivor Fox searched the college. Then, ludicrously, they both set off in Illingworth’s car, touring the streets of central Harrow, looking for their missing student.

I took Malcolm to my house, hoping he might be able to stay there. My mother, however, took a dislike to his lack of manners. What a rude boy! she said to me when he was out of earshot. In any case, there was no space.

Malcolm sketched me in my bedroom while my sisters looked on and we wondered what to do next. As he drew he commented on my ‘worried’ expression. This pleased me as measuring up to Theo Ramos’s specification of an artist. We then walked the short distance to Gordon’s home. Gordon’s parents were also disapproving. But Gordon suggested Malcolm could sleep in his car. This was parked in the courtyard behind the flat.

So Malcolm took up residence in the car. He was now able to report to the college that he had a proper residence (i.e. could receive letters posted to Gordon’s address) and they decided to leave it at that. So every morning Malcolm would go up to Gordon’s for a breakfast of instant coffee and cereal. Gordon was enthusiastic about Shredded Wheat and pressed it on all his guests whatever the time of day. Sometimes I too would arrive for breakfast. Then we would take the bus into Harrow or be driven by Gordon on his way to the Technical College.

Gordon’s elder sister was Vivienne Westwood. She was a married school teacher and had a small child, Ben, whom she would bring round when visiting her parents. Being a married mother who earned a living put Vivienne in the category of grown-ups, and she was not then privy to our student goings-on. But she took a sisterly interest in Gordon and seemed proud of his success with girls.

My recollection now is that Vivienne had been intrigued by Gordon’s guest, having seen this wild-looking redhead asleep in the car several times. (Malcolm would sleep late quite often, on display to the residents, and an added embarrassment to Gordon’s parents.) One morning when I was at the flat, eating Shredded Wheat with Gordon and Malcolm, Vivienne arrived.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.