How to collect sixties St Michael vintage clothes

October 27, 2020

From the late 1920s, Marks and Spencer (what is now a place to buy prosecco marmalade), registered the name St Michael. They wanted to create a new sophisticated brand.

By the 1950s, all clothes stocked in M&S were labelled with the St Michael name. Their fashion brand was succesful for decades until early in the year 2000. The line was then discontinued when M&S decided to use their own name.

The beauty of this means, if you’re searching for clothes and you find something with the St Michael name, you can bet your ass that you’re looking at a piece of vintage. Whether it’s 1960s vintage or not, is something we need to work out…

If you want a few pointers on being a vintage expert, I’ve wrriten a list of tips for hunting beautiful vintage clothes.

How To Spot Sixties St Michael

Vintage Shopping Guide

Label – In the 60s, the labels began to be football pitch green writing with a white background. Towards the end of the decade, they moved the St Michael name into a slanted rectangle and boast of being made in Britain.

The Look – During the Sixties, St Michael really thrived. They began to copy the looks that were big on the street and started mass producing looks inspired by all of the above boutiques.

Colours – They had simple patterns and colours but also, due to psychedelics and florals being all the rage, you’ll find a lot of bold patterns, colours and florals all over their clothes.

Fabrics – Synthetic fabrics like nylon, crimplene and polyester became a huge way for the brand to make clothes quickly and cheaply.

Shapes – St Michael was one of the first to mass-produce the mini skirt. Following that, they made shift dresses, a-line dresses and slip dresses (which I personally think is great for outerwear). Due to being mass-produced, the clothes were fairly simple with no embellishments or defining features.

The St Michael Girl – They were the girl on the street that wanted to be fashionable but couldn’t afford boutique prices. They looked great and often customised their clothes.