Getting Dressed
Bruce Oldfield turned Diana from country bumpkin to style icon
Just before I arrived to interview fashion designer Bruce Oldfield, he had been reading a post on Instagram claiming that fashion doesn’t exist any more.
‘ Finito,’ it said. And he agreed. ‘People don’t follow any rules now. They just wear what rocks their boat.’
The post claimed that there are only a few thousand women in the world who actually buy the clothes that are photographed on the catwalks, but Oldfield disagreed with this.
‘Thank God, there are lots of women – Russian, Chinese, Arab and others – who do dress up and will buy those clothes. And thank God for brides and mothers of brides.’
An Oldfield outfit costs upwards of £6,000. His list of customers reads like a designer’s fantasy: Helen Mirren, Rihanna, the Kardashians and the Duchess of Cornwall… Far and away his most famous client was Princess Diana. She came to him as a bit of a country bumpkin – and ten years later had become a global style icon. They became great friends. Oldfield was awarded the OBE, has lunched with the Queen and is used to hobnobbing with celebs and stars. Unspoilt, relaxed and funny, he is loved by everyone. At over six foot, he is like a handsome and genial bear – one you’d like to be hugged by.
Oldfield was taken into care just after he was born, in 1950, and raised by a foster mother, Violet Masters. A single woman, she had four other mixed-race kids at the same time. He stayed in touch with them all and his foster mother was proud to show off his first Vogue cover from January 1974 just before she died. Miss Masters was a dressmaker and made all their clothes because she couldn’t afford to buy them. ‘Remember, this was just after the war, in the Durham coalfields.’ They lived in a two-up, two-down terrace house where council workers came and shovelled out the waterless closets every week. ‘You wouldn’t want to be around when they did that.’ A letter in the files at Barnado’s says, ‘FM [foster mother] believes boy will be fashion designer.’ Oldfield says, ‘Legend has it that, once, I sat on the floor and drew the wedding dress while my mother was discussing with a bride what she would wear.’ By 13, Oldfield had grown tall, unruly and too much for Miss Masters. So he was placed in a Barnardo’s branch home in Ripon. Because he had passed his 11-plus, he went to the grammar school. ‘This is one of the best things that happened to me. I lost a mother but I gained a school.’ From there he went on to teacher-training college, Ravensbourne College and St Martin’s School of Art. This was all funded by Barnardo’s – he is now a vice-president. After the St Martin’s graduation show, a sharpeyed fashion journalist recommended his work to Geraldine Stutz, owner of the upmarket New York store Henri Bendel. ‘I was living in a tiny flat in Brixton. She came to see me in a white stretch limo which could hardly get round corners and she asked me to design a collection for the store. “It might work,” she said, “or it might not.”
‘It was 1973. I was 23. I went to New York with the collection – talk about growing up fast. This was the first time I met black people – successful black people – models, photographers, designers, dancers, choreographers…’ He launched his own label in London soon after his return and has never looked back.
Occasionally Oldfield designs clothes for himself, but they never get made because there is always something more urgent. He is passionate about workmanship. ‘I’d like to look down from on high in, say, 2055 and see someone going into a thrift shop and buying a Bruce Oldfield and saying, “Look how beautifully made this is!” ’
In our picture, Oldfield is wearing an old hoodie top from Vince over a plain white T-shirt and black trousers from John Lewis, with a Margaret Howell black jacket; shoes are by Tod’s. ‘I wear more or less the same thing every day … washed, obviously! I don’t like tailored clothes any more. Next week, I am invited to the House of Lords and I haven’t a clue what to wear. I used to buy suits from Edward Sexton but lately I have put on weight and they won’t fit. I have downsized everything lately – except my waist.’ Recently, Oldfield moved his showroom and atelier into one base in London’s Beauchamp Place.
He works with a trainer to keep fit, does Pilates, and walks his beloved dog, Boo. His beard and hair are cut by Paul Edmonds in Brompton Road and his skincare is simple –Pears soap.