Ian Dury invents 'Oxfam Chic'

As evidenced in this 1973 picture, the Kilburns bought most of their clothes from charity shops, resulting in a wide array of previously-enjoyed overcoats that shaped the group's early image. Ian amusingly described this as 'Oxfam Chic' and said, 'Yeah, we got into a lot of gear that was old, because it was nicely made.' Here we see Ian around the time that the Kilburns were first treading the boards on London's pub rock circuit. Photograph by Mick Hill.
Read more about the early days of Kilburn and the High Roads in 'Ian Dury: The Definitive Biography' (Sidgwick & Jackson) Out now!
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Ian Dury's beatnik days in Cornwall, 1960

In the summer of 1960 Ian and his girlfriend Patricia Few hitched down to Newquay in Cornwall for two weeks of camping and 'hanging about in bushes and being ejected by the council'. Ian and Pat, who met that February at the Elm Park Jazz Club, had recently taken part in the third annual Aldermaston march to Trafalgar Square. As members of CND, they were immersed in all things 'beatnik'. Ian was known at the time as 'Toulouse' [Lautrec] and sported a straggly beard as his first year at Walthamstow School of Art came to a close. Read about Ian's beatnik days in 'Ian Dury: The Definitive Biography'.
Photograph courtesy of Patricia Carson (nee Few).
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