Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1981 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Sources: melanddi.co.uk.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Three-button tailored jacket featuring a Union Jack print in red, white, and blue cotton. It fastens with three black plastic buttons and has small lapels. The front includes two jetted pockets without flaps and a breast welt pocket on the left side. The front panels are aligned to create a central Union Jack pattern, while the back is constructed from two panels where the print does not match up, indicating budget-conscious manufacturing (original retail price: £29.99).
The jacket has uneven black topstitching, further suggesting a lower manufacturing quality. The two-piece sleeves lack vents but include a single black button on each cuff. It is lined in black viscose and features one internal pocket on the right side.
Country of Design: England.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
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Conditions of access and use area
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Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Colour/Print: Red, white, blue, Union Jack
Details: black buttons, flag print
Label: Melanddi Carnaby Street
Finding aids
Allied materials area
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Notes area
Note
Invisible Men exhibition label:
UNION JACK FLAG JACKET
Melanddi
1981
The iconic and graphic nature of the Union Jack has meant that it has been appropriated by British youth subcultures such as the Mods, as well as musicians including Blur, Oasis and David Bowie. This three-button Union Jack jacket is from the Mod revival store Melanddi that opened on Carnaby Street in 1978.
Cotton
Archive no. 2018.129
Note
From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:
UNION JACK FLAG JACKET
Melanddi
1981
Members of the British pop band The Who embodied the Union Jack’s iconic status as a symbol of Swinging London in the 1960s by wearing jackets made from the flag. The flag was subsequently appropriated by several British youth subcultures, including mods, skinheads and punks,
due to its iconic and graphic nature. By the 1980s, Union Jack clothing could still be purchased on London’s Carnaby Street, which was strongly associated with 1960s fashion. This Union Jack jacket is from the Carnaby Street boutique Melanddi, which opened in 1978. It retailed for £29.99
and is made of cotton, featuring a red, white and blue flag print. The front panels are perfectly aligned to form a Union Jack in the centre, whereas the back panels are slightly misaligned.
Cotton
Archive no. 2018.129