1960
1961
Tinling’s taste was always a little too obvious to be a great match for high fashion. He was fond of taking a motif—coconuts, say, for the beach—and repeating it across the front of a dress. He also knew how to be playful: On one dress from a leisurewear collection in the ’70s, footprints run around a garment’s bodice. He understood the harmony that impeccable style requires, but he lacked the sense of irony that great fashion designers often possess—how a suit can be transformed into eveningwear by removing
and in the 1930s, his designs became popular with debutantes and wealthy Londoners. But wartime sanctions made production too difficult, and he eventually closed down his couture shop, which employed around 300 people. Tinling also played a decent game of tennis—he once entered the doubles draw at Wimbledon—and many of his clients put his understanding of how clothes should feel and move on the court down to his firsthand experience of the sport. Looking back at his designs, it’s clear
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