Beatlemania did some strange things to the minds of its victims. For instance, it made one of them, Anne Taylor (no relation to the store Ann Taylor) , think that she could actually take one of her dad’s old shirts and cover it with Beatles embroidery. And Anne really made a good try of it, but the project was overly ambitious, and so the project was abandoned.
Maybe she transferred her affection to another group, or maybe she found a real life boy to admire. I guess we’ll never know what interrupted this labor of love.
Unfinished and stained and holey, this is still a clear testament to the power of the Fab Four. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
I know the maker was named Anne Taylor because she signed it. Those are her initials on the postcard as well.
The Vintage Traveler 
It’s a rather impressive work. It’s actually interesting to see the work-in-progress (unfinished) artefact, because it adds an extra reading layer to the object – great to see the pencilled image of one of the Fab Four. I wonder how did you find such a cool piece? well done and thanks for sharing the pictures
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OMG I so love this!!!! (Being a Beatles Fan and with the last name Lennon how could I not?)
And indeed, inquiring minds want to know – where ever did you find this gem?
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Wow- Love this piece! Thanks for including so many photos. ~Lisa
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I found it while wandering through a very unpromising flea market, which goes to show that you just never know what is going to show up anytime stuff is being resold.
I actually took more photos of the unfinished parts, but the sketches were too light to show well. The entire back was covered with individual pictures of each Beatle, along with a group shot. It would have taken her months, if not years, to finish it.
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Lizzie….THIS SHIRT IS BY FAR MY VERY FAVORITE THING I HAVE SEEN ON YOUR BLOG….so very personal, and what a story it tells. My favorite part is the faces she embroidered on the shirt cuffs.
How could anyone part with this treasure!
I have saved an old wool moth eaten blazer my daughter (now 58) trimmed with sequents and glitter (really tacky to an adult mother)…it is up in my attic. I will get it out and show Isabella (15 year old grand-daughter)…I know she would love to see it.
Thanks for the REVIV AL of a precious memory.
Just had a P.S. Revival Memory….my daughter had a pair of old raggady blu-genes that she did embroidered ALL over…with all kinds of hippy stuff, but those probably rotted out and are gone.
Well, back to painting mannequin heads…just got an order.
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That’s a really great memory. I still have the denim jacket I embroidered in the late 1960s, but it was nowhere near this ambitious.
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This is among my favorites of your finds…and that’s saying something!
The unfinished aspect makes the story better. And I love that feeling of finding something at a “unpromising” flea market. Wonderful.
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Ah, this is fantastic! It really does make you want to know the story of the person who started the project and didn’t finish it.
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Oh what a fascinating piece! I’m sure it’s even more impressive in person! I’m amazed that she decided to try embroidering portraits of them – very ambitious! It almost makes me want to do some hand embroidery myself. Such a great find. =)
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Love this!!!!
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Wow this is amazing! I wonder if it was a summer project under the tutorial of a doting grandma or other supervisor, with a promise to finish up once she went back to school in Sept (my story for this anyway).
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Such a fantastic find! Very ambitious project.
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What a great find! Utterly brilliant shirt and your post made me laugh out loud. The significance of the unfinished word HELP! is not lost on me.
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She was crushed when Ringo got married. I can only assume Ringo was her fave Beatle since his name is embroidered down the front of the shirt! It *was* a dark time for us Ringo lovers.
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That would do it. I think you may be right or else she moved on to heavy metal.
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Wow! This is just downright amazing! What an utterly unique item! Such a peek into the window of how ga-ga gals were for The Beatles!
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In the early 50s, my sister similarly and elaborately embroidered a gray windbreaker with doodles and the names of her co-workers at “Hi-Q” in Myrtle Beach, SC. She wore it with rolled up dungarees, white bobby socks (really), loafers, and myriad colors of silk chiffon scarves around her pony tail.
If I could have embroidered, I was crazy enough about the Beatles to attempt such a thing as the shirt…eh hem… We won’t even mention the Beatles bubble gum trading cards.
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I sure wish I still had my bubble gum cards. I had the complete set.
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I am going to need to send my MIL a link to this post. She is a Beatles fan-atic and was one of those girls screaming at the shows. This is such a wonderful shirt! I guess Ringo was her favorite?
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Yes, I do think she was a Ringo fan. I just noticed that it does not show in the photos, but on the other side of the drum set is the name “Starr” in the same large red letters.
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That is so sweet! So much love for the band went into this and it does make me wonder why she stopped.
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The guitars are beautifully embroidered as is the drum kit and she has captured that font style for the word Beatles on the drum. My embroidery skills were limited to cross-stitch on gingham aprons at my school in Angleterre. Sad when there was obviously all this creativity going on. George was my favourite.
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I appreciate all the love for this piece, and for all the interesting thoughts about what made Anne abandon her project.
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What a fabulous shirt; finding it in the flea market must have been a fantastic rush! So much time and love went into it… and yes, it being unfinished makes it all the more poignant. I remember embroidering my jeans (in the early 70s), and Anne’s skills–and ambitions– were light years beyond mine!
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Maybe Anne Taylor is wondering what ever happened to that shirt and she’ll find it on your blog/
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Stranger things have happened!
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Fantastic! So much nicer thing for young ladies to waste their time on that playing Minecraft!!! (Though I was pleased to see mine 12yo- knitting this afternoon.) Great shirt, looks like it was well loved.
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I love it!! What a great piece of social & musical history! Fan-tastic (sorry…!) Love VV xxx
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