J'AIME MARCH 2020

come back next week with some new designs.”
After teaching herself to crochet, Gill started a line
of crochet dresses which proved to be immensely
popular.
“I couldn’t keep up the pace, I was forever
crocheting!” laughs Gill. “The owner of one
boutique I made stuff for had been a croupier at a
casino in Edgbaston and she knew singers in groups,
so she used to get me orders from them.
“I developed the crochet business; I started with
berets, which I still do now, and I used to sell them
for a pound. I could sell loads of them, and back in
the early Sixties a pound was a lot of money!
“I came up with other ideas, like crochet halterneck
jumpsuits with bootcut legs, and when hotpants
became a thing I did them, and these little tops with
fringes that hung off the arms. I was forever coming
up with new designs and I just kept making and
selling to lots of shops.”
Suddenly, the designs which had seemed so
outlandish just a few short years previously had
become the defining styles of the decade.
Gill and Del married in 1966, and continued their
reign as pioneers of style throughout the Sixties and
beyond. As one of the foremost experts on Mod style,
Gill has featured in numerous books on the subject,
notably Sawdust Caesars by Tony Beesley, which
chronicles Mod subculture throughout the decades
and features an iconic shot of Gill in one of her
GILL WITH
HUSBAND STUART
original designs on the back cover.
After diversifying her design skills over the years
into bridalwear and prom designs - Gill ran her own
bridal and promwear shop, Gill Evans Designs, in
Four Oaks for many years - about ten years ago,
she decided to set up her ModTogs label, bringing
back her original Mod designs and creating new
collections based around sketches from the Sixties.
“There’s still a huge market for original Sixties style,”
says Gill. “ModTogs’ core look is simply, classic
styling - the original Mod style.”
As immersed in Mod culture as ever, Gill is a firm
fixture at prestigious Mod events around the country
and beyond, and has a following which spans the
globe. After the death of her first husband - and
Mod inspiration - Del, Gill even found love again
through the Mod scene, meeting Stuart at a big Mod
weekender in Brighton in 2014.
A second-generation revivalist Mod, 55-year-old
Stuart was into the more underground aspects of
the scene so was unaware of Gill’s influence as the
Original Mod Girl - until he spotted her on a TV
programme about Mods.
Bumping into her at the Brighton weekender
he introduced himself, and the couple hit it off
immediately, with Stuart making the journey from
his hometown of Ipswich to visit Gill in the Midlands
before making the move permanently.
The couple tied the knot in 2015 - Gill, naturally,
wearing one of her own designs - and now Stuart
helps Gill with the ModTogs business, making his
own line of accessories, which he ships around the
world.
As a proud alumnus of Moseley Art School - now
refurbished and reopened in 2018 as the Moseley
Community Hub following its closure in the 1970s
- Gill’s alumni board telling her story has pride
of place among those of other celebrated former
students, including Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter
Christine McVie, advertising guru Trevor Beattie
and artist and IKON Gallery founder David
Prentice.
And even after six decades in the industry, Gill has
no plans to retire.
“I just love it; the style, the events, the friendships - I
love it all,” she says. “I think I have survived in the
industry because what I do is a niche thing, and
people still love the look.
“I’m proud to be the Original Mod Girl, and part of
Mod culture history.”
For more information about Gill’s designs, find
ModTogs on Facebook and Instagram.
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