I got really bored of smock dresses: Alexa Chung on why she almost ditched her trademark Sixties style... but is learning to love it all over again

By Georgina Littlejohn

Last updated at 8:35 PM on 5th September 2011

With her height, boyish frame and skinny legs that seem to go on forever, Alexa Chung has managed to make Sixties fashion her trademark style throughout her career.

But the TV presenter has admitted that she fell out of love with short shifts, flat shoes and the fashion of that decade believing that she was being defined by it.

But Alexa, 27, said she is now ready to fall in love with the style all over again - as these stunning pictures have proved.

Swinging in scarlet: Alexa Chung sports big hair and come-to-bed eyes as she poses in a red dress by Lavin for a Sixties-inspired shoot for Harper's Bazaar

In a very glamorous shoot for Harper's Bazaar magazine, the MTV star looks every inch the Swinging Sixties princess in bright block colours and outfits inspired from the era.

Shot in and around David Hockney's Notting Hill flat, Alexa was snapped in a number of retro outfits by Chloe, Burberry, Prada and Stella McCartney.

A beauty in blue: Alexa poses in a blue Burberry dress on the steps of a London flat

And in an interview to accompany the shoot, she confessed to being in love with all things to do with the Sixties and has even dedicated a wall in her London flat as a shrine to her muses including Astrid Kirchherr, Marianne Faithfull, Jane Birkin and Jean Shrimpton.

But Alexa also admitted that her love for the era almost came to an end after she feared she was being defined by her clothes.

She said: 'I fell out of love with the Sixties for a while. I think because I was so identified with it. It’s like Sienna Miller when she did boho, then suddenly stopped because she was like, "F***. What else can I do, because I’ve done it?"

Lazy days: Alexa relaxes on a bright yellow chair in a Sixties-decorated flat in a red Prada coat

'Everyone copied my sodding coat for a while too. It was my Harrods kid’s vintage one. Every girl suddenly had one and I was like, "Arrgh!" I got really bored of smock dresses and loafers for a while. But I feel like I’m ready to fall in love all over again.'
Her penchant for Sixties fashion began in her teens when photographer David Titlow, her boyfriend at the time, showed her Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blow-Up.

Say cheese! Alexa turns the tables as she steps behind the camera in a pretty Stella McCartney dress

Cover girl: The shoot and interview with Alexa is in the October issue of Harper's Bazaar

I’ve invented this tartan mac, it’s like something the Shrimp would have worn. It’s got a round collar and a tie on it, so you can wear it like a cape without your hands in your sleeves.

Birkin has proved to be a big inspiration for her, especially in the Christopher Kane silver transparent dress that she wore to this year's Met gala in New York.

She said: 'It was very Birkin. My pants were showing, and I wanted to kill myself before I left the hotel, but Christopher said it was sexy.'

Alexa recently designed her second clothing range for Madewell, which she said was very Sixties-inspired.

She said: 'I’ve invented this tartan mac, it’s like something the Shrimp would have worn. It’s got a round collar and a tie on it, so you can wear it like a cape without your hands in your sleeves.

Alexa dated Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner for four years before they split in July this year and said it was the 'groupie' vibe that also made her fall in love with the high-profile women of the Sixties.

She said: 'They had these amazing love affairs, and both the men and the women were made amazing by them.

'The girls in the Sixties were never overshadowed by the men they dated. You can talk about Jane Shrimpton without having to mention Bailey or Terence Stamp first.'