Old school cool or how the A list and I can't resist vintage dresses

Stood by the Baftas' red carpet last month, the name that kept coming up was 'William Vintage'. Strictly's Claudia Winkleman was in 1968 Ossie Clark slashed to the waist. TV presenter Dawn Porter wore 1958 Dior.Brideshead's Hayley Atwell? A 1965 Lillie Diamond shift. And American star Gillian Anderson, William's most devoted customer, was my best dressed in 1956 Sybil Connolly pale lemon chiffon.
The William in question is William Banks-Blaney, who dressed a staggering 30 women over the awards season from his small Marylebone boutique. Why is he beating Versace, Oscar de la Renta, heck, even Giorgio Armani, as the destination for the perfect, one-off gown?
'It's because these dresses are simply more beautiful,' says William. 'It's not even because they are vintage. They are made better, the cut and stitching, the beading and detail are exquisite, all done by hand.'
When we meet, William is tall and dashing, surrounded by clothes grouped by colour, with several pieces worthy of the V&A — an original black satin Dior New Look dress and lots of Mainbocher, Wallis Simpson's favourite.He has a historian's take on fashion, and there is a story behind every garment. A 1965 black dress (￡365) has a label that reads: 'Oscar de la Renta for Jane Derby.' Oscar was a hired hand for Derby at the time, but because he did most of the work, he insisted on his name on the label.The dress code of weddings.Two years later, he bought the company.
Now 38, William's eye for fashion design was first spotted by his jet-set female friends. He was so good at knowing what worked on them that they started asking him to help dress them.He began, he says, by 'going to every car-boot sale and charity shop I could find. I searched flea markets in Paris and St Tropez, all the little shops on the West Side in New York.'Now, the creative directors of big name luxury labels come to his boutique for inspiration, because, as we know, there are no new ideas.
Remember Marc Jacobs's white daisy dress? Been there, done that, by Madame Gres, half a century ago. The new peplum skirt? Seen in a black spangled Dior couture two-piece from 1962, on sale in William's shop for a touch under ￡4,000. Colour blocking? It's here, too, in a 1965 ivory and electric blue gown by Lilli Diamond.Some vintage fits are more forgiving than you might expect. While I find many of the dresses have tiny waists and super narrow arms, the Sixties shifts and Seventies fluid gowns are more roomy — many of the dresses are in a size 14, 16 and above.