John Lennon’s personally-owned and -worn handsome custom-tailored green wool jacket by Lord John of Carnaby Street, featuring a four-button front with three button-down flap pockets. The jacket measures as a size 38 (consistent with Lennon's suit size in 1964), and green was his favorite color. In fine condition, with some general wear (most notably to interior sleeves) demonstrating use. This was originally sold as lot 353 at Bonhams Chelsea, August 5, 1998, with a note that the consignor had worked at Madame Tussauds, London, in the 1960s and acquired this jacket after Lennon donated some of his clothing for the Beatles waxworks being produced for display; it was sold again by Bonhams in 2008, and is accompanied by the auction tag.
In March 1964, Madame Tussauds debuted their first set of Beatles wax figures, dressed in a set of specially commissioned collarless D. A. Millings-made suits. Lennon later provided some of his personal clothing to the famed wax museum for use in their future projects. This exact jacket adorned Lennon’s wax figure in the Beatles display that debuted at Tussauds in October 1968. This lot is accompanied by an original vintage 1968 glossy 9.25 x 7 press photo of the exhibit in which this jacket is seen. Further provenance is included in a copy of an email from Warren Gold, the founder of Lord John of Carnaby Street, in which he writes: “Lennon used to come in the shop fairly often…I remember John buying the green jacket (you showed me), after I made it to his liking in 1964. I considered him a friend in the 60’s, when things were going a million miles an hour. As you can imagine, if the Beatles dropped by it became crazy ’round the shop.” The Lord John shop, founded by brothers Warren and David Gold in 1964, was the cornerstone of London's famed Carnaby Street fashion scene. All the famous music stars shopped there. Their store specialized in the 'mod' look and championed the now-iconic far-out styles of the 1960s. Finding a Beatles-owned Lord John original available for sale is a virtually impossible task. Photo-matched to the 1968 Tussauds display and verified by Warren Gold, this piece boasts excellent provenance as a rare piece of Lennon's personal wardrobe.
