A FORMER Little Bedwyn designer and friend to the stars has written her memoirs.

Wendy Maingot, 81, was also a model in the swinging 60s, and appeared in adverts for the original Mini and Triumph Herald.

So she decided to splurge out on a racey new Fiat 500 to drive round and promote her book.

“I wasn’t very clever at school - my only achievement was winning several cups for gymnastics, swimming and netball,” said Wendy, who now lives in Cirencester.

But things took off after she got sacked from a film company three days after starting the job, aged 16. She was introduced to Lucy Clayton’s modelling school, where she learnt to swirl around a catwalk. Within a few weeks she was discovered and her career as a mannequin took off.

She travelled the world, wined and dined in Paris with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and soon became one of the most sought after mannequins in Europe.

By the time she was 22 she ‘hung up her eyelashes’ and went into designing clothes.

“I opened one of the first boutiques in London,” she said. “I was on Kensington High Street. We didn’t like those people down on the Kings Road much!” she joked.

She designed collections for the likes of Sandy Shaw, Julie Christie and Bianca Jagger.

She danced on the tables at the AD LIB club with John Lennon and Vidal Sassoon. Then she opened a beauty salon called Secrets,

“Lots of famous people came, including Vera Lynn” said Wendy. “And they had all sorts of work done - but that part remains secret!”

The next adventure came when she decided to become an interior designer. She styled homes for the stars and Tom Cruise was one of her clients. “I sat on Tom Cruise’s bed - not in it though I’m pleased to say!”

“No Darling It’s Called... BAD ORGANISATION” is the name of her new book, available on Amazon and on www.shoestringbooks.co.uk/