What I Actually Wore #0077

Serial #: 0077
Date: 31/07/2012
Weather: 15°
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

It was a blustery day with weak sunshine. This outfit seemed just the right weight for the temperature, and I wore it when I was interviewed by a journalist from a local newspaper last year.

The outfit is reminiscent of the 40s, although I can’t date the vintage items precisely. Very likely the hat is 70s-does-40s, and the knit could be from any time in the past decade or three. That particular cut of sleeve with the puff on the shoulder and sleeve tight to the wrist is called a ‘Juliet’ – after Shakespeare’s Juliet that is. It was a very popular style in the late 60s, influenced by Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet. (Incidentally, it was the first movie that made me cry, when I was about eight. I watched it on our black and white tv late at night – undoubtedly long after I should have been in bed.)

My red suede platform heels are amongst my favourite shoes, and certainly have a 1940s look. My trousers though are a little big and must be belted else they fall down – but I love them too much to get rid of them! They are so wide-legged they flap in the wind, and I have almost been squashed by a car because of them, after almost tripping over the yards of fabric while jay-running across a busy road. Tsk tsk! Suffering for fashion …

Items:

Top: vintage
Pants: i67
Belt: vintage
Hat: Otto Lucas Junior, vintage
Earrings: Baku
Rings: (onyx) souvenir, (silver) Roun
Watch: Kenneth Cole
Shoes: Wittner

From Alice to Zebra

I have two books on style to review: A to Z of Style, compiled by Amy de la Haye and illustrated by Emma Farrarons (V&A Publishing, 2011) and What on Earth Are You Wearing – A Michipedia of Fashion, authored by Chloe Quigley and Daniel Pollock and illustrated by Kat Macleod (Penguin Viking, 2010). Both were published quite a while ago now, but I have recently reread them and was interested to note the vast difference between them.

Both of these books are illustrated and both are organised in alphabetical order; both of them carefully consider the importance of design and layout. They are both eminently easy to read, with bite-sized, easily digested chunks of text. Both of these books are clothbound, which is far more tactile and lovelier to hold and read than an average text, and each of them have convenient red satin placeholder ribbons.  

One of these books is practical and informative and amuses at the same time. A font of logically categorised information is at one’s fingertips, with plenty of unexpected and thought-provoking entries and inspiration on every single page.

The other, while beautiful to look at and filled with gorgeous illustrations, is both exasperating in its haphazard organisation, enormous gaps and misinformation, and humour that is both unsophisticated and gratuitous apart from a few witty entries. This is a book only for those who already possess a wide base of fashion knowledge and who seek a momentary diversion when they have a few minutes to spare. This is not a book that will be of any use to a teenager needing some pointers in personal style, although it is more likely to appeal from a purely visual standpoint.

However I am not at all surprised by the silliness of the text, having years ago unsubscribed from the e-newsletter Michi Girl, on which this book is founded. The co-authors’ first book Like a Give a Frock is of far better quality in respect of the writing (the illustrations, also by Macleod are as superlative).

The editor of the first book, Amy de la Haye, is a Professor of Dress History and Curatorship so it is no wonder that her book is erudite and must gain respect as an authority on the subject matter. In the introduction she states:

‘The quotations and definitions cited and fully referenced within this ‘quotationary’ are drawn from non-fiction sources; mostly auto-biographies by fashion designers and texts authored by their clients, fashion commentators and authorities on correct etiqette. The statements date from post 1850, the period which laid the foundations of today’s global fashion industry, and they define fashion as it relates to women.’

I would recommend to anyone interested in fashion and its history, in style and etiquette, to purchase A to Z of Style – you will have not a single moment’s regret. What on Earth Are You Wearing is best for diehard readers of fashion style books (of which I am one), illustrators, or lovers of fashion illustration. 

Please scroll down and click on images for larger versions and easy reading.

AN A TO Z OF STYLE

 

WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU WEARING?

 

Cast Aside

Another pair of shoes I had to be firm about tossing recently was this cute little pair of Oriental-inspired wedges by old label Unique. This was a great little shoe store – you could always count on them to find something unusual.

These wedges – bought long before any other shoe store stocked them – always made me think of glossy Chinese black and red lacquerwork. The two straps feature little bows reminiscent of Chinese knots, but look what tragedy befell them: the soles completely detached!

Of course, I could have had them repaired, but the leather heels were very scuffed and scratched with wear too, and in order to make way for new shoes one must be utterly ruthless. There is no room in my shoe cupboard for sentiment. 

Dress Like an Egyptian

Nothing says summer like cool blue and white stripes. Linen knit from flax, by Zara.When I was a teenager I remember being warned against linen fabric: “It’ll crease terribly,” doomsayers were fond of declaring. Linen suffered from a bad reputation in the fashion world, but it had a renaissance in the 1990s, when about 70% of linen production contributed to textile apparel. This was a huge leap from the 1970s when only 5% was used by the garment industry.

Jaw-dropping: a field of growing flaxFlax flowerLinen, a fibre made from the flax plant, has been used for millennia. The ancient Egyptians wrapped their mummies with it; in the days of Homer warriors used linen to make a type of body armour called a ‘linothorax’, while in the Middle Ages it was used for shields, bowstrings and gambeson (a type of jacket worn as armour). From pool cues and bread couches (a kind of mould to hold dough), to canvases and dollar bills, linen has many and varied uses.

Garments made from linen are expensive however, and this is due to the labour-intensive manufacturing process. The crops must be nursed along, being more difficult to grow, and more expensive to produce than cotton. Flax thread is difficult to weave without breaking threads because it is non-elastic. Those random slubs, or knots visible in some fabrics are actually flaws, associated with low quality – fine linen fibres will be very consistent. The rewards of perseverance are there: fabric is cool and smooth to the touch, lint-free and unlikely to pill, and it softens the more often it is washed.

Flax fibre looks at first glance like sheep’s woolAs for the dreaded wrinkling: this is due to linen’s poor elasticity – it does not spring back readily and formal garments must be ironed often. Happily it is a hardy fabric, and is the only one that is actually stronger when it is wet, although constant creasing or folding in the same places will weaken those threads. Interestingly linen fabric can absorb and lose water rapidly, and can gain up to 20% moisture without feeling damp, which is why it is perfect for hot weather. It was the Egyptians’ favourite fabric, and they wore only white in the desert heat.

Linen weave is a plain, almost coarse weave with large holesAlthough I overcame that early fear instilled by some nameless adult, today I particularly love linen knit fabrics: the somewhat loose (almost holey) weave makes up such light, airy garments. I own two tees by Zara made from flax linen (the term ‘linen’ can also be applied to garments made from other fibres such as cotton or hemp when the textile features a linen-style weave) and they have held up beautifully over two summers and are so comfortable to wear. In a hot climate, you just can’t do better than to dress like an Egyptian.

Click on any of the images and jump through to learn much more about the history of flax and the manufacturing processes of linen.

Botanical drawing of the flax plant

If the Cap Fits …

Celebrating the Roaring Twenties in a Special Series

The Vintage Hat Series: 1920s red velvet pixie cloche by S. J. Maughan of Convent GardenAnother hat in my collection is this red velvet pixie cloche, an original chapeau from the 1920s.

I purchased it on eBay, from a UK seller. They had photographed it completely flat, so it was difficult to visualise how it would look on, and the measurements were suspect. However, they simply couldn’t be bothered answering my queries. (Note to any online sellers reading this: service is important.) Annoyed by their inability to reply to emails, I sadly decided not to bid. (That would punish them.)

However, months later I happened upon the hat again: it had been relisted. 1920s … cloche … red velvet, extremely low asking price … It all added up to one thing: I couldn’t say no. If I recall correctly, I believe I won the auction for a measly £7 or so.

When the hat finally arrived, I fortunately found it did fit me even though the original supplied measurements indicated it was an inch too small. It took some time for me to work out the correct way to wear it though. Because this looks ridiculous:

Looking sillyI look like one of those red-hatted garden gnomes (how apt that the cap was designed by a milliner based in Convent Garden), and I strongly suspect this is the reason why the seller ignored my polite request to see the hat on a model. Worn this way, however, looks very very cute, don’t you think? There is a positive WORLD of difference between a pixie and a gnome! 

Looking demure