Green as Leaves

While we’re on the subject of mohair, last summer I came across this photo of me wearing a favourite jumper, taken 12 years ago by my then-boyfriend at a café in a little laneway in Melbourne.

How I loved that jumper! I still do, although I have not often worn it for a while as our winters have not been quite cold enough in the past few years. It is by the Sydney label Katherine, and was quite a splurge for me back then. The knit is a wool blend, 50% being mohair, so I call it a ‘super-jumper’. You can distinctly see the ‘halo’ (or fluffiness) created by the mohair content in the knit. The only drawback is that the turtleneck does make it extra-hot and a bit itchy around the neck too. This winter has started out so cold already I expect I will happily wear this jumper this year. It's a classic style that will last forever.

Detail, the colour matched to reality as close as possibleI am not quite sure what to call that lovely shade of green however. A cross between moss and Kelly? Or the colour of the leaves of wintergreen (aptly), although I’m sure many leaves are this indefinable shade of green? Wikipedia offers up a colour called – at first glance, unfortunately – ‘Hooker’s green’.

Wikipedia offers up a colour called – at first glance, unfortunately – ‘Hooker’s green’.

One of Hooker’s botanical drawings

Inquiry lead me to Byrne Smith, writer of the blog ‘The Painting Life’ who had already done my detective work for me. Back in 1850–55, Hooker’s green was named after the English botanical painter William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), who compounded a pigment especially to illustrate leaves in his paintings, and the colour was thereafter produced commercially and sold as such by manufacturers.

I do find the etymology of colour names absolutely fascinating!

The photo was taken in August 2004, on the most rubbish digital camera, which is why I’ve vintagified (I just made up that word) it in an effort to improve its appearance. As for the pensive look – I think my boyfriend was taking a tiresomely long time to compose the photo!

Big Guns for Cold Snaps

White is right for any time of year, from little white linen dresses for summer to fluffy winter woollies like this beautiful wrap style vanilla-coloured sweater.

I was so excited to buy this sweater by The Limited on eBay a few months ago (anticipating just this kind of cold snap we’re enjoying in Melbourne currently), and I couldn’t wait to wear it. Made from 50% angora and 50% lambswool, it’s deliciously soft and fluffy and warm.

I remembered there was a reason why sweaters are called … ugh, sweaters.

However, I rather jumped the gun and wore it to work a couple of weeks ago … and I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion! I remembered there was a reason why sweaters are called … ugh, sweaters. (Australians call them jumpers, but this glorious item is definitely a sweater.)

Angora fibre comes from the downy coat of the Angora rabbit, as opposed to mohair, the fibre from the Angora goat. The fur is collected by plucking or shearing the moulting fur; in most breeds, moulting occurs every four months with the natural growth cycle.

The Angora rabbit

What makes angora special?

Angora is much warmer and lighter than wool because of the hollow core of the fibre – this is what gives angora its typical floaty feel. The other distinctive characteristic of angora is its ‘halo’ – or fluffiness – and its silky texture.

Angora is usually used as a blend of around 30–50% with wool, as any higher percentage is excessively warm. (100% angora is usually only used on trims.) Blending also aids in increasing the elasticity of the yarn, as angora is not naturally elastic.

Angora is much warmer and lighter than wool because of the hollow core of the fibre …

Obviously increased warmth equals humidity and perspiration, and one of the unfortunate side effects of this is that the fibre, in combination with abrasion, can felt easily. It can even do so on the rabbit if it is not groomed regularly!

How is mohair different?

Mohair is quite a different kettle of fish, more akin to sheep’s wool (though due to its composition it does not felt like wool or angora) with a high lustre and sheen, and is considered a luxury fibre. While this durable and flame resistant fibre does possess insulating and moisture wicking properties, amusing as it is, I won’t be donning this ‘super soft, light, warm underwear’* any time soon, cold snap or no cold snap!

Sexy wooly chunky knit mohair hoody catsuit

* If you’re unafraid of melting like I am, you can order your custom-made sexy wooly chunky knit mohair hoody catsuit here.

Photo: April 2016

Shoo, Autumn!

The last official day of autumn has arrived and ended almost before I noticed! Melbourne has treated us to a sudden cold snap so it really felt as though winter had already begun a few days ago.

So on this last day of May I also bid adieu to these orange patent leather pumps by Aldo. I bought them years ago on eBay, secondhand, attracted to their juicy shininess, and the punctured pattern, which is also why I love a pair of brogues.

Sadly, many years of wear have reduced these peeptoes to tatters: the toes and soles have torn away beyond repair, and we must regretfully now part ways just as we bid farewell to autumn.

Adieu Aldos! Au revoir autumn!

Sheer Amusement

Once upon a time it was considered totally apropos to wear sheer pantyhose with sandals. Here is the evidence: vintage 80s Holeproof Sheer Tops with sheer toes. Clearly, however, the original owner of this pair spotted in a thrift store thought better of donning them.

I have kicked about this sartorial dilemma previously: what kind of foot covering ought to be worn with open-toed shoes? Obvious socks and hosiery seem to work better because they become part and parcel of an entire look, whereas sheer hosiery pretending to be naked skin just looks wrong, with or without the seam in the toe. With so many other options (other types of tights, or, at a pinch, a closed shoe) its unseemly not to toe the line.

In the Buff

Whose Nude?

Language, in these politically correct times, is fraught with danger when it comes to describing a certain shade of pale peachy pink. In 2010 there was an Internet furore over a reference to Michelle Obama’s dress as ‘nude’. The Associated Press referred to her dress as flesh coloured, and one news editor immediately (and fairly) retorted, ‘Whose flesh?’

This was and still is a common, though patently erroneous, description. There are a myriad shades of skin colour so that one person’s nude is certainly not another’s.

There are a myriad shades of skin colour so that one person’s nude is certainly not another’s.

Let us henceforth strike out ‘nude’ from the fashion lexicon (and so too the unappealing ‘flesh’, which was long a popular colour name with artist’s paint manufacturers).

Rawhide

There are quite a few possible replacement appellations: beige, champagne, pale peach, ballerina pink, blush pink … but my particular favourite is ‘buff’. I first read this descriptor about 20 years ago, on a bottle of Revlon nail polish named ‘Ballet Buff’. It was just the colour of common ballerina slippers. I love this colour and have since owned about six different shades with varying degrees between pinkness and beigeness. I also love it in clothing and accessories, particularly as a natural, undyed leather.

But, you may ask, does not ‘buff’ bear the same potentially racist connotations of ‘nude’?

I am pleased to inform you: No!

‘Buff’ was first used in 1686 to describe the colour of the lining of the red coat of English soldiers’ uniforms. This was the shade of undyed buffalo leather. Eureka! Buff has nothing to do with the colour of human skin, but cowhide! Wikipedia additionally quotes a solider from 1642: ‘he would neither put on armour or buff coat the day of battle’.

(Clockwise from top left) Belt by Erika Sorensen USA (2013); American Apparel tote (2013); from Fenton & Fenton, natural leather and teak chair (fentonandfenton.com.au); Moroccan natural leather square pouf (muima.bigcartel.com) There is uncertainty over which bovine ‘buffalo’ referred to in the seventeenth century, and it may have been any of the animals called buffalo today. Some sources describe this shade as pale yellowish-brown, but there are variations which are much pinker (very similar to a typical ballerina’s slipper). Pigskin is certainly much pinker than this – when I was at art school I owned a natural leather satchel made from pigskin that was a pinkish-brown.

Toiletry case by Noah Marion (noahmarion.com); slim billfold by Stronger Than All (strongerthanall.co.uk)

Naked Dress

Obviously, these particular shades of buff that I am wearing in these pictures are nude on me. Fortunately this laser-cut leather top is cut on the boxy side so that I hope I don’t actually look naked from a distance – I would never wear pants this colour! Once I did a double-take in the street when I saw a Caucasian woman walking along wearing tight buff trousers: she really did look naked. And let’s not forget that seminal moment in popular culture: Carrie Bradshaw in her ‘naked dress’ on the side of a bus.

Sex and the City's take on the naked dress: Carrie Bradshaw's dress is barely there

I am not a fan of the visible bra look that SJP made famous – it’s simply inelegant. I wear a lot of white and light-coloured tops, and in this case a bra the same colour as one’s skin is necessary, for a white bra under a white top becomes highly visible.

A while back I was looking for a strapless bra in my skin tone, and I searched high and low for one that was comfortable, practical and pretty (I eventually found one with 40s styling by Dita von Teese). However, I did note that pretty much all so-called ‘nude’ bras were a mid-brown, much too dark for me, and undoubtedly too light for others. Was this underwear manufacturers’ answer to our multi-ethnic society’s needs? A ‘one fits all’ mid-brown? It is a pretty poor effort, and very aggravating. At the very least they could produce three shades of brown on a sliding scale.

Fashion Notes

I am wearing a Raoul leather top bought on Ozsale; vintage 40s French gloves (never worn) purchased on Etsy; a wooden bead bangle by the label Elk, found and pounced upon at a Salvos op shop; and a pair of spiky studded leather heels by Wittner that I scored from the warehouse store for $10. These are always admired when I wear them; they are so fierce, but also injurious to my ankles if I cross my feet unwarily! The navy pants are by Esprit.

Photos: April 2016