There has never been a point in my life when I’ve been “fashion-conscious” although I have always had a strong sense of style. In my younger days, I’d make all of my own clothes, not because I wanted to sew, simply because I couldn’t buy things I liked in the shops. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I’m often repulsed by what I see in the shops. It seems to me that over the years, high-street fashion has been led by manufacturing processes so that it’s easy to mass-produce stuff.
You must see what I mean on this one – you rarely ever see things made with decent tailoring these days or from fabrics that don’t stretch, not just to cover the lumps and bumps of the human form, but simply because the manufacturers don’t need to be so precise in their cutting and machining if things have a bit of give in them. So, things with Lycra in them are everywhere, as are knitted fabrics, such as tee-shirt material (rather than woven) and bias-cut skirts and dresses, again designed so the fabrics give when stretched. I could even display more cynicism here when I say that the “fashion” for unfinished seams and uneven hem lengths is all part of the same thing. Make products so people don’t expect to see things finished well or with even hems then you don’t have to be so careful.
Then there is the fashion for particular things that precludes you from buying an alternative. Here I’m thinking of the “low rider” trousers/jeans – in my day (sad old git coming out again) they were called “hipsters” but in any event, a couple of years ago it was very difficult to buy trousers that sat on the waist. That’s great if you’re a size zero with an ironing-board flat stomach but as for the rest of us mere mortals – NO, NO, NO…. It’s the same with wedding dresses – it seems that it’s almost impossible to buy a wedding dress (not that I have any reason to care about such things) that isn’t strapless. Fine again if you’re of model proportions or if you're lucky enough to be really tall and get away with it, but how many of us are? Surely fashion shouldn’t be dictated. I wish a few more people would complain/vote with their feet/purses/whatever.
Anyway, this rant/ramble is really to say that I’d lost my way with my own personal sense of style while ill. If I’m honest (and again, I’m almost ashamed to admit this), I have spent most of my time in the last year in tracksuit pants and huge tee-shirts, sometimes, with the added allure of slippers or a fleece. If I’ve been really pushing out the boat, I might have put on a pair of real trousers and a linen top but that’s as far as I’ve gone.
When I last saw my lovely psychologist, Heather, last autumn, I mentioned to her that I’ve lost my way and said I’d like to get back to a point where if I’m walking towards someone in the street, that they can see “who I am” by looking at the way I’m dressed. At the moment, they’re more likely to think “tramp” (of the smelly kind) than “tramp” (of the vamp kind). So she set me a task to revitalise my sense of self in my clothing.
That’s not been easy with very limited funds but I have bought a few things and can now feel quite OK when I go out. Not only that, but I’ve discovered this fantastic vegetarian, non-animal-tested hair dye (see pic) that means I can cover that grey – yes, you know the stuff – see the Damart pic and have my hair a beautiful bruised purplish colour and that makes me feel like I’ve been able to make some kind of statement there too.
BTW – for anyone who commented on the Damart pic who didn’t know the brand, it’s a company that specialises in thermal underwear.
