A lady never wears fake jewels, coloured underwear, diamonds before breakfast
Amazing images, ludicrous etiquette I’m happy to be breaking on a regular basis, clothes I want desperately. Ahhhh……it has to be more from Vogue, June 1971.
It is in bad taste to dress extravagantly or showily with people who are all plainly dressed.
…a time travelling post box yet? At one time, the otherwise-evil-Topshop were doing some brilliant loons which I’m probably on the verge of wearing out because of the poor quality of modern denim. I knew I should have bought four of each style. Now there’s hardly anything approaching a decent flare and we seem to be back to bloody low-rise ubiquity again. Sigh. I want to order from these 1972 adverts. I want the flares AND the tops. Why was I born too late? Why?
I’ve struggled a bit with buying originals over the internet, because they never seem to accommodate my rear (of which I’m quite proud, but it’s annoyingly disproportionate to my hips/waist/legs) and I can’t send them back with a note saying ‘I don’t have a Seventies-sized arse, apparently’. I’m also [awkwardly] a pint-sized person, but not ‘petite’ in the leg length department. Which leaves me either trailing or swinging.
What I need is a huge selection of originals or decent repros to choose from, in decent quality denim which doesn’t stretch out and bag. Sigh. Is it too much to ask?? Any recommendations from my dear readers, bearing in mind I refuse to fork out ridiculous designer-denim prices….? Any high street shops you’ve noticed? I thought wide legs and monster flares were meant to be ‘back’… if so, where the hell are they?
Apparently I am. I keep wandering off and buying frivolous knickers on my breaks. Well, two days running anyway….someone seriously needs to distract me tomorrow, otherwise all the good I’ve been doing saving money lately will have been for nothing.
I’m pretty stridently anti- matchy-matchy underwear. I have a few matching sets, mainly for lounging purposes – as with the adorable lady from Nova magazine (above), but there’s something a smidge Stepford Wife about only EVER wearing matching underwear (no offence to anyone who does…although I suspect that if you’re that way inclined, you’ll only take offence at the notion that someone could actually dare to wear non-matching smalls!). I don’t like to be told what to wear, in any circumstance, and matching sets are inherently bossy and dictatorial. “Wear me together or risk being run over by a bus and THEN you’ll be sorry you didn’t match up. Ha!”. Frankly, I’ll have more things to be worrying about than the quality or symmetry of my underwear.
Besides, knickers can often be more frivolously decorated than bras (unless you wear very tight-fitting trousers, and I happen to think VPL is rather cute – so there!) and can make more of a statement. That and the fact that bras are such a bugger to get right. So why deprive yourself of gorgeous pants, if you don’t have the bra?
No, a cheap and frill-ing way to cheer yourself up is in the pants-department. And remember, the bigger the pants – the more room for more frills and bows and suchlike…. Down with thongs! Errr. You know what I mean….
(the otherwise still-a-bit-evil Topshop seem to be hitting the spot with knickerbocker glories at the moment…Curses!)
With thanks to the gorgeous M for the title inspiration.
Wearing what I’m assuming is Irene (from He Stayed For Breakfast, 1940) but what I know is one of the most exquisite dresses I’ve ever clapped eyes on….
I didn’t know who Efva Attling was until I noticed I’d saved this image on my computer at some point and promptly googled her. I think I was entranced by the whole look of it, and I still am. Her boots are amazing, as is the rest of the outfit, and I wholly approve of the arm candy – whoever he may be. A sharply dressed man with big hair and facial fuzz…mmmm!
I also love the fact that her first name looks improbable. Efva….I love it!
Thanks Patti Quatro.
Kisses…. Miss Peelpants xx
Please excuse me while I mop up a large pool of drool which has mysteriously appeared on my keyboard….
Several years ago, when I was in the first throws of my New Romantic love affair, a friend told me about something she’d seen on ITV a few years prior, called Hunting Venus. It starred Martin Clunes as the floppy-shirted bassist and Neil Morrissey as the flamboyant lead singer of a New-Rom group called The Venus Hunters, who are kidnapped and blackmailed into reforming the group. Danny Webb appears to be doing a mighty fine impression of Andy Taylor, I’m not quite sure which drummer Ben Miller was inspired by but I’m fairly certain Mark Williams is only channeling Nick Rhodes sartorially. Either that or he’s seen some interview I missed out on….
She loved it so much that she bought the soundtrack and recently gifted it to me in a clear-out. By now I’ve got most of the tracks on there anyway, but it’s still a nice thing to have. I never did see it at the time, and I still can’t find any evidence of it having been released on DVD. I desperately want to see it now, of course, especially after finding it on YouTube. In poor quality and with the soundtrack disabled for several parts, I’m not sure I want that to be the first time I get to see it.
Anyway, because the title track (Starburst; co-written by Jools Holland no less) has been stuck in my head ALL day and making me laugh like a drain every time (yes, I have a childish sense of humour) I thought I would inflict share a clip with you. Watch out for Simon Le Bon, Tony Hadley AND Gary Numan making cameo appearances. Why has this not been released? Why??
One of these days I’m going to go and do a millinery course, just so that I can stop moaning about my beeg heed and live the life I want to live: running around in all manner of gorgeous hats rather than the measly handful I have now. I want a teeny tiny Vartan head. And all her hats. She really did rather rock the hat-thing back in the day….
Liz Eggleston 