Tag Archives: token awkward outfit post

COS and the Arrow Collar Man

4 Nov

Statement collar separates are fast becoming a thing this season and provide the perfect way to temporarily tart up old tops and dresses. They’re absolutely everywhere at the moment – check out Alex’s round-up here – but the one I’ve been wearing most is this COS scallop edge ‘mock shirt’.

As well as the always-pleasing scallops, I was weirdly excited by the elastic straps on either side of the bib, which keep your collar in place and bring to mind – at least for me – the detachable collars worn by gents in the late 19th and early 20th century, secured in place by a couple of studs.

Seeing as how most books I read these days are set in the 20s and 30s, I’m no stranger to a detachable collar and they always seem to be causing little old Bertie Wooster and his pals problems, viz;

He toyed for a moment with the ginger-beer wire which held his pince-nez in place, and endeavoured without success to button his collar at the back. In moments of emotion Ukridge’s collar always took on a sort of temperamental jumpiness which no stud could restrain.

Indeed!

The top pic is a famous advert featuring the Arrow Collar Man – the face of detachable collars in the 1920s, TBH. The illustration is by J C Leyendecker and you can read more about him and his work with Arrow here. Bonus fact: story features tales of “a live-in companion”.

The Topshop skeleton onesie in all its glory

20 Oct


Can’t stop singing ‘posing in my onesie’ to the tune of Rollin With My Homies.

Or doing the double thumbs up, evidently.

Everybody’s trying to please me

12 Feb

I’ve had this t-shirt for just over ten years and have probably worn at least once a week ever since. It has reached the optimum level of softness that vintage t-shit fiends pay over the odds for on eBay – you could comfortably swaddle a baby in its soft jersey innards. Worn with my leopard print River Island skirt and this big red granddad cardigan I have somewhere, it’s the kind of no-brainer outfit I turn to on mornings when I am too tired and/or hungover to function.

Seeing as how it’s one of the rare occasions when I take a photographic in natural light (what a treat), I thought I’d take a picture of my hair, for propserity. It’s been about four weeks since I had it coloured, and my technique of not washing it for the first three-and-a-half of those seems to have worked in terms of reducing fade. Now if only I could find a way to stop roots growing, I’d be on to something.

Oh and finally, I have also had this mug for about ten years – perhaps even longer, as I don’t think I was in sixth form when I bought it. It comes from a £1 shop in Cleethorpes; clearly from an early age I had a burning passion for utter tat. The best thing about this mug is the combination of Comic Sans and Microsoft Office 98 Clipart. I can’t believe this is a real thing that was ever manufactured, but there you have it. This mug has seen me through school, college, university, moves across the country, and will hopefully become an appreciated heirloom in much the same way as I treasure my mum’s 70s Kiln Craft.

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