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Head For Threads - December 2008

Tartan trend?

December 22nd 2008 06:09
tartan


I have a healthy respect for The Telegraph's fashion editor Hilary Alexander, but proclaiming that tartan is traditional, even trendy, and that it is perfect for Christmas is one of the most horrifying remarks I have ever heard.

Ignoring the obvious fact that Alexander is from the northern hemisphere and thus her comments are not necessarily applicable Down Under - where wearing tartan in the occasionally baking heat of Christmas would be something akin to torture - what is she thinking? Surely tartan is not appropriate at anytime, unless you are taking part in some sort of highland activity, or you happen to actually be Scottish?


I can concede that perhaps, in my Christmas-intoxicated state I am being narrow-minded, and only imagining tartans in green and red which, when they are described as trendy, cause me feel somewhat ill (although, this may have something to do with being forced to wear green and red tartan as a child, both as part of a dressy winter outfit, and as part of my primary school uniform). But I am painfully aware that tartans come in many styles and colours, and I'm not particularly enamoured with any of them (although, this may have something to do with being forced to wear a grey and navy tartan kilt as part of my secondary school uniform).

Alexander is fully aware that there are distinct problems with the plaid print - in her column she writes: "Tartan, however, does need to be treated with a certain amount of care." She advises a balanced mixture of plaid and plain, with the plain picking up the tones of the plaid. Surely it is safer to avoid any potentially traumatic experiences (and the likelihood of probable humiliation) and just avoid tartan altogether?


Doesn't anyone else think the man above (in a recent Vivian Westwood design) looks absurd?
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Bagging a bargain

December 16th 2008 00:25

Why pay full price for your clothes and accessories, and end up wearing the same things as everybody else, when there are cheap, barely-used – and sometimes unused – items available, many of them one-off obscure or retro pieces, some of them collectors items?

An opp-shopping trip this morning with my sister turned over a few gems, one of them being a retro pearlescent clutch bag with a gold chain, for the grand price of $6.

And I bought this little red handbag for just $7..

red bag



It always amazes me what people are willing to get rid of, particularly in Melbourne’s inner suburbs. In a Brunswick op-shop two years ago I managed to buy a leather Fiorelli handbag and a black crocodile skin-like JAG bag for $15 total – see the JAG one below. Not a mark or scratch on it, just a couple of loose threads which were easily snipped off.

bag



Right now I can’t remember why I ever bother to go retail shopping at all....

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