Fashion

Last night I thought about writing about my relationship with clothes, and the David Bowie song came to mind.
This morning the fantastic BBC radio series,The History of the World in 100 Objects began with the same word.
The object was a piece of Peruvian embroidery, part of a mummy wrap (dead bodies, not live mothers), and various contributors discussed the role of clothing and textiles in ritual, society and archaeology.
I was trying to draw some threads together, having written about fashion and the Cuban Missile crisis yesterday. Coincidentally, the man credited with advising Kennedy through that crisis came from the village of Over Haddon and was the uncle of my unpleasant ex. I occasionally do talks about his life and career, and sometimes take a guided walk round the village called 'Celebrities, Spies and Heroes' - more of that another time.
I love clothes - they are my weakness - I don't drink, smoke or spend money on drugs, but I love fashion. I had very little disposable income as a teenager (not a lot different now), and the hippy fashion for second hand and ethnic clothes suited me. Long before 'vintage' was acceptable and mainstream, my friends and I were buying from charity shops and jumble sales. I used to work for some friends who had second hand clothes shops in Manchester, and learnt a huge amount about fashion and textiles from them. I don't buy on e bay, but I look out for the occasional find in my local charity shops and dress agency. It's still amazing what you can get. I do buy new clothes too, often in sales, and there are some labels and looks I particularly love.
My first ever second hand dress cost 75p from a charity shop in Eccles, and was bought for me by my friend Gina Broughton.I was 18 and it was early 1972.
I wouldn't wear it out as it has started to fray, but I can still get into it for a photo. My latest buy is a lovely mock brocade late 1950s coat with three quarter sleeves,very fitted, with big buttons and no collar. I took a risk and washed it - successfully! It was £10 from a local charity shop.
Last year I read a book called The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant which really helped me to understand the role of clothes and fashion in my own life, and the way that both are so tied up with image and self esteem. How you choose to dress can be a creative statement. Some people I know are chameleons, changing their look daily or weekly, refusing to accept limitations of age and conventionality in their appearance - and I'm not talking about inappropriate fashion here.