Dedicated Follower of Fashion

For a long time now I've been wanting to write a blog about style. I was going to say fashion but there seems to be a world of difference between them these days.

I was fortunate insofar as I became style conscious at the same time as style/fashion really took off in the early '60s. Whilst the first few years were still me being clad in cardies and school uniform (albeit with suede shoes! - woohoo), I finally reached an age when my paper round money and the proceeds of several illicit deals (involving nicking the Corona bottles from the back of the local shop and taking them back round again for the 3ds) enabled me to invest in some decent clothes.

My dear brother (the one who couldn't be bothered to come to his Father's funeral Paul, if you're reading this, you are a selfish twat) gave me a cast-off suit when I was about 15. It was ice blue and I well remember trucking along the road wearing that, a wine satin shirt and white silk kipper tie. Obviously, at that time, there was very little fashion outside the big cities and I used to stroll up the road feeling sooooo cool. Thank God, National Security ordered all remaining photos destroyed.

At 16, I went up to the Foreign Office and my mother duly took me to Hepworths to have a suit made. We discussed trouser leg width among other things and then I asked the bloke if I could have the trousers flared? He willingly agreed but failed to adjust the leg width accordingly and took the width of the flair as the original trouser width. I realised this when I took delivery and stood there proudly in a double breasted pinstripe suit with trousers reminiscent of Max Wall. They were skin-tight!

In those days, jeans really were still work wear and my first pair took about 3 years until they were soft and faded. I recall my buddy Dave and I were some of the first in Brighton to get into military surplus and used to wander round all Summer in massive great Royal Navy Bridge coats.

I digress. Up until I retired, I spent much of my life in suits and went to the opposite extreme after. Teeshirts and jeans were the order of the day although I've come to enjoy wearing nice clothes again, and am currently into cashmere sweaters. My clothes tend to be samey these days: fitted jacket, jeans and tee shirt in the summer and long, black leather coat and hat during the winter. The Matrix look seems to be popular as I know of 2 other people who have adopted it to some degree and I like the fact that it identifies me.

Anyway, today we went to Eastbourne. Now, Eastbourne is hardly the sartorial centre of the Universe; it was quite busy as, at this time of the year, the Council go along the seafront checking to see how many oldies in their deck chairs survived the winter. There were lorry loads of cold, stiff bodies everywhere. What struck me though, was the total lack of style worn by the younger element.

Sure, their clothes were individual but there was no panache, no pazazz. Oh dear, I think I'm getting old.

Dyed black hair, little white skirts, dark tights and gold/silver shoes are hardly the height of sophistication and surely, that is what sets stylish clothes apart. The emo/Goth thing might be a fashion insofar as it's popular but fashion without style is just not a feasible concept.

Looking back at some of the fashions I wore is quite cringe-making but, at the time, they were valid and representative of an era. Perhaps the drab, rather common clothes of today churned out by the likes of Primark are also representative? I do hope not. Maybe the difference now is that so many shops provide clothing for young people that it's a bit like movies insofar as the product is there in its completeness and requires no further effort of imagination. You can walk into a shop and emerge looking "fashionable" whereas, once upon a time, those shops were few and far between and therefore one used one's own creativity rather than rely upon the ideas of a design team. Even Eastbourne has at least 2 shops catering specifically for the Goth look. It hardly encourages independence and ingenuity.

Brighton is different. It has 2 universities and several colleges. Sitting in North Laine, people watching, one sees a veritable cornucopia of individual styles. Students, confident in their own right, expressing themselves through their clothes and their character. It's quite reminiscent of Carnaby Street in the 60s: everybody different, unafraid of the Establishment and enjoying their independence.

I'm not sure what I'd wear now if I was young once more? I'd like to think I would be different, I'd like to think I might turn a few heads. The difference is now, few things are head-turning these days as there are no longer any rules. Perhaps, I'd like to be emulated which, going back to the current hat/coat situation, is happening so that's rather good.

The other difference these days. of course, is that style/fashion is not limited to the young generation whereas, in my youth, people of my age now were wearing their suits and cavalry twill trousers.

Are there any new fashions now or just recycled combinations of what has gone before? My own feeling, if that's true, is .... great! It puts the accent on style rather than fashion and I hope that the political dumbing down of everything these days serves only to fuel that individuality. Fashion is a dichotomy. People seem to adopt a common look in order to express their own identity. Doesn't add up somehow.

By all means, wear what you want but also adapt it, customise it and be true to your own personality.

Ooh, I'm starting to get cross now. It's like music; Of course there were the commercial bands like Hermans Hermits, Slade, Bucks Fizz and the like but there were also Bowie, Floyd, the Who. the Pistols and a hundred other innovators. What is there these day? Manufactured bands and singers, second rate entertainment which feeds an immediate need rather than lays down seeds for a future.

I wonder if, one day, my children hang onto these ramblings and can say Dad was wrong. If you can, kids, then put it down to old age. If I'm right...........I told you so!