Ongoing fashion help and advice (or virtual 'does my bum look big in this-ness'?)

16:52 / 06.05.03

What do I take to Thailand?

I want to take minimal items of clothing - a bit of capsule wardrobing, but when I go away I *always* pack too much. I mean how many T-shirts do I need for 2 weeks? GOD.

grant

18:03 / 06.05.03

I bought three T shirts for five dollars in Indonesia one morning. And a sarong will cost somewhere between five and $15.

I imagine Thai prices will be much the same.

Business casual is a hideous mongrel, a monstrously diseased dog of a concept. Avoid at all costs.

20:10 / 06.05.03

Oh. So maybe I should just take knickers and a toothbrush then, and buy things there...

klint

23:02 / 11.05.03

I need to buy a new suit soon. The question is: four or three button? Men's Warehouse says four is more fashionable. Are they correct? If so, is it just a fad that will pass?

13:10 / 12.05.03

Four buttons tend to create a longer line to the jacket and personally I'd go for that. When buying a suit it's best to ignore fashion, try on lots and go for the most comfortable piece that sits well. My only question is are you tall? If you're tall you'll probably look better in a jacket with four buttons but if you're short you might look foolish. I come from a family of ridiculous height- my little brother is 6'5" so I'm biased about the button thing.

13:12 / 12.05.03

On and that reminds me- anyone seen any nice dresses in the shops? I need something that borders on sleek but isn't too fancy and I'd like it to be quite versatile... the kind of item you can dress up or down. I'm an LBD fanatic but I've never owned one. I don't really have much time to scour the stores so I thought I'd check to see if anyone else had noticed anything?

14:57 / 12.05.03

Olula: Knickers and toothbrush sounds perfect

klint

16:58 / 12.05.03

I'm nearly 6 feet, does that count as tall? Guess I'll try some suits on and see what happens.

Another question: what do ya'll think about skinny ties?

pomegranate

18:57 / 12.05.03

woo-hoo on skinny ties!
not too skinny, though...think more early 60's than 80's.

Kit-Cat Club

20:14 / 12.05.03

IMO four-button suits can either make you look quite sharp in a vaguely louche way, or just very cheap. Depends on the suit (and the material). A three-button one would probably be safer. Your best bet is surely to go and try a few on...

ONLY NICE THINGS

22:50 / 12.05.03

Skinny....ties.

Indeed. Best worn with a pink, neon yellow or black and white striped shirt, if I recall correctly.

16:53 / 13.05.03

*pft*
What kinda fashion gurus are you?
Kipper ties are an absolute must. Neon if possible.

Saveloy

09:41 / 14.05.03

Whether they're skinny or kipper, the truly stylish will be wearing them very very short this summer, in an Oliver Hardy stylee. The front piece should be no more than 3 inches long. The back piece should be tucked away via a gap in shirt buttons.

13:36 / 14.05.03

oohh dear- my old maths teacher did that. Looked funny enough by itself- never mind that the back bit was tucked down his shirt, and was sticking out his open fly.

15:12 / 13.08.03

So my lovelies in the bright shining light of this thread does anyone know a good vintage shop that sells late '50s dresses in the London area (preferably as central as possible, I refuse to go South of the River unless someone is there to receive me and help me through the foreign lands)?!

Kit-Cat Club

20:06 / 13.08.03

I think Portobello might be your best bet (unless Rellik still has a Camden branch?) but obviously you need to get there early. There's a second-hand shop on Goodge Street which might just be worth a look. Or Camden, though for some reason I the shops in the market are always smelly (and often overpriced - mind you all 'vintage' is overpriced. Speaking of vintage ludicrousness, there was a photo in ghastly fashion magazine this month of someone wearing 'vintage' Eley Kishimoto shoes. Eley Kishimoto have only been going ten years! For God's sake!)

15:12 / 18.08.03

IMHO the cheap and nastyness of a four-button suit *can* be its glory, if you can carry it off...wear with golf shoes. or flip flops.

Anna: have you tried (for dresses in general/50s) TRAID in Brixton or Notting Hill and the clothes exchanges in NH, esp for decent period stuff?

There's a great designer 2nd hand place in Euston, but can't for the life of me be more specific... (got a fab W< bra top for £2!!!) Try asking Haus...

Help meeeeeee.... I'm skint and have a bloody wedding at the end of Sep. Think i can be vaguely funky, but need to be smart....god i hate weddings

Kit-Cat Club

15:43 / 18.08.03

Anna -or actually there's Ebay - might be a bit riskier, but that's where Miss Spooky got her 50s dress from and she said it was only about six quid...

BiP - traditional wedding dress, surely - morning coat, pinstripes, etc. I bet you can get most of the stuff you need in Brighton's second-hand shops as well.

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:25 / 20.08.03

There's rather an interesting vintage shop on Upper Tatchbrook, just off Vauxhall Bridge Road, called Cornucopia, which might help out both Anna and BiP...

09:12 / 21.08.03

I think I've sorted it out- the art of borrowing! Now all I need is to learn the art of SHAG hairstyling. Today my lunchtime task will be goin' down the market for a '50s Alice band (hmm).

08:45 / 29.09.03

Is it wrong and sad to get involved with the 'eighties comeback' look if you remember it clearly from the first time around? And alternatively, is it wrong and sad to actively dislike it simply because you remember it clearly from the first time around?

09:49 / 29.09.03

No to both. Your policy should always be to buy clothes that you love regardless of cultural reference. You should ignore how many times you've seen fashion cycle round and just get on with it.

09:53 / 29.09.03

ooh, 'belle, that's a very crunchy question. will have serious thought. and return.

wedding update: wore tux/dress shirt/bow tie/boots/cufflinks, carried furry 20s handbag. many compliments, husb 'complaining' that i showed him up in the suit dept....

ra. got to do that 'bow tie loose round neck'/Rat Pack/raddled glamour thing...

13:06 / 29.09.03

BiP is my new heroine.

Lula, so long as you pick the good stuff, and forget about the complete tat, then yes.
Legwarmers: I've seen them all over the place in shops, yet have seen nobody wearing them. I cant decide if i like them or not. They're very Fame.

Ariadne

20:07 / 29.09.03

Get yourself down here, gingerbop - legwarmers are everywhere.

I have a double problem with the 80s stuff. Not only does it look naff and dated to me, but when I see girls in the full get up - the flicked hair, blue eyeshadow etc - I'm instantly transported back to school and I assume the 80s-dressed person to be nasty and horrible.

Issues, who, me?

20:54 / 29.09.03

Does anybody know the whereabouts of:
A green (not olive) eyeliner;
A winter coat thats not grey, black, cream, or bright red (I clash);
Somewhere with a big choice of patterned Docs?

Ariadne

21:06 / 29.09.03

I've got a green eyeliner here from Rimmel - though it's a bit old so I don't know if they still do it. It's called 031 Jungle Green and it's - well, it's not bright bright green but it's not olive. Not any kind of olive I'd eat, anyway.

For cool winter coats, look in Top Shop and H&M. They had some gorgeous coats when I was in at the weekend. Though, hmm, i suspect lots of them were black and white. Apparently Burberry's pink coat is very 'in' (look who reads the Sunday supplements) but a) it'll be horribly expensive and b) i imagine it'd clash even more than red.

Docs - Camden market! I'm sure you can find them online too. Or in schuh? I can't remember if Schuh sell docs.

10:45 / 30.09.03

Gingerbop, Tony and Tina do lovely bright eyeliners and in particular a green one. You can buy their stuff from Sephora stores. Which actually is no help to you whatsoever because I have just looked on their website and the nearest store to you is Solihull. (Which isn't very near at all.)

You could try going to your nearest department store as I think Yves St Laurent do one, and they have concessions in most big stores.

Ariadne is right about the docs in Camden but you can also use the store locator on the DM site to find your nearest stockist. I did a search for Inverness and there are 3 places there - is Inverness near you?

And H&M for colourful coats. Yes indeed.

11:37 / 30.09.03

gingerbop, are you small-framed? (i'm guessing, due to the gymnast thing)

If so, try kids hennes/department stores with kids/teenage depts for coats. kids always get better brightly-coloured clothes... Debenhams kids departments are pretty good.

on which general note kids' Hennes are a marvel. i'm not that tiny and i fit into 164cm t-shirts/jumpers fine.... its vital to be mammarially challenged, though.

In fact, for the little 'uns amongst us, department stores are great, they're the only places that have decently-sized/stylish kids sections, and if yr small the 13/14yrs fits fine...

11:58 / 30.09.03

I have a dress from Hennes kids department which is very short but kind of cool so yeah... go buy!

Jack Vincennes

16:04 / 30.09.03

If you are below a size 7 you can buy kid's Docs from Schuh, which are very good indeed -apart from that you can't get anything more interesting coloured than navy blue without going to Camden (as far as I know).

As far as green eyeliner goes, I bought some from (sighs deeply) Avon, and it's turned out to be brilliant -called Midnight Teal or some such name. If they still do it I'd highly recommend it...

22:06 / 30.09.03

Thanks peeps!

Yes Lula, Inverness is pretty close, and Im in there most days. As for dept. stores- i have an interview in Arnotts/house of fraser next week, so oooo, perhaps staff discount.

Schuh dont do any patterned ones. I've seen some kick-ass punk girl ones in town, so if i get some money, they shall be mine! *mwuh-huh-huh*

Im pretty small (5'2") and can get into kids bottoms, but i dont think the coats would fit over my top. I'll have a wee tryee on. Thanks everyone xx

08:32 / 01.10.03

mammarially challenged Oh, what a delightful phrase!