anna_wing

My friend who had the stroke a few years ago has finally lost enough weight that she can walk up and down the stairs of her house at one step per stair, though she still has to hold onto the banister. But she can now exercise properly (she was still exercising with short walks around her block and swimming, but found longer walks very painful), and can get into her clothes from two decades ago. It has taken a long time to get even this far due to a lot of work and family stress, and she still has about 70-80 pounds to go but it's progress. She's very encouraged, and already feeling better, and I'm so happy (and relieved) for her. Her doctor is a good guy, with a sensible approach to dietary modification (like keeping steamed carrots or sweet potato to hand on her desk if she wants to stress-eat instead of biscuits, etc).

Once she achieves her target weight, I have promised to keep her company while she goes to the ateliers of all the local fashion designers she knows, and has a celebratory new-clothes orgy. After which she intends to give away or re-size all her old clothes, as incentive to maintain her weight thereafter.

On a recent trip to Bangkok to get my dengue vaccine (Qdenga, from Japan), I was delighted to find two of my favourite shops, which I lost when the mall they were in closed for renovation. And as a bonus, both of them are within walking distance of each other and the BTS!

Piklik, on the first floor of Ploenchit Centre on Sukhumvit Road sells what I can only describe as incredibly gorgeous, neo-Edwardian cotton or silk nightwear, overflowing with lace, ruffles, ribbons and embroidery.

https://www.piklik.net/women-s.html

They also have in the shop but not on the website, a selection of relatively plain but also gorgeous caftans in pleated Thai silk, which only need a bit of lace trim at sleeve-cuffs and neckline to pass for a tea-gown by Lucile.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy,_Lady_Duff-Gordon. )

GREEN COTTON, on the other hand, which I found on the ground floor of The Rich Walk (a shopping-centre attached to The Rich condo on Sukhumvit Soi 4), sells plain, very reasonably-priced, undyed cotton casual clothes of excellent quality, like light and largely unadorned cotton pyjamas, nightgowns, T-shirts, knickers, skirts and drawstring trousers, i.e. everything one would need for hot-climate informal wear. They also have really good, thick cotton socks, which I was glad to be able to stock up on in quantity, after buying one pair years ago on spec.

Both Ploenchit Centre and The Rich Walk are in between Ploenchit and Nana BTS stations, and as a bonus, the huge Siam Pharmacy is right next to Ploenchit BTS station, for all your medical needs. A terrifyingly large number of serious medicines are OTC in Thailand (most of them are manufactured there, which makes many generics particularly good value).

There is also a very good cat cafe on Sukhumvit soi 19 near the Asok BTS station, called Asok Pethouse Cat Cafe. Nice healthy rescue cats in a comfortable room to themselves with many cat-walks and sleeping places high up if they don't feel like socialising, a big window onto the street for constant amusement and a cat wheel for exercise. The cafe also has cats and kittens for adoption, and the cafe side has its own dedicated cat, who is basically the queen of the entire establishment.

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/nov/22/we-are-creating-a-material-monster-the-false-logic-of-faux-leather

There is a time and a place for synthetic fabrics. Synthetics are cheaper to buy and much easier to keep clean and uneaten by vermin. And if I ever get to another walking holiday in Japan, I am certainly not going to give up Gore-Tex boots and Uniqlo Heat-tech. The technical materials are generally superior, performance-wise, for the functions for which they are intended, as is a simple, plastic raincape that can be folded up and put in a pocket for emergencies.

But if I want something that looks like leather, I'll get leather. Not plastic, whether it calls itself 'vegan' or not (OK, anything claiming to originate from Alpha Lyrae would certainly attract my attention).

I've bought myself a vintage wool cape from an Italian designer label with a fur collar from Etsy Ukraine. The fur looks fine, but the seller reported that the fabric had a lot of little moth-holes. I intend to try to repair them using felting wool/wool roving; the technique looks very interesting and quite doable for an amateur, from the videos online. I shall see when it arrives. It's off-white. and the fur collar is dark brown, so I am mulling over the colour for the wool roving. If the holes are numerous, using black or very dark-brown would give a nice contrast effect. Sartorial kintsugi.

I was in Singapore for a few days for work, was pleased to see that Changi Airport is completely back to normal (though plane-ticket prices, alas, are not).

1 I managed to get a weekday morning to go to see the newly-opened Bird Paradise

https://www.mandai.com/en/bird-paradise.html.

Wow.

This is the new version of the Bird Park, which was a zoo specialising in birds, as the name indicates, in a different location. Instead of individual cages per species, there are now eight gigantic walk-in aviaries/habitats, and the birds of that region are all there together. It's really rather amazing and the birds seem happy (except one pacing cassowary with its own enclosure; hopefully its mood will improve as the vegetation in its new habitat becomes more jungly). In the "Heart of Africa" aviary the tailor-birds had a couple of dozen nests already constructed, and a flock of African Grey parrots was busy chewing on the nice new rain-shelter next to the artificial cliff built for the black ibises. I saw several different pigeons nesting, small finchy things flying around with bits of grass in their beaks, and a Razor-Billed Curassow nesting in an actual Bird's-Nest Fern (Asplenium nidus).

The overhead netting looks sufficiently strong to deter the (wild) Brahminy Kite I saw circling thoughtfully above, doubtless wondering how to get to the buffet...

The only place where there were individual cages was the section for the endangered species in special breeding programmes. The Philippine Eagles, alas, have not yet produced offspring, and since they are monogamous, the zoo can't just introduce a third bird in the hopes that it takes the fancy of one of the pair. I don't think the site is complete yet. There were no raptors on display, and I saw some construction work still ongoing, so that might be for them.

Visitor numbers are controlled, so it's best to book a time-slot for entry on-line before you go. It's absolutely fabulous. You could also do the regular zoo and the Night Safari (night zoo for nocturnal animals), which are on the same site, on the same day (the Night Safari opens from 6pm to midnight), but I didn't have either the time or the stamina for that.

2 And after dinner one evening, while strolling through the shopping-centre where the restaurant was, I found a pop-up stall from a local company called Zotelier selling lovely cotton clothes in traditional indigo Japanese designs.

https://zoteliersg.com/

Styles are Japanese ie straight, loose cuts, with a somewhat 1920s look to the dresses, very good for the straight body type, and BOTH BLOUSES AND DRESSES HAD POCKETS. I am an M in their styles, which is my size in the West (in Uniqlo I'm an XL, for context). The saleswoman said that they had run out of L at the stall but they'd be available on-line. The website gives sizing measurements anyway. I bought several pieces and will buy more. They'll be very handy for informal wear in hot climates and seasons. And anyone who puts pockets into their dresses and their tops deserves my custom.

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/apr/30/eva-wiseman-why-do-we-buy-into-stealth-wealth-and-the-class-who-wear-it

https://us.loropiana.com/en/c/woman/dresses?page=0

Really, there's no need to stress so much about other people's taste in clothes.

I like Loro Piana's designs; they have a bit of a thing about exotic fabrics, which I find entertaining too I (though I did laugh many years ago when they claimed to the Financial Times to have cornered the national supply in Myanmar for lotus-fibre cloth ...) Apparently they are "Uniqlo for billionaires"; since I don't feel inclined to pay that kind of money as a usual thing, I see no problem with buying actual Uniqlo, which anyone reading this blog would probably have noticed...).

But generally, I find their clothes very nice, and not at all boring. If I were near any convenient outlet shop that sold past seasons' clothes for not less than a 70% discount, I'd absolutely go for it (genuine outlet shops are the point for me where snob value and value for money intersect and say "buy me!").

Anyway, anyone able to sew (or with access to a decent seamstress) and an internet connection (for good fabrics) can mock up a decent facsimile for a lot of things, especially for stuff that relies on pricey fabrics rather than complex cuts. Vogue Patterns are very helpful for this too. To get myself a nice, silk-lined cashmere dressing-gown for under four figures (I do visit friends in cold countries), I bought two large pashmina/silk shawls (on sale) and a printed silk sari at the local Indian we-sell-everything department store (all easily available online with a bit of searching). Then I dug out an old cotton dressing-gown of the appropriate configuration, took it to my dressmaker and had her copy it; I dithered a bit about adding the fox-fur collar that I picked up in an Australian op-shop some years ago (they're wonderful, I will post in their praise one day), but decided it against it for now. I can always add it later. Voila, affordable luxury.

I had reason the other day to look up the website of the fabulous Kremer Pigments and found this:

https://shop.kremerpigments.com/us/shop/pigments/36010-tyrian-purple-genuine.html

UNfortunately, while the website tells you that it is suitable for both dyeing and painting (acrylics, tempera, watercolour/gouache, oils), it doesn't describe the dyeing process, and the internet was not immediately informative. If anyone knows, do let me know! If it's not too much of a faff (recipes involving urine are not going to be considered) I wouldn't mind trying to dye some silk yarn, and then getting Housekeeper to crochet me a little lace collar...

You continue to deserve to be the richest person in Japan.

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/apr/14/how-uniqlos-15-crossbody-bag-conquered-the-world

I saw it on the Uniqlo website and thought that it looked useful, bought two (black and pink) while in transit at Changi Airport (Uniqlo has a shop in Terminal 3, for those of you who may pass through), and will never use anything else while travelling. It's the most amazingly practical thing, one of those things that prompt the thought that I have been an absolute idiot for years not to use something like this. Except that this is of course the apotheosis of its genre.

It looks entirely unassuming, comes in a variety of useful colours, is strong, padded and wipes clean. It is also very cheap for its quality. You can carry all your essentials in it, thus keeping them safely to hand on the plane while asleep or going to the loo, or while gazing intently into the camera at passport control so that it can scan your face or irises or both. Mine held my wallet, passport, two mobile phones, a portable wifi router, hand sanitiser, wet-wipes, hand-cream, facial moisturiser, lip-balm, sunblock, a pen and one of those amazing Japanese shopping bags that fold down to nothing and can themselves open up to carry anything you need to start a new life on the other side of the world. It is basically a small, hand-held Tardis. In a fortnight in Australia, I didn't need to carry anything else while walking around except an umbrella (essential against the Australian sun, even in Hobart and Melbourne).

This gentleman in Japan

https://kent-hat-online-shop.com/

makes delightful hats in the shape of different kinds of bread, cakes and other confectionery. The straw French cruller beret is particularly charming:https://kent-hat-online-shop.com/items/5ee61aee1829cd3a729193ab

as is the Gothic Rose in plum-coloured felt: https://kent-hat-online-shop.com/items/5d89d4c9220e755952c27e27

but what I really, really want is this one:

https://kent-hat-online-shop.com/items/5d9414549658036ea13eb4b9

I am very tempted to order all three. Though I should at least measure my head first, the Gothic Rose is one size only...

My favourite UK dress brand, appears to be going out of business. They moved to online-only a few years ago, and have now shut that down too. I am very sad. FWM had lovely clothes - comfortable, elegant, practical outfits for adult women, that fitted me and suited my body-type perfectly. I still wear several dresses that I bought twenty years ago, when they were doing a lot of gorgeous, bias-cut 1930s-inspired designs.

I hope that they survive, but I am not optimistic.

Trouser suits are back, according to the Guardian. I had noticed signs of this last year, and am pleased that it caught on, as it should. These are just the most efficient and comfortable outfits for a woman who needs formal work clothes. Choices of style become much wider and more easily available when something is in fashion. There were long, sad years when it seemed as if the only choices were getting them tailor-made (the best way, but expensive for juniors) or outfits apparently intended for Korean boy bands.

I remember having to patiently explain to new recruits who had never seen a real trouser suit that no, Capris don't count and neither do leggings of any length.

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/oct/23/at-work-or-parties-whos-wearing-the-trousers-everyone

Coincidentally, I have found an actual local tailor who can make Western-style suits, and intend to try them out next weekend with some of the Thai silk that I picked up at the Jim Thompson Factory Outlet the last time I was in Bangkok. I've dug out a 'vintage' Yves St Laurent suit pattern for Vogue that I bought when it was new. Fingers crossed.

The wife of an acquaintance had salmonella and dengue fever simultaneously, poor thing. Westerners working here, so they could afford a decent hospital, and she survived. She was morbidly obese and is still very fat, but definitely thinner now. Not a good way to do it, she'll probably regain, sadly. But at least she's alive. Salmonella's been going round, someone in my office had it, and so did her doctor, and they both had to be on an antibiotic drip plus orals.

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/heating-people-not-spaces.html

This reminded me vividly of the winter term that I once spent in boarding-school in the UK as a teenager, in a room on the roof with two external, uninsulated walls and a French window (the family thought that life at home was too soft, and I needed toughening up). The radiator looked as if it dated from before World War II and was only on for a couple of hours morning and evening anyway. It was undoubtedly very character-building, but as a delicate equatorial flower, there were limits to what I was willing to accept in terms of physical misery, so I followed certain practices religiously:

For studying in the evening before bed, I stuck to my winter uniform, and added a better sweater, a scarf, fingerless gloves, merino socks, a lap quilt, ear-muffs, sheepskin moccasins and a vacuum flask of hot water.

The most important thing was to have a quick, hot shower before bed, so that I was actually hot afterwards while I trotted from the showers to my room in my (a) quilted dressing-gown and rubber slippers, got into my (c) flannel pyjamas and (d)thermal socks, and dived under the (e) Antarctic-grade duvet that my family had wisely provided for me. I also hung my towel on the radiator to ensure that it would be dry and warm the next time that I needed it. The whole procedure was reversed the next morning. I think I was the only person in the entire 6th form who had two showers a day regardless of the weather, both for reasons of hygiene, and because I had worked out that it was the best way to get warm fast (if your base level of cleanliness is high, a five-minute shower is quite enough to maintain it).

So it turns out that I was indeed following the principle of keeping myself warm, rather than my surroundings, and it worked rather well. Traditional Japanese houses are freezing too, so this was how my friend and I managed while staying in ryokans (the substitute for the shower being the soak in the onsen).

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/sep/06/no-snags-no-spills-no-sweating-how-to-wear-vintage-clothes-without-ruining-them

Mostly good advice.

I have some nice stuff from the 90s which I rarely wear now because they are winter clothes, and some beautiful pyjamas from the 1920s. Also a very early rayon dressing-down trimmed with lace which has lasted much better than silk would have. The Chinese silk pyjamas (very fashionable in the West in the 1920s, I bought them at Alfies Antique Market in London) I had lined in silk, and they are perfectly usable. This sort of thing:

https://i.etsystatic.com/12776429/r/il/0c971c/2369737380/il_fullxfull.2369737380_5smt.jpg

1920s beaded or sequinned dresses are better copied than worn; the article is quite right about how delicate they are. If you don't want to DIY, it's quite easy to get decent sequinning and beading done in India or Thailand (I asked a local drag queen once where his gorgeous sequinned evening dress came from, and he said he ordered it from a specialist place in Bangkok; unfortunately I didn't get the name). Polyester netting is much tougher than silk net (which is unobtainable anyway), and if the dress will have a lot of beadwork, can easily be double-layered for extra strength. Also, modern plastic sequins don't dissolve in water like celluloid ones did, so the whole thing can easily be hand-washed. Japanese glass beads are as good as the old Czech ones.

When wearing vintage, a good silk or cotton slip is also your friend. For the net dresses, it can be attached with snaps in judicious places, and easily removed so that the net can be rinsed and the slip laundered separately.

The greatest international fashion designer that Japan has ever produced, and one of the greatest ever. My dream wardrobe would be from him, Madeleine Vionnet, Paul Poiret, and 1920s Chanel, and trouser suits from Yves St Laurent.

I could never afford his main line except on sale but his Pleats Please line (and its innumerable Japanese knock-offs based on the same technology) was a staple of many wardrobes, especially for work travel. I got through ten days in Venezuela with nothing but carry-on luggage, with the aid of three dresses, a jacket, two pairs of shoes, and a tube of Dylon travel wash.

He also did patterns for Vogue Patterns, many of which I bought as they came out. Most can stil be found easily on E-Bay and Etsy and such places online. In his memory, I will dig mine out and see what my dressmakers here can do with some of the simpler ones.

May his next existence reflect the excellence of the one just past.

isn't my thing in any way. I agree totally with the environment-based criticisms, and also disdain the waste of money on one-use, badly-made products, not to mention the hypocrisy of the people who simultaneously buy it in huge quantities and then presume to lecture others about the state of the global environment. But I also dislike the very discernible snobbery in much of the public criticism, and the latest attacks could be better-directed.

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/apr/20/ultra-fast-fashion-giant-shein-accused-of-copying-zara-designs

There is very little that is more generic in fashion than a slip dress. It's a style that's been around for a hundred years, albeit originally as underwear. Does anyone remember Tocca?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=pink+silk+slip+dress&atb=v314-1&iax=images&ia=images

Anyway, fashion companies do not have a leg to stand on when it comes to copying other people's stuff.

https://hyperallergic.com/314625/more-than-40-artists-and-designers-accuse-zara-of-plagiarism/

At a recent work event, I complimented one of my colleagues (a gentleman in his 70s) on his outfit, and he told us proudly that his shirt actually belonged to his son, and he had managed to lose 40 kg since the pandemic began, by walking 5 km in a big park near his house, and doing a thirty-minute workout every morning before going to work. He's been doing this for at least a couple of years now, and we all congratulated him accordingly. He has significantly reduced his risk of a serious case of COVID-19 as well, which is good. He's fully vaccinated, but medical care here is iffy, and in view of his age and previous size, it would have been an unnecessary additional risk.

He's still overweight, but hopefully not for too much longer.

I have cautiously restarted the swimming, which had to stop for the last few weeks because of regular end-of-monsoon thunderstorms. The lightning strike that shook my house a few weekends ago was only about 20-30 metres away from the building, which is practically handshake distance for a lightning bolt, so I am taking no chances.

In some places, the reaction from pandemic lockdowns has led to the return of some unfortunate, and hopefully this time short-lived, fashion phenomena. Orange makeup. Patterned tights. Large shoulder pads. Corsets. Micro-minis. Some appear to have already died the death (pin-tops), and I expect the rest will follow in due course. Almost anything can look good on the right body and in the right context, but some things are less flexible than others.

On the other hand, it's nice to see bright colours for suits, and the apparent return of women's trouser suits with properly-cut, straight-leg trousers, rather than those skin-tight numbers fit only for the Korean boy-bands of a decade ago. This is of some direct interest, since my tailor has retired, and COVID-19 travel restrictions have kept his replacement in Bangkok off-limits since last year.

Perfection is neither static nor singular.

In several decades of working life, I have accumulated quite a lot of clothes (and was pleased not to have disposed of outfits that I was temporarily too fat for, despite naysayers suggesting that I would never fit into them again, ha ha). Several of them are perfect. They fit well and comfortably, for what I do in them. They are well-made, and in colours and designs that suit me. They are completely appropriate for the occasions for which I wear them. They are all totally different, but they are all perfect for the parameters that apply to them.

Perfection is not universal. Something can be perfect for something, but not necessarily for everything.

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/sep/12/double-duty-hybrid-outfits-suit-the-mood-for-return-to-the-office

(a) I would not myself consider the fashions in this article to be Western appropriations of a shalwar khameez or the general tunic-and-trousers concept of which a shalwar khameez is a local example. They are Western versions. It's rather common globally to have local versions of originally-foreign things, just ask Kit-Kat Japan, Jollibee, or Samsung.

(b) A shalwar khameez in its multiple Asian incarnations is not in fact "gender neutral", any more than a sarong or a longyi or a dhoti is. There are male styles and female styles. Wearing one when you're the other will at the very least require explanation, in most relevant countries ("I'm a foreigner" is usually a perfectly acceptable explanation; also "I'm a rich and upper-class local with avant-garde tastes in fashion"). The Western version may be considered so, I suppose, in the context of Western clothing conventions. The actual internationally accepted gender-neutral costume is jeans and a T-shirt, which has been in existence as such for some decades now.

(c) The Chanel frilly version with lace is basically pyjamas, to my eye. And not even proper lounging pyjamas (see the late, great Marjorie Hollis for the distinction among lounging pyjamas, hostess pyjamas, beach pyjamas and sleeping pyjamas).

(c) A tunic is not a frock, and never has been, anywhere, East, West or all points between. That's just fashion illiteracy.

https://www.amazon.com/Dressing-Ancient-Textiles-Margarita-Gleba-dp-1842172697/dp/1842172697/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

I've been reading a fascinating anthology of articles on ancient textile and costume research called "Dressing The Past (Ancient Textiles)", edited by Margarita Gleba, consisting of various short but extremely interesting articles about different aspects of ancient textile/clothing research. Starting with a chapter on Minoan women's dress (with a very interesting observation that design students without any classical training immediately spotted that an ivory "Minoan snake goddess" statuette was probably a Victorian/Edwardian fake - I have to admit that when I first saw the photo, without having read the text, I assumed that it was Art Nouveau), and including articles on Sarmatians, Vikings, and how Hollywood "historical" films nonetheless reflect very obviously the styles of their era, especially in the costumes of the leading lady.

An e-book from the library. Thank you, Libbyapp.

This means incorporating historical or historically-inspired clothes into your daily life. It is a thing that some Western historical costumers do, and I should think it would apply to the Chinese 'hanfu' movement too. There is no specific period of history required, though it does seem to be used to refer largely to Western clothes of the pre-World War I period, which are very obviously not within the normal compass of modern fashion.

From about World War I onwards, the clothes became recognisably modern in style, and could probably be worn today with not too many eyebrows raised, especially if one simply says "oh, it's designer". And styles from about the 1930s onwards would probably be categorised as "vintage fashion", rather than "historical costume".

I wear a lot of clothes that are based on or directly copied from 1920s styles (the linear, tubular look suits the flat, rectangular body shape common in East and Southeast Asia perfectly), so possibly I'm doing it too!

I don't shop online for clothes, because I like to try things on, but some companies that I used to buy from only seem to sell on-line now. So I took a look out of idle curiosity, and noticed a shift in sizing since the last time that I bought from them.

I can now wear clothes that are twenty years old, when I was a UK 10-12 and French/Italian/Chinese 42-46 (at a BMI of around 19/20, so it was purely an issue of frame size). But looking at the size guides of companies that I used to buy from, based on exactly the same measurements, I've mostly gone down a size in most of them, except the ones at the very top end, which I only ever bought in a massive sale or from the factory outlets anyway (those being the only times that the value-for-money and snob-value sets intersect for me - I like fancy consignment stores and thrift shops too...) so they don't count.

It's not 'vanity sizing'. Fashion companies size their ranges so that the size of the majority of their customers marks their 'M'. If their market is generally fatter, their 'M' will be bigger than the 'M' for a company whose market is primarily social X-rays (does anyone remember those?). This is the best set of articles on the subject that I know of:

https://fashion-incubator.com/the_myth_of_vanity_sizing/

This makes me extra nervous about buying online, because even with sizing guides, I'm not sure if they reflect the actual size of the clothes, even for companies I've bought from in person before. And fit is a completely different and additional issue.

Fortunately I don't actually need more clothes right now...

Especially since the media are touting the return of the 1980s. Brightly-coloured trouser suits and collar-length necklaces are fine, shoulder-pads of modest size are endurable, but bubble skirts and pussy-cat bows? Vade retro, Satanas!

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Entries tagged with clothes

Positive update (2)

Old friends rediscovered!

As I have said before...

Travels with recommendations

It's just clothes...

Question about dyeing

Thank you again Yanai Tadashi

I truly, madly, deeply want this hat

Fenn Wright Manson...

Excellent news for white-collar women

Heating yourself, not your surroundings

Vintage clothes

Issey Miyake 1938-2022

Fast fashion...

Good news from a friend

Note to self from my wardrobe

This one is just silly...

Ancient costume

"Historybounding"

Sizing issues in online shopping