 |
influences the quality of other attire.
One thing about the royal wedding which is heartening is that perhaps, maybe, people will start to wear hats again. The British royalty has always got the flak for its hat-wearing tradition, but finally I think they have got it right, and people are noticing.
But, often, attention to accessories also translates to improved quality in over all dress. When designers design good hats (or shoes), the rest of the attire has to reflect that. So, this glance at hats that I'm seeing may result with improved dresses, jackets, skirts, blouses, etc.
But back to hats. It is possible to wear an attractive hat (rather than a toque-like woolen affair) even during the coldest parts of the winter. One solution is to work with layers (putting a warm woolen toque under a more attractive hat) which I have done. I've also sewn hats, or around hats. For example, I bought a length of faux fur fabric and simply placed it around a warm woolen (not very attractive) hat to make it look like those Russian fur hats. And adding the same fur around the coat collar ties everything together. The difficult part is how unaccustomed people are around hats. A simple 1920s style hat (in burgundy) which I wear when the temperature is not so low gets surprised reactions (one person said he remembered me because of my hat) from strangers. I hope to break into an orange straw hat for the summer. Someone has to start!
I was at the Bay again since I did receive an invitation to its Jacques Vert collection, which is a permanent collection with seasonal variations. I didn't know it was so substantial, and quite affordable. And quite beautiful too. The sales girl was very obliging, and took me around, describing how it was displayed in sets, mostly of colors, with dresses, skirts, jackets, shoes, purses, and of course hats. (The Jacques Vert on-line store in the U.K. has what looks like a complete display of the items that were in the Bay for the spring/summer season.) I was surprised that the sales girl especially liked a conservative, navy blue set. She looked like she was in her late twenties, early thirties. I've always believed that women (especially the young women we see around in skimpy, ugly, dark "uniforms" who assiduously follow "fashion") actually will take on beauty (and prettiness) if given the chance.
Now, why not dive into color, especially for spring? That's what I told the sales girl, and she confessed to buying a lovely chiffon blouse with orange floral prints (here it is). Then she said she'd wear it with black pants. I didn't want to belabor the point, although I couldn't help pointing out that a cream skirt (already available with the set she was pointing to) might be better. Still, working in a Jacques Vert section, and looking at the clothes, surely gets her to see in the world in colors rather than in black and gray (and navy blue).
Often, a good design, fabric pattern, cut, color, etc., will influence the quality of other items. The dearth (or the eccentricities) of our contemporary fashion is partly because we have no good designs. If the royal wedding gets to promote designers like Jacques Vert, who are affordable but with quality designs, that would be wonderful. I have my doubts, though, and that this attention is the novelty (fashion?) of the moment.
Some welcome things at Jacques Vert are:
- Many of the dresses are floral (and other) prints
- The dresses have longer lengths than the minis I'm seeing these days
- The dresses and skirts come in sets, with jackets, blouses and sweaters
- There was a wide range of colors from subtle pinks to pale greens and brighter oranges and blues
- Shoes and handbags can be co-ordinated with the dresses, and are available on display