Style
DEVELOPING YOUR OWN STYLE
Do I follow fashion? Yes I do, or have done so in the past, but having gone through all the rigours, distresses and joys of following fashion, whether it be hairdo's, foorwear, length and size of skirts' or whatever was around at the time, I finally got into my own style and that stayed with me ever since. It's quite amusing to look back and remember how and when. For your benefit, especially if you are still a teen, here's a list starting in the late 1950's:
HAIRSTYLES: Short, Gamin style, followed by leaving it long and straight with a small fringe, then the Cottage Loaf, the Beehive, the Ponytail, the Mary Quant cut, the Vidal Sasson cut and so on. I still change my hairstyle here and there, I went to hair colour Auburn for a while (one of my lovely sisters was a redhead, the other Chestnut) but we had red hair in the family so off I went. maybe for a couple of decades or more until the grey started to show through in the weirdest manner, white lines instead of tinges of grey. I took advice and became a short haired Blonde.
That was a new experience and I quite liked it for a while. However I seemed to get more attention from men, or maybe that was my fancy., but until it became a distraction. Then I took the plunge and removed all hair colour. I ended up a mixture of pale silvery grey and darker grey. It was very fortunate that this became the colour of the moment, just as I did it. For the interested male in my life I worried about the change, but he said "I've got myself a Silver Fox!" So job done.
FOOTWEAR:: It began with Flatties and Heels, but never higher than 3 inches in the '1950:s but I wore anything from gym shoes to Kitten heels and moved on to (in various forms and ages) Courreges White Boots and worn with the Crochet Short White dress (again Courreges) a Wow. Then the heels got higher, but for me never higher than 4 inches. Boots went from ankle to knee high, to thigh high, and one of the best pairs I had was a pair from Switzerland, given to me by a friend, they were shiny black and pulled on like socks and had a small heeled boot . Comfortable and very smart. I miss them.
Silver or Black Patent Leather flatties for parties, strappy high heels, Court shoes nearly always Black, but this could vary, as I was still in the mood for changing bags and footwear to match an item of clothing I particularly liiked, to when I had a special coat that needed highlighting with shoes or boots. Having lived for a long time in a hot climate, shoes for the beach were essential and this ranged from sloppy gym shoes ro "Sayonaras" or "Flips Flops" depending on your taste. Lighter footwear meant more sandals but there was always such a range to choose from, never a problem.
SWIMWEAR: Bikinis came in along with the great Bardot. Film icon of the day, Brigitte Bardot could wear them, and look stunning, therefore they became popular. I used to buy mine from the great store Galeries Lafayette on Regent Street until that sadly closed down. Then I moved to Dickens & Jones (now also gone) and Fenwicks, fortunately still around. Swimsuits depends entirely on your fashion taste.
BAGS: Who doesn't like a handbag? That includes men nowadays and the fashion for that was set quite a time ago. We do see them around and a man can always carry a briefcase. Gay men like them, but it's not regulated by what your life preferences are. I have plenty of Gay frends who like bags instead of briefcases and some wear both. I take good care of my handbags or whatever bag I use at the time, I then pass them on, usually to my daughter or nieces, or even great neices . Being recognised by your fashion choices through the years is a great compliment, so I am grateful for that. I probably hang on to bags longer than I used to but I keep a few as one must have a matching bag at some point
DRESSES AND SKIRTS: Well we should all remember the Mini Skirt. Fashion Houses must have been delighted at this new trend and the same cost to the public for less fabric! But they took off and were the cutest thing. If you had good legs (and I am proud that I'm told mine still look fine) but Oh, sometimes they are a No-No. But people have a choice and they make theirs and there's no going back. I liked the "Zip Culotte" as they were once referred to. Nowadays they get even longer, mid length, otherwise they'd just be pants. The Mini is here to stay.
I can't really remember who began the trend, but probably Mary Quant in the 1960's. Her haircut and the Mini skirt and Roll-On Lip Gloss that I still prefer. Funnily enough, Mary Quant still going strong but they no longer make this. useful piece of equipment, I get them from my chemist!
Dresses went from Laura Ashley, long and old fashioned, but very pretty, The Victorian style ones with Long Sleeves and Hgh Neck, or a White Long Sleeved Blouse with a Tight Belt and Long Skirt always very feminine. Dresses were whatever takes your fancy and this still goes. Some people hang on to clothes from decades earlier. I am one of them, only if they have a sentimental value and naturally still fit! But I keep it to just a few.. My preference was for designers such as Givenchy or Pierre Cardin, Yves Saint Laurent and I still wear his Eau de Toilette "Rive Gauche" that I know suits me.
Fashion is choice, it's often about affordability, or whimsy, or need. Whatever your fancy, yes follow fashion, but develop your own style as you go,. By avoiding what you come to realise does not suit you or your figure or frame, then ditch it. Stick to those fashion items that you feel comfortable in, and that look good or that people compliment you for wearing. Nowadays, I tend to dress more in the casual manner, simply becaue of lifestyle. i still love to dress up for an occasion, and for lunch out, but glamour is really for the past, although I do indulge occasionally.. Being remembered for what you wore though, is part of the success of how your style has worn into who, and what, you are.
I realise I have missed out many more fashion icons of yesteryear and that could mean last year, but it's a never endng world and one most people love to think about sometime in their lives. In a future issue I'll speak about Make Up! True to every 'Sixties Babe, something I cannot do without.
Being in Vogue still has the same meaning, and the magazine VOGUE that I now subscribe to,, is also part of my beautiful grandaughter's young life. But there again, she's doing an Art Foundation course with an eye to becoming a Fashion Designer. I have no fears that she won't succeed because she's already an incredible seamstress and her designs will carry her forward into a good career. She takes after her m0ther, my daughter, who is tall and willowly and has a beautiful face. and takes after her father. Her sense of fashion is entirely her own and she always looks good, I think that's part of who she is, clever and empathetic, tall and interesting. But she is my daughter after all.. I wish you a good fashion sense. It will keep you in Vogue forever!
JV November 2023
Guest writer Jeanne Valentine, September 2023:
Oh! To be back in VOGUE!
For the longest time, it seems I’ve been too busy to even think in terms of Vogue, but recently I accepted an offer to revisit the magazine both online and by post. and I am delighted! I even received a Vogue tote bag. Great for nipping to the shops or when you don’t want to carry a handbag. The photo is from the front cover, the Super Fashion Issue featuring models we all know and love.When I was much younger I used to buy VOGUE magazine regularly and loved it. However, when I began to travel it was an occasional read and although I missed it, life took over, as it often does.
So now I am in the happy position of seeing Vogue regularly and enjoying the content. The current issue is both a pleasure and a challenge. My favourite designers now mostly all gone and I still love clean sharp lines, shown on this cover, but I must move with the times and appreciate new young designers to see where style is going.
There was a time when Vogue did set the pace, but now we have the Internet and Social Media, random sightings of something new, can set off a whole train of style and sometimes it’s definitely a miss rather than a hit.
But that’s only me, I love seeing something new and occasionally (because I also sew) I catch sight of something so eye catching that immediately it sets a train of thought that leads me to attempt to make something very similar. Usually because I already have some fabric that would suit.
Years ago, my mother, who could sew beautifully, would sit after her usual day’s work, and cut something out because I came in waving a magazine, usually Vogue, saying could she please make this for me? She usually could. My middle sister inherited her talent.
When I think back, I find it amazing that my mother could not only cut something out just by it being described, or seeing a picture of it, and making it up so quickly. Sometimes she would make something on the Friday night to be word the next evening.
Now I see that my lovely granddaughter has the same talent - and some. She already showed her talent for cutting and sewing when she was about 14 and by 15 she would run something up in no time and it would prove very successful.
Her talents have got her into University to study fashion and design. Ergo, the sewing machine I bought her back then, proved very useful. I have no idea where this studying will take her. but she has proven herself so versatile I no longer worry about her future.
I once turned to fashion modelling and my first job was for a lovely London designer, Norman Young, his work can be found on Pinterest I’m happy to report. I wanted to become a fashion buyer and he liked the idea. He paid for me to attend the then famous Cherry Marshall Fashion school. This kind and talented man supplied the three dresses I would model for the end of term show.. I was very grateful. Keep in Vogue. I am going to.
HOW TO LOOK GOOD FOR LONGER
Sometimes people say to me that I look twenty years younger. I’m fortunate in that I have so far good health, or rather good genes. Here are some tips for a cheap way of looking after yourself and trying to look good at the same time:
For the cheap alternative to a facial scrub: Gently rub Oatmeal (Porridge Oats) into your already cleansed and dried face and then wash off, the oats, not your face. Then apply your favourite face cream. Although you’ll probably look as if you’ve spent half an hour in a Sauna, it works very well indeed. Once a week I apply the gentlest baby oil to my face and neck instead of cream, this seems to replenish the oils lost.
Until I was 30 I used soap and water to wash off my then considerable eye makeup and added a thin layer of cold cream cream. None of this did my skin any harm. It was only after I reached 31 that I began to look at face creams meant for the job.
Good digestion and skin: Before breakfast each morning squeeze half a lemon into a cup and add sprinkle of ground Ginger, add a little warm water (add a ¼ teaspoon of sugar if you can’t stand the acid of lemon) and drink. Keeps the digestive system in good order and the skin looking bright. Keep to the Breakfast habit, eat a good breakfast. If you create a habit of eating breakfast every day, you can survive longer till lunch or even dinner.
Take regular exercise, even if it’s only walking up and down stairs or steps. Better still walk for 20 minutes each day, or cycle for half an hour or take up Yoga. Yoga is best done in the evenings when the body is more flexible. I took up Yoga regularly when I was young and let it go for years until a bad back started me up again. By neglecting myself and my posture, I had to spend money on Back exercises!
However it also got me back into Yoga, and this time with Richard Hittleman’s “28 Day Yoga Exercise plan” (1998) a book sent to me by my sister when I lived in Athens and had back problems, and as an exercise programme it stays with you all your life once you’ve achieved it. This remarkable book is still available on Amazon.
Beauty tips:
Keep a good posture. Your posture is important to your wellbeing and allowing yourself to slouch too much can do damage over many years, I found this out to my detriment. When my sisters and I were young, my mother would say when we were out walking and heaven forbid she’d noticed a slouch: “Head Up!, Shoulders back! Chest Out!, Tummy In!”. If this makes her sound matriarchal then it wasn’t meant so. She was a wonderful mother and with three daughters it couldn’t have been easy. She just wanted us to look our best. I ended up saying it to my grandchildren.
Try and think positive. This may only be for optimists like myself, but a tip is to look ahead, not down. Looking ahead means you are looking to the future and looking down means you are looking to the past. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that you can dwell too long on it. I don’t advise looking up, only in an emotional sense. Look too far up when walking and you could walk into a lamp-post or slip on a banana skin. If you develop a habit of saying to yourself (quietly) that things are fine, and remain grateful for what you have, without lacking in ambition naturally, rather than rue what you don’t have, you could develop a rosier view of life.
Dance and sing a lot. OK maybe not everywhere, the Board of Directors may not appreciate your musicality, or join a dance class or glee club or choral group. Start inviting friends around for a meal but warn them they will have to “sing or dance” for their supper. Oh, sorry, that’s a party anyway. Seriously, it’s an anxiety making world we live in and keeping cheerful not only lifts your own spirits, but of those around you. Music to my ears is when a friend says how my positive attitude makes them feel the same way and how good is that?!
Veronia Jason
