Autumn and winter are my favourite fashion seasons. As my regular reader is aware, I favour woollen layers over flimsy tops-of-arms-revealing floaty dresses any day. I also tend towards the funereal in my colour choices, with black or navy sometimes enlivened by a cheeky grey.
I aim for two things from an outfit: comfort, and not being pointed to and laughed at. Not too much to ask, you would have thought, especially in glorious autumnal or winter weather, suited to the aforementioned colour palette.
However, as I am not suited to fashion trends, I favour the old-fashioned idea of buying clothes because they are good quality and will last for years. I recently wore a much-admired frock for a night out and realised, when I thought hard, that I had probably had it for almost 20 years.
I don’t mind paying a decent amount for a timeless item of clothing, which is where I seem to be out of step with current shopping trends. Every magazine and lifestyle feature seems to have a version of: “Look at this ridiculously expensive item of clothing which no-one can afford… Now look at this, which looks just the same for a fraction of the cost.”
Except the cheaper one never looks anything like the original. It just looks like a cheap copy in inferior material, guaranteed to lose its shape after one wash. Everything on the high street is designed to be so cheap, it is almost disposable.
This is great if you are young, have a perfect figure and want to wear something different every time you go out or take a selfie. If you are more like me and are tending towards the old bat style of couture, it can be rather challenging to shop these days.
I hope retailers start taking us into account soon. As a pointer, my favourite outfit consisted of flared fawn cords, a Snoopy T-shirt and my brother’s snake belt. I was the bee’s knees and probably about 13 years old. I shall be watching the catwalks with interest.