One of the more meaningless words in current circulation is "sustainable", which has been stretched to the kind of shapelessness previously only seen in 20-year-old Marks & Spencer knickers ( Read more... )

1 A couple of years ago while visiting family in Melbourne, I went to the op-shop where my aunt was volunteering, and just to be nice, bought several little ladies' watches from I think the 1930s. Tiny, delicate things, with either gold-plated or silk cord straps. AUS$1 each. Early ladies' watches were so small that they didn't have space for all ( Read more... )

I had a nice long weekend in Bangkok for the first time since 2010, to celebrate surviving another year, and to contribute to the Thai economy. I stayed with a good friend (and discovered the joys of their thin, fast-drying Japanese towels from Imabari), lunched with another, had two Thai massages, shopped a lot (the Jim Thompson Factory Outlet ( Read more... )

Apparently 1980s fashion is back. The admirable Dame Joan Collins' modelling career has suddenly restarted, and shoulder-pads are now again being discussed in the fashion press. I can only hope that micro-minis and bubble-skirts do not follow. The ankle-length bubble skirt aka balloon skirt has an honourable pedigree going back a good century to ( Read more... )

At some point I should read "The Extra Woman", Joanna Scutts' biography of my spiritual guide, the late, great Marjorie Hillis, of "Live Alone and Like It" and "Orchids On A Budget" fame. Unfortunately, Hillis' last book, for older single women, "Keep Going And Like It", is still out of print, but while I wait for some enlightened publisher to ( Read more... )

Rumour has it that my shipment of household goods has arrived at last, and might even be at the local port. The minions assure me that it will be at my house on Friday. I have cleared my appointments in the expectation that this will in fact be the case. It will be very nice to be able to stop camping in this house and have my own furniture and the ( Read more... )

https://medium.com/@sonyahallett/cultural-appropriation-whose-culture-is-it-anyway-and-what-about-hybridity-3d3398a6d9d6

From andrewduckerIn which the author says everything that I have ever wanted to say ( Read more... )

There is no reason why a brooch cannot be worn on a sleeve.

I have seen photographs of them being worn on a lower jacket pocket. That was in the fifties, when brooches were of an assertive character. They have also been acceptable on hats for a long time.