WHITE FOR WINTER

After my recent post on clothes as sculpture, I was inspired to put together some of my favourite pieces of clothing, all with quite different textures. I love wearing white in winter. The old decree of ‘wearing no white after Labour Day’ that I have often read about in American fashion magazines seems bizarrely restrictive. There are several theories of its origin, but for most people, obeying that law is no longer in fashion.

So from the top, some of my favourites, old and new:

1. A hand-embroidered scarf bought on my recent trip to Vietnam really is a summer piece, but apparently I could get away with it if I was a winter bride and wore it as a veil.
2. This vintage white leather pencil skirt was unearthed at the Salvos and is alarmingly tight at the waist.
3. An amusing skirt by Marty Samuels looks and feels like it is made from crumpled paper. The actual construction is 42% polyethyle, 25% cotton, 22% polyurethane, 11% polyester – meaning I’d probably go up in flames if I stood too close to a heater, so best I leave this narrow, ankle-length skirt for summer also. (It fastens with snap buttons, a sure risk of wardrobe malfunction if I sit down too violently!)
4. Truly perfect for winter, this scarf is formed by four rows of fur pom-poms, very soft and warm.

Hmm, one out of four. Maybe there is something to that rule after all…