Straying From the Path of Drabness

I don’t believe in safe fashion. It doesn’t delight me. Safe is boring. Many people wear all black because they feel safe in it; it’s slimming; it’s an easy uniform. They don’t have to think in the morning: if everything is black then everything matches. (Not true: there are different shades of black just as there are in other hues.)

Another reason I wear all black extremely rarely is because I dislike the stereotype that all Melburnians wear only black, especially in winter. I particularly love to wear a brightly coloured coat (red! pink! white!) in the cooler seasons. All the other commuters stare at this assault on their senses as though I have committed some social solecism by straying from the path of drabness.

…stark black and white in graphic shapes is simply brilliant any time,
any season.

And beaded slippers too!All white I love always. And stark black and white in graphic shapes is simply brilliant any time, any season.

So when I stumbled across this wild Seventies wrap-around skirt in a vintage boutique I was thrilled. It is Drama personified. (It also has some rust stains on the waistband, but a belt fixes that.)

Constructed from panels of black and white, it is made from heavy cotton, with black grosgrain ribbon sewn in diagonal bands from waist to hem. A row of Catherine wheels intricately beaded down the front is what places the skirt firmly in the category of luxe 70s boho hippy chic. (As much as I hate that word ‘boho’ for being synonymous with Sienna Miller in the past decade or so, it does apply here.)

The skirt looks equally good paired with a black poloneck jumper (although more predictable). But worn with a black bob it is elevated to iconic heights; I am moved to prance.

All the world’s a stage.

More black and white drama here.