Enid, Helena style
February 16, 2010 at 12:07 am | Posted in Fashion | Leave a commentTags: Alice in Wonderland, Barbara Stoney, BBC4, Enid, Helena Bonham Carter, Lucinda Wright, Opi, Pantaloonies, Queen of Hearts, Red Queen
Helena Bonham Carter has described her version of Enid Blyton, as seen in the recent BBC4 biopic, as both ‘appealling and appalling’. Based on the respected biography by the late Barbara Stoney, Enid depicts the writer’s darker side, taking some dramatic license and lingering over her self-centredness, adultery and general coldness towards her children. At the same time, the (tv) film also elicits sympathy for Blyton. It strives to show how she was affected by her father’s desertion when she was 13, and later depicts her grief when, after years of estrangement, she hears of the death of her mother (in real life, according to Stoney, Blyton told her brother that she was too busy to attend the funeral).
Most important in the context of this site is the film’s wonderful mise-en-scène. The costumes, designed by Lucinda Wright, are a mixture of childish, practical, seductive and coldly glamourous and are especially wonderful. While HBC’s own tastes lean towards pantaloons, mop caps, bustles, lace and ribbons (she once claimed to ‘get high on ribbon’), she does look quite stunning with her 1940s hairdo, padded shoulders and pillar box lipstick.
Key elements to the film’s Enid style are floral prints, dotty fabrics, coloured tights and practical cardigans, with pearls, painted nails and the odd dead animal.
Bright red nails are shown off to good effect when Enid is eating jelly (top left) and when she is tapping away at her typewriter bashing out the stories we know and love.
For a classic red nail polish, Opi is a good brand to try. 
They have concessions in many department stores (some, such as Selfridges which has its own Opi nail bar, carry a wider range of colours) but you can also explore their impressively large palette via their website. My current favourite is ‘Vodka and Caviar’ which is a strong, classic red, but it’s hard to avoid being tempted by the quirky names of some of the other shades too: ‘Cha-Ching Cherry’, ‘Dutch Tulips’, and ‘Off with her Red!’ all sound good. 
The latter name is, of course, a play on the favourite saying of Alice in Wonderland‘s Queen of Hearts, which brings me round (slightly tenuously I admit, as they are completely different characters) to Helena’s most recent role as a Vivienne Westwood-meets-Elizabeth I-style Red Queen in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Note the nice red nail polish.
Aunt Fanny’s knitting
December 5, 2009 at 10:25 am | Posted in Aunt Fanny, Fashion, Learning Stuff, Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Aunt Fanny, Jaegar patterns, knitting, mittens, V&A
If Aunt Fanny did indeed invest in good quality wardrobe basics for her daughter George – sturdy brogues and a proper rainmac (see previous posts under the ‘fashion’ category) – I suspect she would economically supplement these pieces with some of her own home knits. Eileen Soper’s illustrations depict all sorts of lovely jumpers, hats and scarves, and I can well imagine Aunt Fanny occupying herself during the long winter evenings at Kirrin Cottage with a spot of knit and purl.
The V&A has some great knitting pages including a set of original 1940s knitting patterns. Some of these are wartime patterns taken from Jaegar’s ‘Essentials for the Forces’. The 1940s was a high point for hand knitting and Jaegar’s publication includes instructions for making ‘all of the necessary garments for men and women serving in the Forces’. It even makes handy colour suggestions: ‘Air Force blue or khaki wool for outer garments, and fawn or natural wool for the body belt, socks and vest’.
While Uncle Quentin was busy aiding the war effort with his scientific knowledge, Fanny could have been making items like these mittens for the WRENS (although I also like to imagine a more glamorous, fluent German-speaking 
Fanny carrying out a spot of wartime espionage).
As we know, the Kirrins are mildly impoverished when we first meet them in Five on a Treasure Island (whether the Famous Five stories are set pre- or post-war is of course open for debate – the first book was published in 1942 but the war is never mentioned); and Fanny may have kept and adapted patterns such as these for George and her cousins. The tops of these mittens turn down – very handy for keeping the hands warm while fiddling around looking for the entrance to secret passages and the like.
Five on a Hike Together (Part 2): Winter Shoes
November 28, 2009 at 10:12 am | Posted in Anne, Fashion, George, Julian | Leave a commentTags: Abercrombies, brogues, Russell & Bromley, winter shoes
“‘I’m glad you girls took my advice and wore your thickest shoes,’ said Julian, looking with approval at their brogues. Some of our walking may be wet.'”
The transition of autumn into winter, and the incessantly damp weather, has necessitated an upgrading of my decidedly unsturdy summer brogues (below left) 
for some more robust winter shoes. My first port of call was the classic British retailer Russell & Bromley and although I went in search of brogues I finally came away with these jolly nice brown Abercrombies (below right). They are not cheap (£135) but are well-made and feel like they will last a good few years.
Strangely enough, Russell & Bromley don’t seem to have a website at the moment. According to Wikipedia (sorry) the company’s history began in 1873 when shoemaker George Frederick Bromley left Hastings and went to work for Albion Russell who was based in Lewes. If anyone knows more, please do comment.
Shoe buying tip: even if they feel a bit snug when you first get them, your R&Bs will loosen and soften up. Put on a pair of thick socks and wear them around the house for a few days before braving the streets. And don’t wear them for more than one or two days in a row for the first few weeks.
March 2010: I feel compelled to add an addenda here. The shoes did loosen a bit at first but they are still a little uncomfortable. And I am not alone in this. My housemate is also suffering with her patent black leather brogues, and the lovely lady who works in the Victoria Park Pavilion confessed to me today (during a shoe conversation over a Chelsea bun) that she has some similar Russell and Bromleys that pinch her feet too. The main problem is their width – none of us have particularly wide feet but they are just too narrow to be truly comfy. Sad but true. I am going to try having them stretched…
The Classic Trench
September 11, 2009 at 11:09 pm | Posted in Fashion, George | Leave a commentTags: Aquascutum, autumn wardrobe, Burberry, trench coat
The arrival of September and the first autumnally chilly mornings have turned my thoughts to my autumn wardrobe. Alongside the abundance of seasonal foods such as wild mushrooms, pears, hazelnuts, damsons and plums (a FF staple), the prospect of donning snug autumn/winter clothes offers some kind of compensation for the end of summer. Unsurprisingly, I feel that Famous Five style is the way to go and will be taking inspiration from George’s outfits in Five Go Adventuring Again: sturdy brogues, a classic trench and thick woollen jumpers worn with skirts.
But where to find a good trench? Last weekend my housemate and I went to the Burberry factory outlet in search of a bargain. Conveniently enough it’s situated just down the road from where we live. There were some nice items (lovely lambswool scarves) but seeing the clothes in the Gap-like setting of the store really emphasised the chav-like aspects of the brand. Like George, I’m not very tall and their macs are really big and this, combined with the fact that most of the clothes were probably made in overseas sweatshops, made it a slightly disheartening experience.
The other British brand that is well known for its macs is, of course, Aquascutum. According to the company’s website, the majority of its outerwear is made in Corby, Northamptonshire. Each trench takes 6 hours to make and passes through 70 pairs of hands along the way. With this in mind, the £600+ price tag doesn’t seem quite so unreasonable, although I hasten to add that it’s unlikely I will be affording one anytime soon.
Aquascutum was founded in 1851 and has evolved and reinvented itself throughout the decades. Its founder invented showerproof material in 1953 and the company has been keeping civilians and soldiers (guess how the trench coat got its name) dry and stylish ever since. It’s plausible that George’s trench is from Aquascutum. Aunt Fanny would probably appreciate quality of the coat and be confident that it would see George through many adventures (its longevity aided by the fact that the Five age very slowly of course). In a Primark era where fashion changes so quickly and clothes are not made to last, an expensive coat like this seems like a real extravagance. Perhaps though, it’s comparable to the difference between buying meat once a fortnight and getting a good, hand-reared chicken from the butchers or eating the processed parts of a battery animal from the supermarket every day? Or perhaps this is me talking myself into buying an Aquascutum coat?…
Cyclists Special
August 20, 2009 at 11:20 pm | Posted in Cycling, Eating and Drinking, Fashion, Travel | 2 CommentsTags: British Transport Films, Cyclists Special
I’m getting in the holiday spirit by watching a selection of glorious 1950s British Transport Films. These were made to promote travel by train for business and pleasure and are as much evocative travelogues as they are effective advertisements.
West Country Journey (1953) is full of stunning colour images of the people, towns, villages and countryside of Devon and Cornwall, and features children who are very FF in their dress and in their enthusiasm for clambering around rocky coves. Cyclists Special (1955) meanwhile offers up a dazzling array of middle-aged gents in plus fours and woollen socks, alongside more glamorous young women in pedal pushers and pillarbox red lipstick.
The film follows a weekend excursion of the Cyclist Touring Club who ‘rediscover their common humanity’ as they catch trains from the suburbs of London out to Rugby, an apparent gateway to bucolic riches: ‘wooded Warwickshire, sturdy Leicestershire [and] historic Northamptonshire’.
Pubs, castles and battlefields are all on the touring agenda, with plenty of stops for refreshment – all sensible cyclists know that regular snacks are necessary to ‘avoid a touch of the bonk’ (becoming ‘distressingly fatigued’).
The filmmakers boast proudly of the special efforts British
Railways makes for cyclists including a dedicated cycle ‘wagon’ with carefully designed storage racks, and the special trains for cycle excursions such as these. I would say that 1955 definitely had the edge.
Huh?
June 9, 2009 at 9:12 pm | Posted in Eating and Drinking, Fashion, Learning Stuff, Travel | Leave a commentLiving the Blytonian dream in 21st century London and beyond.
Glorious feasts and local produce, vintage cycling, listening to gramophone records and the wireless, exploring our fair isles and having the occasional adventure.
Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.
Entries and comments feeds.
Famous Five Style 