Fashion: Claire Forster gets Christmassy
Angry Young Man on the Bond franchise
Christmas is nearly here again and, if you are anything like me, you’ll love the Yuletide season. It’s the time to start listening to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. It’s the time to gorge ourselves on food before we return to studentville and pasta. But above all, it is a time for giving and being considerate. So, being the giving and considerate person that I am, I have already drafted, re-drafted, prefected, stamped and mailed my Crimbo list to all my loved ones so that they can prove just how loved I am. After all, the number of shopping days left till Christmas is decreasing rapidly. On a more positive note, there’s still enough time for me to remind everyone what a fabulous daughter/sister/girlfriend etc etc I am. Luckily for us, there’s plenty of new stock in the stores this season to choose from. What’s even better is that the casual look is very cool this Winter with a great selection of essential woollies meaning that Granny would not have to try very hard to get it wrong this year. Fingers crossed that the sales assistants will point her in the direction of the funky, chunky knit, long cardies that are about. I know, I know, most of you will already be snuggled up in yours and I realise that they’ve been around for a wee while now but they really are taking off. If, however you’re not sold on the cardies or your smug cos’ you already have one, then there’s some fab coats around too. Gone are the days when it was just the kiddies in the playground wearing parkas. They are fast becoming a staple for the British uniform wardrobe. Ironically though, there are less ‘mods’ and more ‘rockers’ this time around. The boys can even join in on this trend. Oh, and whilst we’re on the subject of men, it’s always a good idea to keep them informed of your dress and shoe size. This avoids all kinds of embarrassing scenarios. Think men in an underwear store. Yeah, you do the maths!
So, we’ve looked at the coats but I cant talk about outerwear without mentioning the slouchy boots that are about at the moment. Mmmm, so comfy and warm. Teamed with funky patterened hosiery (Aristoc and Pretty Polly have great ranges in House of Fraser) or with the new harem trousers (thats ultra skinny trews to you and me) tucked into boots, eithier way they look great. I must admit that this is a tried and tested look by moi, and the results on the male opinion show that the jury is still out. This could be a ‘scare the boys away’ look! However, a woman may be more united, with mums everywhere saying “I had a pair just like them” and “I only chucked them out last year” Doh! Luckily for us, The Bootroom on Park Street has a great selection.
That only leaves one last finishing touch to keep you toasty this winter and thats the Harry Potter esque, long preppy scarf (Doctor Who’s is better! - Ed). The longer, the better, you could even knit your own original! However, if you’d rather not, there are loads to choose from in the shops. This could even see the death of the pashmina, but I dont think I’ll be chucking mine just yet.
All good things must come to an end though and that brings me neatly to the end of another article. As always, if you have any comments, you can contact me on:
muttsnutsfashion@hotmail.com
Happy shopping!
Claire Forster
I like strawberry cheesecake. But I wouldn’t particularly enjoy a slice of cheesebury strawcake, and I don’t. That comment will be clarified by my strange logic later in this article, just give me time. It’s the recent run of James Bond films that I am going to discuss in an academic light spanning debates on film criticism, armistice, politics and culture. What the f*ck is going on! Bond used to be about stylish espionage and even more stylish sex sessions with the Bond girl(s). This was the essence of Bond; it was the cheese of the cheesecake. This metaphorical cheesecake was why I for one loved it; the action hero stuff was the sweet topping that produced the finished article. Mmmm.
Maybe this is a sign of the times, perhaps in this age of techno-violence Bond needs to upgrade. Q has joined the NRA, downloaded chemical warfare ingredients off the internet and become buddies with George W. It would be interesting to find if there is an American director involved (this might be true, I couldn’t be arsed to research it. My seminar tutors are thinking ‘tell me about it.’ Sub-ed’s note: Director Lee Tamahori is actually from New Zealand: useless fact - his father is Maori, his mother British). The typical English-British cool behind Bond’s character is still mostly there but it has become overshadowed by an alter-ego of gung-ho, manic, apocalyptic, mushroom-cloud-making psychopath. A reflection of Anglo-American relations? Very interesting, Mr. Bond. It could be that this is a political agent in the pro-‘war against Iraq’ campaign; I don’t know, and frankly I don’t care. The politics is still a bit of a task from which I will veer away from quickly. But when I go to the cinema I want to see something that I haven’t seen before, like Halle Berry’s muff. I don’t want to see Bond’s character simplified to such second rate action sequences. I’ll pay the computer game and because I don’t have the spy skills of Bond I’ll just blow everything up - that’s fun, you can control what goes, and get enjoyment. But like a veteran porn star, Bond has been reduced to one shallow repetitive scenario that begins with his gun being produced, aimed at it’s target, and reloaded several times before resulting in a once momentous explosion.
Gareth Williams IS the Angry Young Man