Know then thyself...

[tree_and_leaf]

I used to think I wasn't particularly bothered about clothes; however, I have come to realise that this isn't true... Walking past the various shops on the High can be a bit of a trial, particularly Hobbs and Toast.

Anyway: Toast has a green woolen waistcoat in a sort of subdued tweed in their window. It is a ridiculous sort of garment, and I really, really want one. Unfortunately - or possibly fortunately - Toast never puts their prices in the window (and we all know what that means...) and I don't dare go in and then sneak out intimidated by the price. Or, come to that, end up buying it when I can't actually justify it.

As I was standing their coveting, a middle-aged couple walked past the window, and the woman said, in tones of surprise and pointing at the old telephone, "Oh look, darling, we used to have a phone like that." And I thought, of course you did. So did I, as a kid, and so did virtually everyone I knew. It was the BT standard issue one.... (I remember doing the 'how to dial 999 in the dark by feeling for the metal catch' drill in the Brownies, too - a lot easier than doing it by touch on a digital phone).

(Uses Tolkien icon, because of the waistcoats).

I suppose a waistcoat might work under a gown. And it does seem to have good pockets... No! Cease this madness, and go to the library....

Comments

[pellegrina.livejournal.com]

You could always look up prices on their website ;-)

[gramarye1971]

*sympathises* I own all of one waistcoat in sensible dress black, but occasionally wish I had one in a slightly different colour that would make me look less like a waiter when I wear it. I'd probably wear my nice button-down blouses more often if I had waistcoats to go with them.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

I think you should go in and buy it.

Although I also think Toast is a ridiculous name for a clothes shop...

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I hesitate to advise on clothes, especially for women, or on spending money, though might pass by Toast this afternoon, to see if the waistcoat is still in the window...

We had a 1960s Post Office Telephones standard issue phone well into the 1990s, with arrows behind the holes pointing at numbers and letters, which had their last hurrah in the early days of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (which I was going to abbreviate to STD but realised that a number of readers would probably associate that abbreviation with something else entirely...)

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

There is also such a thing as Oxfam (and related shops), which occasionally has waistcoats.

[tree_and_leaf]

It's a deeply stupid name, but their clothes are nice... £95 is definitely too much, alas....

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

eBay?

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

Ah, speaks another professional scavenger. :D

[tree_and_leaf]

That's a good idea - alas, it's £95, which is definitely far too much. Still, it's settled the question.

[tree_and_leaf]

Or hunting for something similar in charity shops. There's Unicorn on Ship Street, but something about that shop is suggestive of fleas...

[tree_and_leaf]

*g*

I don't think I consciously knew what STD stood for in that context, actually, although I knew it didn't mean the other thing in that context...

[tree_and_leaf]

There is indeed. Well, if I get bored at the weekend...

[tree_and_leaf]

There's also a vintage clothes shop in the centre of town called Unicorn, but the owner is a bit strange, and you can't actually find anything without her assistance, because everything is just thrown into a massive heap...

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

I've never ventured into Unicorn - it looks like a slightly threatening parallel dimension.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, black's a bit too sensible, in some ways! I think I might be taking a trip round some of the charity shops on spec at the weekend.

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's not fun.

I haven't been to the local vintage store here in ages, although I should--there's always free champagne (really) and I'm one of their favorite models, because I will try on anything. Even the 70s pantsuits.

[pellegrina.livejournal.com]

Even worse, there's also a clothes shop called Coast, which makes things confusing.

[wuglet.livejournal.com]

I can totally relate. I'm looking for a new winter jacket at the moment, but well, the money...

Ooh, the Unicorn is cult among Exonians. :)
Do go in, it's surely mind-boggling, but so much fun.

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Guildford has shops like that. Most infuriating. But then a good trawl through a charity shop can be great fun, particularly if it's productive. (I got a gorgeous waistcoat in our local Debra - ex Monsoon, white, with embroidered flowers.)

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Oh, the High Street. Walking past Hobbs is like a special form of torture. And I too support the wider use of waistcoats -- I have a plain black one that I love, but I like to think I could find one in a nice grey herringbone someday...

I have heard good things about Uncle Sam's on Little Clarendon Street, as far as secondhand shops go. I keep meaning to visit, but it's so far out of my way that I never manage to do it. Maybe the next time I meet with my supervisor, as a reward if things go well.

[antisoppist.livejournal.com]

I used to own a dark green suede waistcoat and was upset on the last investigation of the "clothes I don't wear now but might want to wear again in a decade or so" suitcase to find that it had gone mouldy.

I've been dropping in periodically ever since Tell Beauty How She Blasteth, by the way, and finally friended you, if that's OK.

[overconvergent.livejournal.com]

It's also quite pricy; I got a waistcoat there once and it cost me £12 ...

[overconvergent.livejournal.com]

I hesitate to advise on clothes, especially for women

I would agree; I may have preferences but they might not be good advice ...

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, well, Toast makes Hobbs look sane and affordable. (I adore Hobbs, especially their blouses and their skirts, but the prices...)

[tree_and_leaf]

Come to think of it, there's a much cleaner vintage shop a bit further up Cowely Road....

[tree_and_leaf]

It does, doesn't it?

[tree_and_leaf]

And, of course, it's much more satisfying if you do find something good...Your Monsoon weskit sounds lovely.

[tree_and_leaf]

Hullo - yes, I've seen you about, too. Do friend away!

Most distressing about your waistcoat - a friend of mine recently discovered that the collge facility where she'd left her woollens over the long vac had a moth problem...

[tree_and_leaf]

Wow - I wish they were within easy travelling distance - that sounds like great fun!

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Oh, the prices are awful. I keep wondering who can afford to shop there. Which is a shame, since I've cherished a love for their jackets since I was in Cambridge and have never managed to buy one.

[tree_and_leaf]

I have a Hobbs white blouse, which my mother bought me for subfusc (that was the summer before I came up to Oxford, and we tromped round umpteen shops trying to find a plain white blouse, and it ended up being a choice between (a) Tesco school uniform (b) Marks and Sparks poly-cotton with diamante buttons and (c) a tailored blouse from Hobbs for something obscene like £50. It's a lovely blouse, but really...

I think the answer to your question, though, is 'management consultants', or 'wives of management consultants'.

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

~*you want to come to a major university on the American East Coast, you want to come*~

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

I didn't think there were enough management consultants in Oxford to keep them open...although I suppose you've also got Wardens and Wardens' wives, and so forth.

And I can completely sympathise on the white blouse issue -- I technically own two, although one is really a man's shirt (that I wear with aforementioned waistcoat because otherwise it's far too big) and the other's sleeves are too short. They're impossible to find, and you really wouldn't think so, given how ubiquitous they are.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I wish you luck in your waistcoat hunt; waistcoats are a strong contender for Best Thing Ever.

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Could you make one? You don't need a vast amount of fabric and they aren't really tailored much.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I own a small range of Hobbs clothes, but with the exception of a black/white/red tweed skirt which was £75 and I have got every penny's worth out of at work, I've never paid full price for them. One silk blouse came from the sale. The two pairs of trousers (£25 each) and wool jacket came from their really rather good outlet shop at Bicester...

Re. Toast, I think the answer is always "too much".

[tree_and_leaf]

Ooh, I feel a trip to Bicester coming on....

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

That depends on the waistcoat, I think; I have two that are highly tailored.

[tree_and_leaf]

Hm... the way I sew, I'm not sure that is viable....

[tree_and_leaf]

It promises hours of innocent amusement, anyway!

[dolabellae.livejournal.com]

And Ghost. Isn't there also a Ghost? Or am I just thinking of that daft song by Des'ree which rhymes toast and ghost? No, I think there is, and it's next to Toast in Islington, but probably not in Oxford.

Is Bead Games still going up the Cowley Rd, then? I got some good velvet jackets and a Victorian-style frilly shirt there, back in the day...

Hope your waistcoat turns up in the Toast sale.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, Coast, Ghost, Toast...

Bead Games is still going, and there's another one yet, though I can't remeber what it's called, on the corner of James St.

[tree_and_leaf]

It's absurd, isn't it? I have an array of white blouses, but the only one I actually like, other than the Hobbs one, is actually Tesco...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

On the more strictly practical side of things, there is also a Clarks.

[tree_and_leaf]

Clarks never have shoes narrow enough to fit me. At least, they never used to.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

How are you getting on?

[tree_and_leaf]

Not very well so far, but we shall see....