CaB Fashion Thread

[Sherringford Hovis]

I know an army surplus jacket going cheap. Is that something a normal person can wear, or will I end up looking like Travis Bickle, or Paddy Considine in Dead Man's Shoes?

Travis Bickle wears an M65 - a design classic, and available in many colours and other materials than the standard olive polycotton ripstop. I've got a navy blue Alpha Industries shiny one that I bought in 1999 and won't die despite me wearing it for all kinds of literally shitty tasks.

Rodney Trotter's continuity is all over the place with his jackets - sometimes he sports a very rare and highly desirable late 1960s French lizard camo jacket (the one with poppers on the breast pocket); the rest of the time he's sporting a crappy British 85 pattern DPM affair - about the worst item of military uniform ever produced anywhere: a real moron jacket.

I must do a post for this thread about army surplus stuff, since it's about 80% of my wardrobe.

[Blue Jam]

DPM

Wow, the last time I heard that term was back when I was buying Maharishi snopants from sample sales. Think I even went to the "DPM" exhibition at the London store when the book launched. Ha, how very Nathan Barley... ;)

I still like a bit of camo though, got a nice camo dress from French Connection years back and more recently I got a camo face mask and a camo sports bra. No-one will see the bra when I'm out running but whatever, it makes me feel badass. Like a sexy bulletproof vest.

Would love to read more about DPM if you were to start that thread!

[An tSaoi]

I must do a post for this thread about army surplus stuff, since it's about 80% of my wardrobe.

Please do. You sound like you know your stuff.

[Blue Jam]

I should have bought the DPM book. I think it was quite pricey at launch but it's probably worth a fucking bomb now.

[Ray Travez]

Rodney Trotter's continuity is all over the place with his jackets - sometimes he sports a very rare and highly desirable late 1960s French lizard camo jacket (the one with poppers on the breast pocket); the rest of the time he's sporting a crappy British 85 pattern DPM affair - about the worst item of military uniform ever produced anywhere: a real moron jacket.

Very interesting; I'd never considered different designs having their own style capital. I've always favoured a more muted pattern myself- desert, or pale green woodland.

(How does it feel to be the Buzby of military fashion? ;) )

[Better Midlands]

Sherringford Hovis, what's Andy on the right wearing?

[touchingcloth]

Sherringford Hovis, what's Andy on the right wearing?

Coat.

Does anyone ever go for properly vintage military fashion, like pith helmets and massive jodhpurs? Or something modern but starker than camo, like a UN Peacekeeper beret?

[hamfist]

Get a safari suit

Soviet Safari Suit

[Sherringford Hovis]

Sherringford Hovis, what's Andy on the right wearing?

It's a shirt rather than a jacket - Austrian Bundesheer. I'm not sure the collar flashes are authentic though - I'm fairly certain without bothering to DuckDuck that Austrian rank stars have six points as opposed to five here.

[Attila]

Our interests are uncannily paired, Attila.  It's almost disturbing.  I too have a thing for those tank tops and fair isle in general.  I have one, which is lovely but I never wear it, I keep it with my other cloths of heaven, where I can see it and it can empower me should I need empowerment. 

I have some enormous baskets of lovely wool, some left by my grandmother, some from Emmaus and vide greniers and when I have more green and time, I too will be knitting up a bit of fair isle for myself.  Mine will probably be rubbish, unlike yours, because I am not an habitual knitter.  Still, it will be a pleasure to me.  Can you do a photo when yours is done?  I would love to see it.

I can do, sure! Right now the adult-sized one is just ribbing and about 3 inches of lower body, so not much to write home about (and I've got The Fear that my colourways aren't going to work as well as I thought).

But here is Tiny Toast showing off her tiny tank top



She did have both legs in it properly, but shifted just as I took the photo



I like the mini one, as it was put together from a box of colour-coordinated sample skeins (all browns and neutral colours).

I knit in the round, which I find way nicer to do than with straight pins, and I've learned that the dreaded steeks are a piece of piss.

I think it's lovely that you have wools from your grandmother -- I'm also putting together alternatively a quilt made with what's left of my grandmother's fabric stash. <3

You might want to practice Fair Isle and knitting in the round on on socks or fingerless mitts before trying a huge project like a tank top, especially if you want to log in some more knitting time. I've got some simple patterns if you would like.

I usually knit socks with self-striping wool, because I'm lazy, but here are some samplers where I was practicing/messing about with colour/Fair Isle

[Attila]

Coat.

Does anyone ever go for properly vintage military fashion, like pith helmets and massive jodhpurs? Or something modern but starker than camo, like a UN Peacekeeper beret?

Mr Attila wears a fuckton of camo around the house and garden, in case we get snipers in the allotment amongst the runner beans.

Sometimes I wear my dad's Navy dress blouse (he was a mechanic's mate during the War), but goes from 'this is cosy' to I AM BURNING UP HOTTER THAN HELL within about 10 minutes. Poor sap had to wear this stuff in July and August in Naples; he complains constantly in his diary about how hot it was even without having to wear long sleeve and long trouser uniforms (he was part of Operation Dragoon, at least the supply part, and mentions with great affront how the British guys he worked with wore...shorts (shock! horror!) whilst on duty.)

He kept everything, so I have his dress trousers, too, and they pretty much fit. I wish I were brave enough to wear them just for the hell of it (or it got cold enough). Everytime I put them on, though, I immediately want to tap dance.

This was his favourite jumper when he was a teenager



I have photos of him from various times from when he was a teenger and into his 20s wearing this jumper. I wear it sometimes, but it has to be a really, really cold day -- it's a double knit Jantzen, and it gets boiling hot especially indoors. The photo here was taken in the dead of winter in Baltimore back in the early 1940s. The jumper is a milky-coffee coloured background with bright blue and red on the motif/pattern. You can see he's got a shirt on underneath -- deffo a top tip. I'm not allergic to wool, but unless I wear a cami under this jumper, I'm itching like a mofo within an hour or so.

[Buelligan]

Weeeooow!  Those are some mighty fine pics - I really think you should post the Tiny Toasts over to the CAT thread.  No cat-lover could be immune to such glory, has made my morning.  Absolutely delightful in every respect.  The sock patterns and colours make me think of Greek vases - you put some figures in too, which is amazing and quite an inspiration.  You could tie it in with Picasso ceramics - he did some, I'm sure you know, in similar tones.  Exciting thoughts.  And the possibility of having legs like Greek urns is always an appealing thought.

Had a lovely gentle friend who always rode his motorcycle in ancient leather Luftwaffe jodhpurs.

[Attila]

Ahh -- the Greek vase socks -- a colleague actually designed the bands for a properly matched set of socks (she sells the pattern through Ravelry). My version of her pattern was just to grab the motifs randomly for practice, the hell with symmetry.

At some point, I have plans to make socks with more Roman motifs (but I am pretty lazy, and usually just adapt from pattern collections 'n' stuff)

Both pairs of those socks are slightly too small for me, and I'm a bit on the skinny side -- lesson learned: use the next size up needles.

Off to post Tiny on the cats thread.

[chveik]

nice socks you've got there

[bgmnts]

Wearing my dark beige chinos, beige boots and salmon tshirt.

Fucking hot.

[Fr.Bigley]

I just bought a very colourful (every primary colour) pair of puma trainers which looking at the youth in the area and their similar footwear, might make me look like I'm having a midlife crisis...buyers remorse to follow when I get laughed at in the pub. I'll keep you all posted.

[bgmnts]

Update: its tan, not beige.

[Blue Jam]

I just bought a very colourful (every primary colour) pair of puma trainers which looking at the youth in the area and their similar footwear, might make me look like I'm having a midlife crisis...buyers remorse to follow when I get laughed at in the pub. I'll keep you all posted.

I remember seeing an interview with the Pet Shop Boys once where Chris Lowe said something like "I've always loved lairy sportswear. I know I'm getting too old for it now but I don't care." Good lad. I had to admire that.

As I get older I find myself buying more lairy sportswear. Bright colours and big logos. I especially like wearing smart shirts and trousers (don't really wear jeans) with some lairy trainers and a big watch. Got myself some Superga trainers in silver recently, I always like to have at least one pair of silver trainers on the go. There's a certain threshold of lairiness where once passed, lairy becomes neutral- red, silver or gold shoes, camo, or anything in animal print (never been a fan of animal print, just using that as an example).

Back to the subject of lairy sportswear, I have just ordered some running stuff from Adidas and also got myself a gender neutral t-shirt. Hahahahah in your face glinner:

https://www.adidas.co.uk/t-shirt-gender-neutral/GD3103.html

Love Adidas because I'm a scally.

Also picked up a nice smart navy blue sweatshirt which looks a bit Larry David. Got my Vic Reeves-esque Reebok glasses on, my style icons right there. Oh yes, and Chris Lowe. Who are your style icons, CaBbers?

[touchingcloth]

There's a certain threshold of lairiness where once passed, lairy becomes neutral- red, silver or gold shoes, camo, or anything in animal print (never been a fan of animal print, just using that as an example).

This is true. I'm incredibly shy, but I find I can be inconspicuous if I wear a loud shell suit and smoke a cigar. 

[An tSaoi]

Damn. The man who had the military jacket going cheap has sold it.

Does anyone (Sherringford Hovis for example) know where to get a good one for a reasonable price online? And what counts as reasonable?

There are loads of sites of course, but a lot of them are just cheap shitty jackets in a vaguely military style. It seems the M65 jacket is like the N95 mask; people stick the number on any old listing and call it a day. Are there any particular brands I can look for?

[Mr Banlon]

.

[Mr Banlon]

Sherringford Hovis, what's Andy on the right wearing?

Italian Army jacket : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152294780961?hash=item237579f021:g:wLQAAOSwHsRYEMk6
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273877393761?hash=item3fc45d6161:g:3k8AAOSwQaJXRKDg

[Better Midlands]

Italian Army jacket : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152294780961?hash=item237579f021:g:wLQAAOSwHsRYEMk6
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273877393761?hash=item3fc45d6161:g:3k8AAOSwQaJXRKDg

That looks pretty decent with the nipped in waist.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

i wanted to make a post asking what exciting things people have been wearing lately because i'm really nosey and i like things like that but i chickened out of posting a photo of my outfit because it means posting photos of 'yourself' online

today it's a full jaeger ensemble and i think very nice. perhaps post a cropped picture later if this is the kind of thing anyone is interested in sharing in

[We Are Puppets]

yes, I'd be interested. I've thought about posting a cropped photo myself. I seem to be more interested in style than most other things right now

[Dex Sawash]

Crosspost to 'how hard are you chillin' thread. Boss gone for weekend and I'm in charge. Crocs, thrift store maternity leggings, cargos, Ikea cargo strap belt, black tshirt (polyester)

[Mr Eggs]

Crosspost to 'how hard are you chillin' thread. Boss gone for weekend and I'm in charge. Crocs, thrift store maternity leggings, cargos, Ikea cargo strap belt, black tshirt (polyester)

Thrift store maternity leggings? Is that a kink or piss wick buffer for yer thin cargo shorts?

[Dex Sawash]

Twofer

[Mr Eggs]

A casual observer would think you've filled in a swimming pool to play indoor bowls.

[flotemysost]

Has anyone else been going a bit wild in the charity shops now that they've reopened? I suppose lots of them will have a glut of stock after being closed for so long, there are some absolute corkers in the shops near me.

Got a ...And Other Stories denim pinafore, vintage leather shorts and a tags-on silk Zara dress which all fit like a glove. I probably need to stop.

The Crisis shops all seem to have loads of amazing mid-century furniture at the moment too, but that's another thread.