Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Sizes
I wondered into Selfridge's lingerie department today along with lots of middle-aged women buying sensible beige bras, a Muslim woman in a burkha shopping with her husband, and a wealthy-looking foreign 'gentleman' purring into a mobile while handing piles of Agent Provocateur demi-cup bras and basques to a sales assistant.
Anyway, I had decided the time had finally come to get my bra size measured. I'd heard for years that 90% of women wear the wrong size bra, but have always assumed this somehow didn't apply to me. And I was completely shocked by what the fitter told me when she put away her tape measure. She declared me to be 2 cup sizes bigger than I have believed for my entire adult life, and 2 rib-measurement sizes (the 32/34/36/38 bit) smaller than I have always believed. I have therefore been wearing totally ill-fitting underwear for all these years.
Amazed, I tried on a load of bras in my 'new' size and they fitted perfectly! I realised that for years I have been living unnecessarily with bulges and gaps in all the wrong places and with far too little 'support'. It was a complete revelation. All I can say to any woman reading this who has not been measured is try it and you might have an excuse to buy yourself a whole new lingerie wardrobe!
Anyway, I had decided the time had finally come to get my bra size measured. I'd heard for years that 90% of women wear the wrong size bra, but have always assumed this somehow didn't apply to me. And I was completely shocked by what the fitter told me when she put away her tape measure. She declared me to be 2 cup sizes bigger than I have believed for my entire adult life, and 2 rib-measurement sizes (the 32/34/36/38 bit) smaller than I have always believed. I have therefore been wearing totally ill-fitting underwear for all these years.
Amazed, I tried on a load of bras in my 'new' size and they fitted perfectly! I realised that for years I have been living unnecessarily with bulges and gaps in all the wrong places and with far too little 'support'. It was a complete revelation. All I can say to any woman reading this who has not been measured is try it and you might have an excuse to buy yourself a whole new lingerie wardrobe!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Perforated stationery hell
It has recently come to my attention that it is virtually no longer possible to go into WHSmith or Woolworths or Rymans or even Paperchase anymore and buy a nice notebook which does not have perforated pages.
It may seem a small and trivial gripe, but anyone who's ever wanted a notebook to be a notebook, as opposed to a notebook crossed with a pad of A4 rip-put paper, must sympathise with the level of my affront.
Message to stationery buyers: we do not want too-clever-by-half notebooks with pages which tear off by themselves when you turn them. We just want normal notebooks!
I spent about two hours last weekend searching for a nice unperforated notebook in all the shops on Finchley Road and South End Green, with increasing disbelief at the impossibility of the task. Of course, I eventually found what I was looking for: a beautiful selection of A4 hard and softcovered books with ruled pages and NO PERFORATED HOLES. Which shop was this beacon of wonder? The art shop, of course. The sweet little art shop on Finchley Road, with its shelves stacked with classic, well bound, European-made stationery. It is quite simply the last outpost of traditional stationery in Hampstead.
It may seem a small and trivial gripe, but anyone who's ever wanted a notebook to be a notebook, as opposed to a notebook crossed with a pad of A4 rip-put paper, must sympathise with the level of my affront.
Message to stationery buyers: we do not want too-clever-by-half notebooks with pages which tear off by themselves when you turn them. We just want normal notebooks!
I spent about two hours last weekend searching for a nice unperforated notebook in all the shops on Finchley Road and South End Green, with increasing disbelief at the impossibility of the task. Of course, I eventually found what I was looking for: a beautiful selection of A4 hard and softcovered books with ruled pages and NO PERFORATED HOLES. Which shop was this beacon of wonder? The art shop, of course. The sweet little art shop on Finchley Road, with its shelves stacked with classic, well bound, European-made stationery. It is quite simply the last outpost of traditional stationery in Hampstead.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Summer!!
I'm pleased to report to all my many foreign readers (err..ok, so I may not have any) that Britain is back to its post-global warming, al fresco, sunglasses and bare skin summertime vibe as of TODAY. All the people still in winter coats looked caught-out by the warm sunshine and were extra grumpy on the tube. The shops were packed with girls desperately searching for sandals not yet in stock. It's going to be a long, hot summer - you can feel it in the air.
In other news, with my friend, I'm starting a writers -artists- musicians etc collective..more on that soon. But in brief, the aim is to recreate in London today the creative buzz of 1970s San Francisco/New York! Together, we can do it. Artists unite!
Speaking of 70s San Fran, Aline Kominsky Crumb's been my inspiration this last week - her husband may have a reputation as not quite a feminist, but Aline's definitely a feminist. Her cartoons are just so honest and real. I absolutely adore them.
In other news, with my friend, I'm starting a writers -artists- musicians etc collective..more on that soon. But in brief, the aim is to recreate in London today the creative buzz of 1970s San Francisco/New York! Together, we can do it. Artists unite!
Speaking of 70s San Fran, Aline Kominsky Crumb's been my inspiration this last week - her husband may have a reputation as not quite a feminist, but Aline's definitely a feminist. Her cartoons are just so honest and real. I absolutely adore them.
