Forever drawn to the wild, psychedelic prints and saturated colours of clothes from the late 60s and 70s, it seemed natural to collect the polyester pleasures that made my heart soar.
However it wasn't long before I remembered my mother's words about man-made fabrics; they just don't breathe.
In cooler climates it didn't seem too much of a bother but here in Brisbane, my wardrobe was getting jammed with amazing gear, yet I had nothing to wear.
Nylon, crimplene, nylon-jersey, polyester of every weight and thickness in every colour under the sun greeted me merrily each morning: "pick me, pick me Desiree!"
It finally dawned on me why there was such an abundance of beaut maxis, flares and jackets in the op shops and markets ... they were an instant sauna in a bag and people in our sub-tropical climate simply couldn't abide them.
So I sold off and gave away a large portion of my polyester friends *sniff*.
I'm afraid I cannot bear to have clothes hanging in my wardrobe that I can't wear for comfort reasons, instead adhering to a cotton-only policy for 1970s gear and drawing on my life-long love and adoration of all things 1930s and 40s.
Rayon was an inexpensive, affordable and hard-wearing fabric during that era, and since it's a synthetic manufactured from wood pulp, it seems a more humidity-tolerant fabric.
What a relief! I love the styles from the 30s and 40s ... the details are beautiful, the fabrics fare incredibly well for their age and I like the tailoring.
But if you've been popping over here for a while, you'll probably know I never, ever wear any era from top-to-toe ... not my scene.
Modern synthetics are still very dodgy in my opinion, but depending on the cut, they can be worn on days like today ... the last day of winter.
So today I chose a few bits and pieces that I can get away with before the sauna cranks up for six months of summer.
An ode to nylon in its many forms.
However it wasn't long before I remembered my mother's words about man-made fabrics; they just don't breathe.
In cooler climates it didn't seem too much of a bother but here in Brisbane, my wardrobe was getting jammed with amazing gear, yet I had nothing to wear.
Nylon, crimplene, nylon-jersey, polyester of every weight and thickness in every colour under the sun greeted me merrily each morning: "pick me, pick me Desiree!"
It finally dawned on me why there was such an abundance of beaut maxis, flares and jackets in the op shops and markets ... they were an instant sauna in a bag and people in our sub-tropical climate simply couldn't abide them.
So I sold off and gave away a large portion of my polyester friends *sniff*.
I'm afraid I cannot bear to have clothes hanging in my wardrobe that I can't wear for comfort reasons, instead adhering to a cotton-only policy for 1970s gear and drawing on my life-long love and adoration of all things 1930s and 40s.
Rayon was an inexpensive, affordable and hard-wearing fabric during that era, and since it's a synthetic manufactured from wood pulp, it seems a more humidity-tolerant fabric.
What a relief! I love the styles from the 30s and 40s ... the details are beautiful, the fabrics fare incredibly well for their age and I like the tailoring.
But if you've been popping over here for a while, you'll probably know I never, ever wear any era from top-to-toe ... not my scene.
Modern synthetics are still very dodgy in my opinion, but depending on the cut, they can be worn on days like today ... the last day of winter.
So today I chose a few bits and pieces that I can get away with before the sauna cranks up for six months of summer.
An ode to nylon in its many forms.
Earrings and FREEK necklace - Bones Couture
1940s slip, lace coat, Top Shop shoes, spiked headband, other jewellery, gold powder compact, feather hair clips, gold belt - all from op shops, markets, eBay
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