Think Piiiiink this October

So, once again, October is here. It is the month of Halloween, falling leaves and, lest we forget, Breast Cancer Awareness.

Bizarre as it is, breast cancer does just what the song in the Audrey Hepburn classic film 'Funny Face' from 1957 tells us to do, we 'Think Pink'.

And so, in honour of that, this month I am going to donate £5 to the Breast Cancer Partnership for every pink thing I sell through ASOS Marketplace.

A couple of the things you could choose to get hold and make me make a donation at the same time look like this:



Pink quilted jacket, peach maxi cocktail dress, high waisted 80's polk-a-dot-trousers, hot pink shorts.

More will be added as the month continues and donations, fingers crossed, stack up and up and up...

If you're not in the pink mood- it happens to us all sometimes- then please do just go over and make a donation on the Breast Cancer Partnership site.

I recommend them because I know them very well thanks to my day job, and because I find the protect, pioneer and support women against breast cancer a unique one. We all need to know what we can do to prevent breast cancer... and do it. While helping women and families who are afflicted by the disease.

Thanks for thinking pink and, I hope, for your generosity. If you also sell on ASOS, Etsy, Ebay or any other site, please do think about making your own donation, of any amount and for as many or few things as you can. Would love it if the vintage and handmade community got behind this!

Second class workers, second hand clothes, second class citizens?

Not all movies that inspire vintage lovers were made in the era whose fashions they showcase. Films produced now should get a mention too. And especially those that remind us there are women to whom we owe a great deal. A great deal of our pay packet in fact.







When Made in Dagenham came out, I was excited for two reasons:

1. The late 60's fashion we'd get to see on film, of course, I dressed up in a yellow 60's shift when I went to see it.
2. But more importantly, the reminder that inspirational women stood up and fought for equal rights and equal pay.







As a self declared feminist, I am frequently disappointed by women who refuse the title, ascribing it to hairy unattractive women who probably hate men anyway. Not. The. Case. Bill Bailey (pictured below in a Fawcett Society t-shirt may be hairy, but...)








A feminist is a person who believes in equal and fair rights for men and women. And that is what the women in Made in Dagenham are all about. We can learn more from them than simple fashion lessons. We can learn how to fight, why to fight and what the outcome of victory could mean for women kind and human kind for years to come.

I raise this now because we are at a time when feminists are needed. Political, economic and cultural changes mean that we are not at a point when we can take our eye off the balls (couldn't resist).

If you're in doubt, consider what has been happening in the UK and further afield over the past few months:

- Kenneth Clarke, our Secretary of Justice, implied that date rape was not 'serious rape'. This is not just a matter of semantics. Until 1991, a husband could not rape his wife, marriage meant an agreement by the wife to have sex with her husband. Having an exemption like this turned over in the courts requires a ground swell of citizens, and a strong government who understands the complexities of rape. This change happened 20 years ago. If Ken Clarke had been in power then, would it have happened? A man who fails to label date rape as serious. What would he have done when faced with a marital rape case?

- Only 31% of councillors are women. If progress continues at current rates, it will be another 150 years before women are equally represented.

- The recent much criticised Slut Walk was first organised by a group of young women in Canada, angry that their Chief of Police told them to dress modestly to avoid rape. The media treated this as a joke, and many failed to grasp or explore the real freedom and rights these women were marching for. If you want to get an idea of the reaction, just read this piece in the Spectator. The writer likens a woman wearing a short skirt to leaving your window open at home and expecting not to be burgled. Seriously.

- And if you want to get back to the issue of equal pay, women are still paid an average of 15.5% less than men. This is 40 years since the Equal Pay Act which the brave women portrayed in this film fought for

I am sorry that this post has turned into an unashamed feminist rant, but surely we should all be angry right now? And yes we can dress like vintage sluts at the same time.







If you need any more convincing, or just want to find out what you can do, then get to The Fawcett Society- read, support, join.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Herstory- the bra

Tomorrow is Coppa Feel Day. So let's BOOB HIJACK!!

To inspire your mission, I'm sharing some trivia with you about the one thing that cops a feel every day. Your bra, and a couple of the wondrous women we have to thank for it.

So, bra facts:

The word comes from brassiere, 'upper arm' in old French.




The garment itself has been around in various guises, gauzes and girdles for eons. But 'brassiere' appeared in American Vogue in 1907. And so naturally became the name of choice.




The bra as we know it is based on it girl Mary Phelps Jacobs' invention in 1913. Commercial success was originally far from her mind. She just wanted to go to a party in a plunging sheer dress. Her corset was cumbersome and poked through, so she sewed silk handkerchiefs together with pink ribbon. Ingenious. And history, or herstory, was made.

She patented her design and set up business as Caresse Crosby (Coppa Feel Crosby?). But soon sold to Warner Brothers Corsetry for $1500. They went on to make over £15,000,000 from the design over the next 30 years.

Rarely mentioned are her other passions, as a peace activist, and success as a publisher of some literary greats' early work. Think Hemingway, Pound, Eliot & Joyce.






Equally inspirational, in 1928, Ida Rosenthal pioneered the cup sizing we use now. She epitomised the American Dream- a Russian immigrant using hard work and inventiveness to rise to the top with her business, Maidenform.

Like Mary, her interest in underwear stemmed from a love of dresses and wanting them to look their best. She was surprised when her bras sold better than the dresses they were supposed to promote.

But she embraced the trend and was the first to sell nursing bras and adjustable backs... All under a racy slogan: 'I dreamed... in a Maidenform Bra'. I think Peggy would have been proud.

And now it's your turn. Check your own breasts, maybe check some others, and make sure everyone knows how and why to coppa feel.