Wednesday, April 02, 2008
HIGH WAISTERS
So, anyway, as I said in response to a comment by Timbaland, the John Howard track on the mixtape isn't that good really: a poor copy of Jobriath, who in turn was a poor copy of The Bowie. There are better songs on that album, I'm sure.
Not only is John Howard a former Australian Prime Minister, his name is also redolent of the name of a certain kind of gentlemen's outfitter from the 1970's. The sort of place that would advertise their wares on local TV with a voiceover saying "Men's Trevira slacks start at an incredible £5.99!!!!!!!! Polycotton print shirts only £4.99!!!!!! Amazing value!!!! Hurry on down while stocks last!!!!!"
I don't know if they ever ran out of exclamation marks in the stock room, but it was quite possible.
Whatever happened to the pioneering manmade fabrics of the '70's: Trevira; Terylene; Crimplene; Acrylic; Tricot; Courtelle? I'm sure there were various sub divisions such as Acrilan and Tricotine which would be carefully detailed in the Marshall Ward or John Moore catalogues that used to do the rounds of my mum's sisters' and friends' houses like a joint being passed around at a party (or a shop assistant at a Manchester Utd roasting, if you prefer a more modern reference).
All of those fabrics sounded like the names of girl groups from outer space. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that The Shirelles were named after a manmade fabric - probably that thin, diaphanous looking stuff that is used on the billowing sleeves of very, er, billowy blouses.
Thing is, after the return to fashion of natural materials in the late 1970's, were the reams of man made fabrics taken from warehouse shelves and placed in concreted underground bunkers? After all, they have a half life of five hundred years. We may all be victims of a silent epidemic. As masses of tiny Courtelle fibres float up above ground we could be breathing them in, with the consequence that we'll probably all die of horrible debilitating chest diseases in our fifties and sixties.
You don't find out about this stuff in the Real Media. Only we subversives on the underground blogging scene are willing to pass this shit on, maan.
I'll be returning to the theme of 1970's clothes shops in the next post, unless somebody of great social importance dies and I have to do an obituary in the meantime.
Labels: John Howard, John Moore, manmade fabrics, while stocks last
