I’m a simple child really. Give me a few jolly experiences and I’m a happy bunny. In clothes, I ask for very little but if I get a few tactile experiences out of a piece of clothing, there we have the fashion equivalent of Prozac. The tactile experiences that I speak of have been accumulated over the years as clothes have been sucked into the black hole that is my wardrobe (it’s the place where no garment is ever going to make it back out alive again....). They’re particular to myself and not necessarily everyone is going to enjoy the same things. For instance, I know one person who hates the feeling of gloves on her hands because she feels they’re claustrophobic whilst I luxuriate in the feeling of pulling on a properly fitted pair of snug snug gloves. Expense/labels/designers are quite irrelevant in these tactile experiences as they can occur anywhere and these days, my very picky/selective high street shopping means that I keep an eagle eye out for any potential fashion Prozac buzzes that might come about....
So what are these tactile experiences I speak of? Excuse the reeling of lo-ong list but some of them need a little explanation because as I exclaim ‘Wooden fasteners’ to the boyf and friends, their eyebrows raise and it’s all a leeeetle bit strange to them as to why I’m squealing over what are essentially buttons....
Pulling silk stockings over the legs – Talc required first on the legs but once you get the scrunch motion going and the top band has been securely hoisted up..... it’s all silky gravy....
Wriggling into bandage elastic dresses – It’s probably a pain pleasure thing (not an S&M thing...) but there is a feeling of being an elastic cocoon when being zipped up into a bandage dress.
Wooden Push Snap Fasteners – The sound isn’t as clicky as the metal ones but the very silent ‘snap’ motion and the little stitches that go over them to fix them to whatever clothing makes these my snappers of choice.(right now, a pair of wool leggings with wooden fasteners gong up the calves are making me all giggly...)
Hook and Eye – These can be fiddly but I’ve never had to ask people to do these up for me because I love doing up rows of them. Thankfully, I have a shirt that has them diagonally across my chest which basically has the happiness equivalent of a few dollops of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.
Ribbed Sleeves – If I’ve knitted them myself, even better, but a good bit of ribbing on some longish sleeves that I can pull over my hands is pretty awesome.
Fastening wide belts to the smallest hole setting – Yes, there’s an element of vanity sizing here but I just like it when there all the holes of the belt are on one side of buckle.
Pulling opera gloves over the arms and hands – Leather or suede are the preferred fabrics but they absolutely have to be over the elbow. I make particularly dramatic motions of wriggling my fingers into the gloves so that they fit properly.
Lovely zips – There may well be a technical name for these type of zips but I can only name examples like the zips on Lanvin dresses or large toothed plastic zips that go up smoothly without snagging anything.
Inside a grey sweatshirt – A metallic-grey A.P.C. sweatshirt that I bought a few years ago (and then lost on holiday... ) had the nicest texture inside so much so that I pretty much went bare underneath the sweatshirt all the time as it felt like someone was giving me a fabric hug all the time.
Clips on braces – Actually, I just love these sort of clips on any sort of garment, not just braces. Not as ferocious as bulldog clips... so they’re like... your friendly neighbourhood clip.
Taffeta skirts – What have I said about wanting to rustle along a street? A skirt that whispers and ‘shhhhh’s is a keeper in my books.
Digging hands into huge pockets on dresses/skirts – For me, this is far more satisfying on a skirt/dress than on trousers actually and the larger the pockets are, the better. I don’t even really have stuff to put in the pockets nor do I have huge hands but it’s just the feeling of diving my hands deep into the pockets that is an automatic reflex of mine.
The weight of duchesse satin – I don’t mind carrying weight as long as it’s of this fabric type.
Clasps on purses – Any sort will do just so as long as they’re well-oiled and non-rusty (actually, I used to have nightmares of eating rusted metal which made me use plastic/wooden cutlery for a while....).
Paper Bag Waists – The excess of fabric around the true waist is again, probably a vanity sizing thing but still I love pulling it all in and having all the fabric gather up.
Fabric covered buttons running along the neck/sleeve – Couldn’t find a good image to illustrate this but I think people will know what I mean about small fabric covered buttons that go into button loops as opposed to holes. 1920s’ and 30s’ gear are particularly good at having rows of these buttons going up the back, down the sleeve or at the sides.
Grosgrain – Well, this probably comes as no surprise but the ribbed qualities of grosgrain that makes it both smooth and textured means I basically love this as a material, and not just as a trimming.
I’m pretty sure Style Bubble readers share some of the above but I also know you have your own little experiences that push you into buying yet another item of clothing or at least trying them on so you get your kicks.... do tell do tell....
