Friday, July 01, 2011

tales of tying jumpers

From top: Aino via Vice Style, Kirsten Dunst, No. 21 Resort '12.

"Be careful or the wind will change and you'll be stuck looking like that." Ah, that age old threat used by pissed off parents to coerce young chronic nose-pickers or teenagers with obsessive compulsive facial twitches into amending their ways. Well, the wind changed. And tying of jumpers stuck. "Yeah, that'll teach you, you old gesture of convenience, you," the Wind says "you're stuck. And what are you going to do about it?" The tying of the one's jumper, whether over the shoulders or around the waist has been shadowed by it's bad reputation for some time. While other 'gestures' have found a niche for themselves as trends, see 'hangbags hung from the crook of the elbow circa 2006' or the more latterly 'tucking hair into coat collars', jumper tying has been banished and forced to wallow in it's Sloaney associations and past incarnation as Pringle sweaters over shoulders on the Kings Road. Of course this is all generalisation, I'm sure there are plenty of people who are no longer plagued by childhood memories of their Mother forcefully tying a jumper around their waist for practicality and the squirmish embarrassment it was met with 'Mum, it doesn't look cool!' and I'm sure these people are now able to tie their jumper carefree. I say this because I am now one of those people. Despite the fact that was my own very vivid childhood memory just described. 

This new found 'okay-ness' with jumper tying came last week when I was meeting a friend for breakfast and wanted the comfort of wearing leggings without the slight obscenity of showing the world the outline of my reproductive organs (kind of). Plus I thought 'Huh, let's see what this looks like..' And before I knew it I was confidently wrapping and knotting my trusty Margaret Howell jumper around my waist and heading off. And so instead of reverting back to my 8 year old self, screwing up my nose and 'yuck'ing I can now regard a harmless little tie of a jumper is just that: harmless.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Me too - I have also just come to terms with my fate as a jumper-tyer-around-me-waister and I'm ok with it!

*check out new photo post!*
X Zoe X
http://intrepidinspirations.blogspot.com

skwak said...

nice jumper tying! I like how the girl in the first picture ties her, too, but I think I would look waaaay too preppy if I tried to do the same. btw, I really like that denim jacket!

susie said...

these photos are innocent enough... but somehow i still don't believe you.

when i need to remove a layer i'm probably still gonna stuff it into whatever purse i'm carrying, no matter the size, even though in my heart i know that this practical answer is so obvious and even cozy.

Cassie said...

The attitude you portray when wearing a jumper tied around your shoulders or waist is just as important as the actual clothes you're wearing, I think, because of the unfavourable reputations which follow both looks around as you mentioned. The jumpers look great, cool even, in the photos you've featured even though I'd have probably put jumper around shoulders/waist as an all time 'fashion no' if I had to.

It's all about the attitude you wear it with as it is with so many other things! x

www.dressingmissdolly.co.uk

Disneyrollergirl said...

But I love the 'euro knot' AND the waist tie! Knot away I say, whatever makes life easy