From the 1970s onwards in World 183, following the guiding star of a Sheffield schoolboy (who was later to become famous) the people of Yorkshire have traditionally worn tapered trousers, garish t-shirts, paper jackets, silly socks and duffle coats.
Wide leg trousers are narrowed, fabric scraps are used to embellish otherwise plain t-shirts. Duffle coats are sought out, traded and bequeathed, and paper jackets are lovingly crafted for special occasions. Once beyond use, these jackets are pulped to make exquisite papier mache furniture and other household items.
Notions of progress are linked to quality of life, relationships, music and beer. Jumble sales occur every Saturday morning. Oxfam is the only clothes shop left on the high street.
What if …
UK clothing cultures were strongly regional and slow to change?
Issue targeted:
Notions of progress that are centred around newness/modernity. Endless waste.
Inspiration:
Jarvis Cocker’s Good Pop Bad Pop, pages 13-14 on Pulp Fashion. The humour and assuredness of Yorkshire folk. The clothes buying habits of ‘alternative’ teens in 1970s/1980s.
This World was contributed by Sally Cooke (located in Leeds, UK) using a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence which allows others to share and adapt the work in any medium and for any purpose, providing that they credit the author and share their material using the same Creative Commons licence.
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