Wednesday 14 January 2009

Weds 14th Jan: Disguisery of Tailors

My night time shift is sweetened by switching from radio to the wonder of iplayer and the AMAZING fashion documentaries (that or I have to confess - Eddie Izzard stand-up, which makes my cheeks unbearably painful after an hour of constant chuckling).
One particular program I have to share is the Saville Row documentary focused on Oswald Boateng which crosses over with the current 30th Anniversary of 2-tone Ska. Oswald and his best friend Chris Cleverly grew up in Notting Hill, as they dubbed it "Thatchers Bastards" amongst the riots and fires at Carnival. Oswald's first foray into tailoring was straight cut suits, drainpipe trousers, Prince of Wales check and loafers for footwear. It was all about creating a positive image for themselves in the time of social change and racial inclusion. Oswald went one stage further in his dapper appeal by being known for his bright colours. HELLO! Chris described it as looking like "pouring acid down the middle of the road" when he walked along. I never really knew this history attatched to him so its a great piece of telly for this insight and also his interview with Suzy Menkes and Georgio Armani.
Ive put in here a personal favourite track, just because I love it on the dance floor!
But seriously ........there is a link..... ... Although The Beat made purely awesome tunes, there was a political message. Ranking Roger was on BBC6 on Saturday discussing their track "Stand down Margaret" which was probably the anthem to the movement I mentioned earlier. (Sorry for adding the wrong tune to fit the text, but just gotta love this one! Turn it up LOUD)

Tonight there is yet again another killer schedule of fash type telly, go check out....................




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