I open my wardrobe and find half my clothes are the wrong size. Such as waste of lovely clothes, styles, patterns.
I had a neighbour in England who spent her year's clothing allowance at the start of the season on three good expensive outfits. Just like people did a century or more ago. One daytime smart outfit. One extra smart for weekends. One ultra smart for special occasions, weddings and funerals.
Next year she cleared out her cupboard, gone was the last year's outfit, yours might be now slightly stained or thin. She had a minimalist lifestyle. her accessories matched her outfits which were navy or black with a white blouse for summer and to look clean or businesslike.
I bought her outfit second hand. I am not as dedicated to throwing out as she is. But at least she recycled and recouped some of the cost.
Slit Sides
Instead I cut too tight clothes down the seams. A tight top can be turned into a tunic. A slit skirt, with just one long side slit, is quite the fashion in Asia where the cheongsam traditionally have one slit side so that you can walk.
I once jumped off a bus in Singapore and fell over because the skit was too tight to allow the long leap from the passenger platform onto the curb. I got out my pinking sheers and cut a slit in my skirt. Preserving my life and my bones was more important than preserving the perfection of the too-tight skirt.
Dickeys
My latest system is to buy a dickey. A dickey, has a flap at the front and a smaller one at the back. It is slightly more expensive than a plain collar.
I have tried simple collars but they need attaching. Otherwise you end up with a gap between the collar and the round neck of the other top garment.
Detachable Collars
I have had garments with detachable collars (and matching detachable cuffs). Usually you have three buttonholes on the collar. Three buttons on the garment.
Beautiful Buttons
The buttons at the back are not seen. By attaching buttons to another garment, must be same size buttons, you can use the same collar on more garments.
The buttons must be the same size buttons as on the first garment. The first time I tried this, I had three matching shirt buttons but they were a slightly different size and would not go through the buttonholes.
If you have a machine with a buttonhole attachment, no problem. DIY.
If you have a budget for clothes, you can get a dressmakers in the local dry cleaning shop or clothes shops in Asia to add buttonholes.
Why Collars? Cleaning And Washing
One reason for collars is to take them off and wash them. A tiny collar can be washed by hand and even dried with a hotel hairdryer. If you get coffee or curry or face makeup on your collar or are on the move and need to dry something which did not dry overnight, you can start or finish drying on the dryer in a public wash room.
Collars To Smarten Outfits
I need a collar not for cleanliness but to smarten up an outfit and look look businesslike and to smarten up plain round necks. Even for a photo at a meeting, a collar looks better if you are at a restaurant or public meeting where the dress code for the men is shirt and tie.
Lace, Cute or Out of Place?
Lace looks amusing and cute, if you have an absolutely plain item such as a cotton blouse in the same or contrasting colour.
However lace is too fussy to go on anything patterned, a cotton white lace collar looks all wrong with a flower print caftan, or stripey satin.
So I looked for a plain white collar for daytime and / or black. The white goes with daytime clothes and clothes with some white in the pattern and summer and hot countries with bright colours.
Why Black?
Black goes with black evening clothes. Black also helps for co-ordinating clothes outfits for funerals where you want to look smart, not too casual.
If you had a plain white t-shirt and a series of dickeys which were in a similar fabric, you could travel with half a dozen different dickeys for a long weekend and even a month long holiday, with different looks for people you meet.
No budget for dickeys? Can't wait a month for a dickey to be delivered from China?
What about recycling all those clothes in your cupboard which have stains on the front or under the arms? Or too small on the arms or too small on the body?
You can cut out the collar and part of the front and back. Use a saucer or plate to draw an even semi-circle or part circle on the u-shape front and back. Add elastic from the front to the back on both sides under the arms to hold it in position.
You can also cut a girl's skirt or pair of shorts to make a collar for an adult. it saves throwing away a pretty skirt which is now too small for a growing child. The elastic is already built-in. A child's lace skirt or dress can be cut to make a collar. Extra material can be made into a strip for a matching headband. Coil spare material into a rose to attach to a headband or pocket or the clasp on the zip of a handbag.
Or use spare material cut into an oblong and folded into a long ribbon, cut into four, seamed, and sewn on to fasten the dickey under your arms.
Useful Websites
https://www.ebay.com/b/dickey-collar/bn_7024935541
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lolita-Girls-Black-Lace-Detachable-Collar-Jabot-Neckwear-Victorian-Mini-Cape
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I had a neighbour in England who spent her year's clothing allowance at the start of the season on three good expensive outfits. Just like people did a century or more ago. One daytime smart outfit. One extra smart for weekends. One ultra smart for special occasions, weddings and funerals.
Next year she cleared out her cupboard, gone was the last year's outfit, yours might be now slightly stained or thin. She had a minimalist lifestyle. her accessories matched her outfits which were navy or black with a white blouse for summer and to look clean or businesslike.
I bought her outfit second hand. I am not as dedicated to throwing out as she is. But at least she recycled and recouped some of the cost.
Slit side skirt of a cheongsam. Photo from Wikipedia article on cheongsam.
Slit Sides
Instead I cut too tight clothes down the seams. A tight top can be turned into a tunic. A slit skirt, with just one long side slit, is quite the fashion in Asia where the cheongsam traditionally have one slit side so that you can walk.
I once jumped off a bus in Singapore and fell over because the skit was too tight to allow the long leap from the passenger platform onto the curb. I got out my pinking sheers and cut a slit in my skirt. Preserving my life and my bones was more important than preserving the perfection of the too-tight skirt.
Dickeys
My latest system is to buy a dickey. A dickey, has a flap at the front and a smaller one at the back. It is slightly more expensive than a plain collar.
I have tried simple collars but they need attaching. Otherwise you end up with a gap between the collar and the round neck of the other top garment.
Detachable Collars
I have had garments with detachable collars (and matching detachable cuffs). Usually you have three buttonholes on the collar. Three buttons on the garment.
Beautiful Buttons
The buttons at the back are not seen. By attaching buttons to another garment, must be same size buttons, you can use the same collar on more garments.
The buttons must be the same size buttons as on the first garment. The first time I tried this, I had three matching shirt buttons but they were a slightly different size and would not go through the buttonholes.
If you have a machine with a buttonhole attachment, no problem. DIY.
If you have a budget for clothes, you can get a dressmakers in the local dry cleaning shop or clothes shops in Asia to add buttonholes.
Why Collars? Cleaning And Washing
One reason for collars is to take them off and wash them. A tiny collar can be washed by hand and even dried with a hotel hairdryer. If you get coffee or curry or face makeup on your collar or are on the move and need to dry something which did not dry overnight, you can start or finish drying on the dryer in a public wash room.
Collars To Smarten Outfits
I need a collar not for cleanliness but to smarten up an outfit and look look businesslike and to smarten up plain round necks. Even for a photo at a meeting, a collar looks better if you are at a restaurant or public meeting where the dress code for the men is shirt and tie.
Lace, Cute or Out of Place?
Lace looks amusing and cute, if you have an absolutely plain item such as a cotton blouse in the same or contrasting colour.
However lace is too fussy to go on anything patterned, a cotton white lace collar looks all wrong with a flower print caftan, or stripey satin.
So I looked for a plain white collar for daytime and / or black. The white goes with daytime clothes and clothes with some white in the pattern and summer and hot countries with bright colours.
Why Black?
Black goes with black evening clothes. Black also helps for co-ordinating clothes outfits for funerals where you want to look smart, not too casual.
If you had a plain white t-shirt and a series of dickeys which were in a similar fabric, you could travel with half a dozen different dickeys for a long weekend and even a month long holiday, with different looks for people you meet.
No budget for dickeys? Can't wait a month for a dickey to be delivered from China?
What about recycling all those clothes in your cupboard which have stains on the front or under the arms? Or too small on the arms or too small on the body?
A dickey. Photo from Wikipedia article on dickeys.
DIY DickeyYou can cut out the collar and part of the front and back. Use a saucer or plate to draw an even semi-circle or part circle on the u-shape front and back. Add elastic from the front to the back on both sides under the arms to hold it in position.
You can also cut a girl's skirt or pair of shorts to make a collar for an adult. it saves throwing away a pretty skirt which is now too small for a growing child. The elastic is already built-in. A child's lace skirt or dress can be cut to make a collar. Extra material can be made into a strip for a matching headband. Coil spare material into a rose to attach to a headband or pocket or the clasp on the zip of a handbag.
Or use spare material cut into an oblong and folded into a long ribbon, cut into four, seamed, and sewn on to fasten the dickey under your arms.
Useful Websites
https://www.ebay.com/b/dickey-collar/bn_7024935541
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lolita-Girls-Black-Lace-Detachable-Collar-Jabot-Neckwear-Victorian-Mini-Cape
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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