University Apparel: 8/11/2010

How should we dress when the weather is as fickle as a politician? Maybe dress with originality for a change. Now see I love clothes, but I flipping hate fashion. Aviator jacket – check; vintage item & smugness about it – check; ‘distressed’ military-style lace up boots – check. It makes no sense to me that in a place like Sussex University where people really value individuality, people still purposely dress the same. I think it’s much like constructing multi-million pound buildings with automatic windows, but closing down entire departments and making cuts all over the shop because apparently there’s not enough money to go around. It’s counterintuitive, right?

So what will happen when England runs out of vintage clothes – when all granny flats have been raided, all charity shops rinsed and the fountain of ‘originality’ runs dry? It’ll probably coincide with the appearance of another ash cloud. You’ll be stuck here with everything you already own, with your only options being buying more tat in Churchill Square, swapping clothes with your friends (more appealing), or… making your own.

There ought to be a drive towards dressmaking or at least customising clothes at home (I know, I know, Topshop will never allow it, they’ll kidnap and torture people who dare to take baby steps towards doing their own thing). There’s already a curiosity growing about DIY fashion; it’s certainly got appeal, and even the most cack-handed of people have successfully cut their jeans into shorts before. How about-sewing old buttons on cardigans or blazer sleeves, transforming old t-shirts into handbags, maybe even the addition of shoulder pads to random tops? When women my mum’s age tell me they used to make their own clothes “all the time”, I swoon with admiration and jealousy.

Ladies it’s time to get yourself a sewing machine – if you don’t have one already – and highly recommended is the John Lewis JL Mini, a very basic machine that’s designed for beginners. It’s available in a range of colours, its 50 quid (and free delivery) and at 2.6kg it’s light enough to be flung out of a window in a drunken rage. The best part, in my opinion, is what you can create: something that nobody else in the world has. Bangin’.