I Had A Fashion Disaster Once
Second Skin... Have you ever had one of those really great ideas when you wonder why no one has done this before you?
In the sixth form, my really good friend Lisa and I had such an amazing idea... Lisa was going to go to St Martins to study fashion and we decided to design some swimwear for ourselves. Well, we took our theme from the Xena TV programme that was popular then, and made ourselves bikinis out of chamois leather which we bought from Warrington Market. Threy looked pretty good, actually, so we decided to wear them to the beach one day. We caught the train out to Ainsdale wearing our designs under wrap-around skirts with loose tops.
To our surprise, the tide was in which isn't something you see often at Ainsdale, so being carried away with our success thus far, after a period sunning ourselves, we decided to go cool off in the sea despite not having a change of clothes. BIG MISTAKE NUMBER ONE!!!
Once wet, the chamois leather clung and molded itself to us like a second skin. It left absolutely nothing at all to the imagination, forming itself to every contour of even our most private places. We looked at each other wide-eyed and stunned until eventually, all we could do was laugh.
We didn't have any other swimsuits with us, so we decided to lie in the sun to dry off... BIG MISTAKE NUMBER TWO!!!!! As the chamois dried, it became rigid, fixing for ever (or at least, till next it got wet) the imprint of our bodies.
Actually, once we got over the way we seemed to have become the centre of attention, we thought this was a great hoot and Lisa wanted to make art with the casts, so we carefully peeled ourselves free of the leather and made our way home without underwear, which was becoming second nature to me by then anyway.
There is a silver lining to every cloud, they say, and Lisa, who actually ended up studying fine arts, adapted the technique for her graduation exhibition. She now has a gallery in Ribchester where, amongst other things, she sells leather-formed casts of her torso, painted and mounted for hanging on the wall!
In the sixth form, my really good friend Lisa and I had such an amazing idea... Lisa was going to go to St Martins to study fashion and we decided to design some swimwear for ourselves. Well, we took our theme from the Xena TV programme that was popular then, and made ourselves bikinis out of chamois leather which we bought from Warrington Market. Threy looked pretty good, actually, so we decided to wear them to the beach one day. We caught the train out to Ainsdale wearing our designs under wrap-around skirts with loose tops.
To our surprise, the tide was in which isn't something you see often at Ainsdale, so being carried away with our success thus far, after a period sunning ourselves, we decided to go cool off in the sea despite not having a change of clothes. BIG MISTAKE NUMBER ONE!!!
Once wet, the chamois leather clung and molded itself to us like a second skin. It left absolutely nothing at all to the imagination, forming itself to every contour of even our most private places. We looked at each other wide-eyed and stunned until eventually, all we could do was laugh.
We didn't have any other swimsuits with us, so we decided to lie in the sun to dry off... BIG MISTAKE NUMBER TWO!!!!! As the chamois dried, it became rigid, fixing for ever (or at least, till next it got wet) the imprint of our bodies.
Actually, once we got over the way we seemed to have become the centre of attention, we thought this was a great hoot and Lisa wanted to make art with the casts, so we carefully peeled ourselves free of the leather and made our way home without underwear, which was becoming second nature to me by then anyway.
There is a silver lining to every cloud, they say, and Lisa, who actually ended up studying fine arts, adapted the technique for her graduation exhibition. She now has a gallery in Ribchester where, amongst other things, she sells leather-formed casts of her torso, painted and mounted for hanging on the wall!
36-40, F
