I read recently that all the truly fashionable people shop in Primark now. It's all about mixing your designer pieces with the cheap and cheerful. Dressing head to toe in designer labels like Mrs Beckham is now just as over as her pop career.
So even though I'm not a fashionista I thought to myself, I'll have a bit of that, and headed off to Dunnes. Well there is no Primark in Antrim. Which is where I was when this urge for new garments hit me.
I ignored the underwear section as I am very particular about my underwear. I like it to be big and I like it to be firm and I like it to be well put together - the same as how I like my men really. Dunnes underwear being cheap and cheery (and scratchy and uncomfortable) obviously does not meet my high standards.
Now the other night I was watching that Makosi one on Big Brother. That girl has some backside. Nobody could accuse her trousers of looking like her arse had fainted. But her knickers, they were definitely in a twist. They appeared to be some sort of pink thong that had been kneaded and shredded between her ample cheeks. She looked very uncomfortable indeed.
When I was a girl we got our comfortable and cosy Cherub knickers in Woolworths. Cherubs came up to your waist and cuddled the top of your thighs. They had a double gusset. They fulfilled the function of knickers as laid down by our mothers and grandmothers. They were modest and they kept our kidneys warm. Now I see these sort of knickers feature in some rather dubious websites I once stumbled upon. But unlike the pure white and boilable knickers we favoured these were in navy and bottle green. Very strange.
The rot set in with the coming of mini skirts. Big sensible knickers didn't sit well with shorter skirts and something called briefs was introduced. By today's standards these were anything but brief but back in the sixties we thought they were pretty daring. Nowadays the brevity and scantiness of underwear is shocking and what passes for knickers would do nothing to mind a girl's modesty or warm her kidneys. Maybe it's because of central heating and/or global warming but if the scientist's gloomy predictions for these islands should come to pass then girls will be back in Cherubs by the middle of this century and thongs will just be an unpleasant memory - or not depending on individual taste.
But I'm away off on one again. What did I buy in Dunnes? Well I bought Bert two tee shirts that go by the unfortunate and hopefully not prophetic name of wife beaters and I bought myself very many tee shirts and two pairs of those three-quarter length summer trousers that show off a neatly turned ankle (of which I possess two) and guess what? When I tried the trousers on at home they were nearly full-length. Rats! I hate being short.
10 comments:
I think i'm with you on big pants-wee ones just seem piontless, verging on the commando. Anyway, i think i'll always think of bert in a wife beater and a pair of tackies, regardless of the weather!
mikeyboy xx
Now Bert is somebody who doesn't see the point in wee pants. Commando from April to November, ankle length long johns from December to March.
Yeah me too,
It seems like a piontless scare at the minute-nothing too serious. piontless piontless piontless
mikey x
I've been talking to sisters JB and Ganching and both are pretty rattled plus they don't know how they're going to get home this evening. It's still terrorism even if no one is seriously hurt.
Well, although a man I have to agree with you on Cherub knickers. They are beautifully made and look great on women & girls alike.
I'm gratified to find a woman who mourns the passing of good quality school knickers - surely there must be more?? I also agree thongs are a real turn off and (I guess) very uncomfortable.
The stout construction with double back panel make them very warm and the cuff legs give delightful grip. Personally, they are much better in school colours of navy blue & bottle green although they did make them in a huge variety of colours from white, red, grey, royal, brown, saxe and various other to order.
Cherub are still going but they sadly no longer make the knickers. They stopped in 1992 after several years of only making them to order for public schools.
Even the 1950's styles were still made till 1992 but in small numbers to order and you could still get them with the hanky pocket.
While totally straight and not a TV I wouldn't wear anything other than girls school knickers - excellent fit and very warm, better by far than mens underwear.
As you rightly mentioned they are enjoying a limited revival and a number of manufacturers are re-making the old versions.
I run a group for fans of school knickers and we have over 1000 members despite the fact its a private group you can't find.
If you'd like to join just e-mail me @
bgrowler@yahoo.com.
Cheers,
The Badger!
Yes,I would go along with the statement regarding old fashioned school knickers,especially the Cherub brand. My sister wore these years ago,and I will admit that seeing a girl in those knickers was a huge turn on for me,and I do believe,many other boys of my age group.
I own but one pair of the aforementioned brand,but have several copies which are very comfortable to wear.
Why did women always tear up their daughters knickers and use them for
cleaning floors etc.
I went out with a girl whose sister wore navy blue knickers from Marks and Spenser they were brief style 1965 her mother said they were faded so she cut the gusset off and burt it on the boiler and the remainder of the knickers were put in the cleaning cuboard- terrible.
I completely agree. The 1950's Cherub school knickers were superbly made and very practical. The warmth and durability of the thick cotton, the strong and replacable elastic in the waistband and legs, the double gusset and the wide range of colours. Most were navy blue but there were many made in bottle green, purple, maroon, grey, pillar box red, brown, fawn and white, plus colours made to meet the requirements of specific schools.
Montfort were another excellent maker whose school knickers had a higher cut leg rather than the short legs that were a feature of the Cherub knickers. The Montforts also featured heavy weight cotton but had cuff legs and a broad double panel that extended all the way up the seat to the waistband to give extra wear and added warmth. Also available in a full range of school colours.
Yes, those Cherubs were great, I'm glad a few of us boys got to experience them as well.
fond memories
cyril
Yes, Cherub school knickers were the best. I wore them under my kilts until I was 23. Very, very comfortable and lasted for ever. Why can't you get them these days???
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