Vogue rides to the rescue of poverty-stricken fashionistas
7 October 2009
Here is some good news for the stylish but cash-strapped: there is a great-looking stripy shorts and shirt suit in the latest Vogue that costs only £2, despite having a ruff collar that alludes to this season's Ralph Lauren. The bad news is that you have to make it yourself, out of plastic bags, and it could take a while. (Plus, it might make you sweat a bit.) The outfit is part of a Make Do and Mend shoot, a jolly response to our hardened times: other looks include an amazing dress made out of 45 mop heads, a bolero sprung out of Marigolds and an ingenious pair of platform shoes whose stacked soles are really two rolls of toilet paper (watch out for puddles).
Apparently there is no shame in this sort of improvised domesticity: Alexandra Shulman, Vogue editor, says she is "crazy for the dish towel dress", which designer Peter Jensen stitched together from some admittedly rather smart looking tea towels. So what was the idea? "We've all got so serious about fashion," says Kate Phelan, who styled the shoot. "This is about having fun again." Have you been misguidedly staring into your wardrobe of a morning? Maybe try the cupboard under the sink instead.