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Post by patsy on Feb 27, 2009 17:18:42 GMT
The synthetic fleece is 30 years old and can be found in almost every walk of life - except the world of high fashion. We took this humble, workaday garment to London Fashion Week to see what the style tribe made of it. They are in leggings and stompy heels. We, however, stand out in a red fleece. A bobbly, basic, and decidedly unironic fleece. Its one possible claim to fashion fame is that it looks a little like the red fleece Rageh Omaar wore in his "Scud Stud" days of reporting from Baghdad. Despite its near total absence from the catwalks of this week's London Fashion Week, the fashionistas who populate this biannual style bash can't help but cosy up to this ever so humble garment. Perhaps it's the chance to wrap up warm... Polarfleece first went on sale in 1979, trademarked by New Hampshire's Malden Mills. Made from polyester microfibre, it drew moisture away from the skin, freeing ramblers and climbers from the prickly discomfort of waterlogged woolly jumpers. Today polar fleece is a generic term for the fabric, rather than a brand, and is the nation's outerwear of choice, whether for pottering in the garden or out on a bracing walk. It is practical. Cheap. Lightweight. It's dry almost as soon as it emerges from the washing machine, and is made from the plastic bottles we toss into recycling bins. It adds warmth, but is less bulky than a coat. But stylish it is not - a fact conceded by those whose dress sense is carefully scrutinised. "The gratifying thing about a fleece - aside from the warmth - is that it never has to look good," says BBC newsreader Emily Maitlis, whose favourite off-camera outfit is a fleece with jeans and ballet pumps. "It is a declaration you simply don't mind. Hence the joy. Anything aesthetic is an unaccustomed bonus." Unaccustomed indeed. For despite its slimming shades of grey, navy or black, the fleece is boxy of silhouette and zips tend to woggle unflatteringly over one's torso. Fashion staple But don't yet rule it out as a style statement, says Professor Penny Martin, of the London College of Fashion. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7912156.stmI'm not a grat lover of the fleece.
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Post by swl on Feb 27, 2009 18:57:45 GMT
I've got a company fleece, to be worn during shopfittings etc. Unfortunately, it now looks more like a mohair. Does anyone know a good way of getting cat hairs out of a fleece?
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Post by Patrick on Feb 27, 2009 19:03:03 GMT
There are two types of fleece in my experience. One looks lovely and warm until you discover that the wind can blow straight through it and the other is too warm it's impossible to wear it at any time. Either one - if they have any amount of genuine wool in them will whiff of gen-u-ine sheep as soon as they get wet!
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Post by housesparrow on Feb 27, 2009 19:04:17 GMT
I've got a company fleece, to be worn during shopfittings etc. I've got a fleece to be worn during shopliftings etc. It has, of course, a big hood.
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Post by riotgrrl on Feb 27, 2009 19:11:26 GMT
I've got a company fleece, to be worn during shopfittings etc. I've got a fleece to be worn during shopliftings etc. It has, of course, a big hood.
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Post by riotgrrl on Feb 27, 2009 19:11:42 GMT
Obviously I don't have a fleece.
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Post by everso on Feb 27, 2009 19:13:55 GMT
Does a fleece have sleeves or not? If it does, I used to have one. If it doesn't, I didn't.
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Post by swl on Feb 27, 2009 19:39:16 GMT
I've got a company fleece, to be worn during shopfittings etc. I've got a fleece to be worn during shopliftings etc. It has, of course, a big hood. Very good <applause>
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Post by motorist on Feb 27, 2009 20:17:37 GMT
Does a fleece have sleeves or not? If it does, I used to have one. If it doesn't, I didn't. I have two, both with sleeves
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vesta
Fluffy & Lovely!
tasty!
Posts: 56
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Post by vesta on Mar 2, 2009 15:55:59 GMT
I've got a company fleece, to be worn during shopfittings etc. I've got a fleece to be worn during shopliftings etc. It has, of course, a big hood. love it!
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Post by chrislord on Mar 3, 2009 23:45:53 GMT
My mother bought me a fleece about five years ago for my birthday. It was hideous...something I would never wear. This monstrosity was white. Oh yes. WHITE!! What on earth was she thinking?
Thankfully she never enquired after the fleece, which five days after I received it was winging its way in a black bag to a furnace.
OK OK...(I'm evil don't you know...I should have taken it to a charity shop)
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Post by gIant on Mar 4, 2009 19:44:11 GMT
Fleeces are tricky things. They are either too thick or not thick enough. I bought my husband one and he wore it for a time, then decided it smelt of fish and wouldn't wear it again. I have never been able to persuade him into another. I have a sleeveless one which is handy for cool spring/summer days but don't wear it that often.
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