New to The Forum and New to Living in Listed Properties

[Feltwell]

We even have a general store called Gay Shopper.

And I'm sure all their customers have big smiles.

There was a shop just round the corner from the "university village" I lived in as student called Transformations. It used to advertise on the back of the local paper - "Walk in as a man, walk out as a woman". They were advertising for staff at one point, a friend was considering applying and telling his parents he'd got a job in a TV shop.

I am an exact and reliable fit for M&S and John Lewis clothes. These can be brought to me by said Mrs FW (who is my style guru) without fear they won't fit and thus the need to try them on before purcase.

My local M&S is onto a winner I feel. They are situated in a big shopping centre, but cunningly have their own little car park that's tucked away a bit from the main ones so that not everyone knows that it is there. What's more, the door from this car park leads directly into the menswear department. If you are forced to subject yourself to the horror of shopping in person it does at least mean that you can get it over and done with in the shortest possible time and avoid trudging through other shops first.

Presented with an entire mall full of shops any of which might contain pants he might like he is overwhelmed and after 5 mins will declare that there isn't anything at all for him. :roll:

LadyA, am I detecting the use of some Americanisms there? What is this "mall" thing of which you speak? And I do hope that by saying "pants" you do not mean trousers.

Is anyone ever going to help Woody with some serious advice

What, bring it back on topic? If it drifts for long enough we'll find a link back to whatever was being asked about originally I'm sure.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Is anyone ever going to help Woody with some serious advice-------- as to shopping ----well I have one favourite place in North Norfolk.....

Pot, kettle, black, Joss!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

And I do hope that by saying "pants" you do not mean trousers.

I wondered that - but then she also spoke of checking if her husband "liked" the pants.

Pants (UK definition) are a particularly utilitarian vestment, and "liking" by looking at them is not possible.You have to wear a pair of pants for at least half a season before you can be sure if they are right.

(cue Penners)

 

[LadyArowana]

Humble apologies for the use of Americanised expressions. I have obviously spent too long living in the land of foreign devils and been corrupted.

 

[Penners]

There was a shop just round the corner from the "university village" I lived in as student called Transformations.

I strongly advise the addition of a couple of commas to that sentence, Feltwell. It's up to you of course, but I just thought you might wish to clarify whether you lived in the university village or the transvestite shop.

Mrs P and I were once invited to a reception at a respectable building in Soho. As we walked towards the place, we passed a shop whose window was full of mannequins dressed in... er... 'controversial' leatherwear, including oddly designed masks. They were obviously riding outfits, as some of the mannequins were equipped with whips. The shop was called 'S & M'.

Mrs P, who is dyslexic, glanced across at the shop window and commented idly (but quite seriously), "Marks & Spencer are selling some weird clothes these days."

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I mainly agree with LadyA though, hatred of shopping indicates strongly you boys are in the wrong shops. Chrissy adores shopping. Maybe if, like him, you were to imagine you're off on a jolly picnic in the country, circa 1925, and were to source the appropriate apparel you'd have more fun?

I think he's having this jumper for Christmas:

http://www.hackett.com/index.cfm?page=1052&productid=HM700116&productvar=HM700116-250-MED&refpage=1254

 

[Lime]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I mainly agree with LadyA though, hatred of shopping indicates strongly you boys are in the wrong shops. Chrissy adores shopping. Maybe if, like him, you were to imagine you're off on a jolly picnic in the country, circa 1925, and were to source the appropriate apparel you'd have more fun?

I liked shopping when I was young.
The shops sold items that I wanted and enjoyed.
Today shopping centres are deserts of boring the same-old-stuff junk to be bought by buying-junkies who get enjoyment filling up a trolley or arms of husband with clothes and other items they have no need of nor use for.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Ugh, a true vision of shopping hell there from Lime. But saving up, drooling over the chosen one on the screen, then going and getting it in Fenwicks or Marylebone High St, or along the Fulham Rd, or Jermyn St, then celebrating with a good bottle of champagne and a dozen oysters, now that's heaven!

Not an indulgence I get since realising BC's needs are so desperate and expensive.

 

[Feltwell]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I mainly agree with LadyA though, hatred of shopping indicates strongly you boys are in the wrong shops.

I quite agree, it's the shops that sell clothes bit is where we're going wrong.

Now, shops where you can get interesting things like bits of old cars, old motorbikes, power tools, hand tools, junk shops (and I mean PROPER junk shops - not posh pseudo antique shops or anywhere that sells "vintage clothing" or soft furnishings) are much more interesting. :wink: Even better - proper old fashioned scrapyards, a very rare thing these days. Architectural salvage yards as well, the more run down the better, the posh ones are just no fun at all.

I think there are certain people, mostly but by no means exclusively male, who just do not have the shopping gene. And the price of clothes now!! I ventured into M&S this week (in the evening when it's quieter of course) - £38 for a jumper!!! Not even a very nice one either. Not only that but the current male fashion seems to be beige or brown cardigans with oversize buttons, heavy knitted jumpers and cardigans with cable patterns, jumpers and cardigans in browns and beiges with strong horizontal patterns - it was like stepping back in time and looking in my grandfather's wardrobe circa 1980. Honestly, it was exactly the kind of stuff I remember him wearing when I was a kid, and much as I loved my grandfather I have no desire to dress like him. I had no idea he was such a trend setter and so way ahead of his time though!

They were obviously riding outfits

I'd wager that you're quite right on that one :wink:

 

[AMc]

My out of laws in Oldham routinely refer to "trousers" as "pants" and they are not from the colonies

And I do hope that by saying "pants" you do not mean trousers.

I wondered that - but then she also spoke of checking if her husband "liked" the pants.

Pants (UK definition) are a particularly utilitarian vestment, and "liking" by looking at them is not possible.You have to wear a pair of pants for at least half a season before you can be sure if they are right.

You seem to be confused, the garments you're referring to are properly known as "underpants"
For reasons of modesty and decorum the garments are referred to by their relationship to other less private garments i.e. "the pants" which are worn as an outer garment for public display. So it stands to reason they must have a true name that must never be mentioned.

Assuming you're going to continue to use "pants" to refer to the item of clothing that must not be mentioned by name then I can only assume you're not familiar with the stores of Figleaves or even Agent Provocateur.
They can supply a number of items which I more than capable of "liking" on my partner without ever being interested in comfort, warmth or any other practical concerns .

If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

"The Beauty of Life," a lecture before the Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design (19 February 1880), later published in Hopes and Fears for Art: Five Lectures Delivered in Birmingham, London, and Nottingham, 1878 - 1881 (1882)
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Morris

 

[Penners]

Now, shops where you can get interesting things like bits of old cars, old motorbikes, power tools, hand tools, junk shops (and I mean PROPER junk shops - not posh pseudo antique shops or anywhere that sells "vintage clothing" or soft furnishings) are much more interesting.

Absolutely, Feltwell, although I wouldn't classify those as "shops". They're "essential goods emporia", designed for in-depth exploration by the more adventurous of us.

 

[Keithj]

Hmmm.

Drawing on many years of management training, I have applied the principle of delegation. All shopping is delegated to M, who seems to enjoy it. Anything I may need (eg pants and trousers) is ordered via the Internet. Having found the reliable Internet suppliers, all is well.

 

[Moo]

Er....
I hate to interrupt, but has anyone else noticed that after a very warm welcome to the forum on the 3rd of this month, Woody's last post was on the 6th, still on page 1 of this thread.
Since then it's been very jolly for four more pages, but no sign of Woody - could it be that we've put him off?

 

[Feltwell]

Good point Moo, although it might be down to his internet connection - I think he said it was via a phone at the moment, which in my experience is agonisingly slow. He (or she?) did say they had been lurking for a while, so hopefully got a taste that there is some (a tiny bit of?) sense spoken amongst the tangents and general meanderings.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Well said Moo, poor Chap must be quite bemused!

 

[Woody3]

Well, I'm back...with a rather slow Internet connection. This topic went "slightly" off track :lol:

Been in the property for 2 months now, still trying to prioritise certain works over others (I will be posting a new thread in a second regarding Stone Mullions/Cills/Heads). Mainly been trying to sort the land/garden out (2 acres of overgrown trees/bushes/trees/wasps etc) before March arrives!

Anyway, just wanted to thank you all for the warm welcome and I look forward to discussing many Period Topics

 

[Penners]

Good! be sure to keep us up-to-date with your news, Woody. I'm particularly keen to hear more about those overgrown wasps. Do they look anything like this?

 

[Feltwell]

I thought the Sunday Sport had gone out of print now?

 

[Woody3]

Haha...not quite that big, but they are pretty mahoosive!

To put the wasps infestation into context, we had 1 wasps nest that was about 600x600x600mm in the East Wing loft and 2 more wasps nests that measured a whopping 2000x1000x700mm :shock: in the West Wing.

We had the nests sprayed by our pest controller and he confirmed that they were dormant, however having said that, there were approx a dozen wasps. each measuring about an inch long, that randomly appeared in the upstairs rooms.

 

[Penners]

there were approx a dozen wasps. each measuring about an inch long, that randomly appeared in the upstairs rooms.

Their appearance may have looked random to you, but they were just lulling you into a false sense of security. In reality they were carefully mapping the house in preparation for a full-scale attack by their main forces.