Foxy Fashion

There may not be an immediate apparent link between politics and fashion, but when a Yorky York friend of mine purchased a certain handbag, it really got me thinking. When I first laid eyes on it, for some reason, I hate,hate, hated it!!

The bag was a good size; it could fit everything into it that you would need in a handbag and more! Like the majority of the female population my handbag is always overflowing! Consisting of a purse, a bottle of water, an Aloe Vera Vaseline, a variety of pens in different colours, numerous receipts (mainly from my addiction of purchasing milky way crispy rolls from the Spar, but shhh!), a big clang of keys with a variety of key rings attached including the Sex and the City “Love” key ring that I received as a gift from my lovely Becca and Janette, and a Pooing Pig from Mr Will!

The bag had a nice background colour: navy. A very neutral and versatile colour; sophisticated and very suitable for the winter months. It had a very strong, sustainable handle; very hard wearing! It had pockets inside; perfect to keep my rings in when I have to take them off for some hard hand work! So all in all a perfectly acceptable hand bag: it had everything you could want from a hand bag… so why did I hate it so much?

It was imprinted with a pattern of lots of little foxes; the silhouettes of the foxes almost tessellating, but letting the navy colour project through the gaps. Ok, so the foxes are cute if you like that kind of thing… but the worst was yet to come…

A FAKE FOXE’S TAIL ATTACHED TO THE HANDLE… just hanging down.

Now, I am one that is very partial the fake fur… whether it be in coat or Gillet form. I find it very warm and snuggly, and have grown to love it after being highly influenced by the Chelsea girls (of Made in Chelsea!).  But this is just something else, a step too far? A tail. Representing the tail of a fox.

To me, this is just amplifying Torrie life, and supporting Fox Hunting. Something I quite despise and makes me feel rather nauseous! Some might say I am narrow minded on this subject (this could be from my very left wing upbringing and strong influences of Mama Voce), but whenever debating this topic, I just don’t think those for Fox Hunting really have much of a leg to stand on. Boxing day should be spent having a few bevvies with the fam, playing Cranium, eating all the left overs, working your way through ANOTHER tin of Quality Street and in our case, spending the evening with the lovely Lee family. Why go outside and chase foxes? It’s their Christmas too!

So all in all, it wasn’t so much the bag I loathed but what it represented.  Fashion in the Western culture is very much a choice and illustration of who you are as person. Whether it is symbolic of your music taste, your favourite colour and as has been reflected on, your political beliefs. Whether it is right or not, it is notorious that people judge each other on what you look like and what you wear; it is the first thing you see of a person, and if I didn’t know my Yorky York friend, I could have quite easily made an opinion on her, purely by looking at the fox tail she had hanging from her shoulder (I do love my Yorky York friend to pieces, and do not wish to offend her in the hatred of her bag!)

Although I am not this handbag’s number one thing, I do think good on my friend for wearing it with pride: If you have a belief, stand by it, don’t hide behind it!

(Some of you might really like this Hand Bag. If you're interested, it retails at Next for £26... http://www.next.co.uk/g473236s2)