SARTORIAL ODDITIES

Highlights from the fashion world’s AW20 (both 1920 and 2020) season collections, which range from the slightly odd, through the downright bizarre, to the actually rather useful

THE VARST In 1919, Russian Constructivists Alexander Rodchenko and Vavara Stepanova created the Varst, an all-purpose wool/ leather jump suit. Designed to create a new aesthetic for the new world of socialism, the Varst didn’t catch on with Russia’s rural peasantry, but today has a new appeal to those for whom workwear now looks far too bourgeois.

LATEX THREE-PIECE Marnie Scarlet is a burlesque performer who enjoys wearing outfits made from latex. She dons this one when performing her routine entitled ‘Total Banker’. The outfit is not available to the public, thank goodness.

THE SOPHISTISANDAL Gents! Feeling embarrassed about wearing sandals this season? Want to keep the ‘old dogs’ cool, but still wish to cut a dash down at the club or out-and-about town? Abashed at the dreaded sandal/ white socks combo? I know I am, but they’re so damned comfortable, aren’t they? Well, now you can revel in the pleasure of full ‘toe aeration’ whenever you bally well please, with Emporio Sonnambulo’s new dapper sandalbrogues. Available in brown or black calfskin or, if you’re a bit on the shifty side, suede. THE COW SHOE

From The Evening Independent , May 27, 1922: SHINERS WEAR COW SHOES

“A new method of evading prohibition agents was revealed here today by A.L.

Allen, state prohibition enforcement director, who displayed what he called a “cow shoe” as the latest thing from the haunts of moonshiners. The cow shoe is a strip of metal to which is tacked a wooden block carved to resemble the hoof of a cow, which may be strapped to the human foot. A man shod with a pair of them would leave a trail resembling that of a cow. The shoe was picked up near Port Tampa, where a still was located some time ago. It will be sent to the Prohibition department at Washington. Officers believe the inventor got his idea from a Sherlock Holmes story in which the villain shod his horse with shoes, the imprint of which resembled those of a cow’s hoof.”

SUPER ANKLE-WALKING FINS And for the beach, why not try a pair of Emporio Sonnambulo’s vulcanised ‘Super-ankle-walking-fins’. Stand out from the crowd, turn heads as you promenade or cause a sensation at a beach party in your ‘Super-rubberankle-walking-fins’. Be the envy of all as you stroll along the coast with silken indifference, from beach to briny.

“Flip-flops? What? A thing of the past, sir. It’s Emporio Sonnambulo Super-anklewalking-fins for me.” Sir Alec Guinness