For Love Nor Money: A Lost Wallet and My Renewed(ish) Faith in Humanity

So, I reached dizzying, new heights of general incapability at life whilst visiting Manchester this weekend when, in an impressive feat of personal ineptitude, I beat my personal fail record and somehow managed to lose my wallet, despite it being carefully tucked inside my bag. That’s right: from inside my bag.

You think I’d have learnt my lesson by now, since this is actually the second experience I’ve had of losing a wallet. A year or two back, I accidentally left one, given to me by my dad, in the back of a taxi when it didn’t slip into my pocket properly after I'd payed the fare. I didn’t even realise it was gone until the next morning, and by then it was too late. The taxi rank tracked down the driver, but the wallet was nowhere to be found and was never handed in.

I was devastated. My dad had owned the thing for years and passed it on to me, and I’d gone and lost it after only 12 months.  I was also completely disgusted at the fact that whoever had found it would choose to keep something so intimate and vital to another person rather than hand it in. There’d only been about a fiver inside too; there was next to no monetary gain in it for them whatsoever. Despite all that, the person in question had at no point imagined how it would feel if it were their wallet that had been lost; nor had they apparently been troubled by even the slightest speck of guilt for keeping it.

Unbelievably though, the worst was yet to come. Months passed, then one day I received a phone call out of the blue. It was a policeman from a town nearly an hour’s drive away. “Hello, is that Matthew? I’m calling to inform you that the bedroom of a local teenage boy was raided by our force recently, and your provisional license has been discovered in it.”

 My blood ran totally cold. I felt almost violated knowing some unpleasant, little creature had found my wallet in the taxi and rifled through the contents to see what could be of use or potentially sold on. When questioned later, the boy apparently knew nothing about the wallet; it was probably just tossed in the bin after it had been emptied. I dread to think how he came to get his horrible hands on my ID though, not to mention for what exactly he’d been using it. 

The whole experience just made my skin crawl and I was totally disillusioned by the complete apathy of which people seem capable. I read a line from a work by the Spanish philosopher, Baltasar Graciàn, not long ago and really stuck with me: ‘the misfortune of your century, that virtue is taken as unusual and malice the norm.’ And he was saying that all the way back in the 1600s… I wonder what he’d have to say, if he were alive to see the way people act today?  

Okay, I’ve communicated how sufficiently jaded and embittered I already am by this point, so let’s jump back to Manchester Piccadilly last weekend. I’m stood rummaging inside my tote bag. I can’t seem to feel my wallet. I carry on fumbling inside, nerves starting to creep in. Still can’t feel it. Imagine my growing horror as I slowly realise with each passing second that it is definitely no longer there at all.

I can’t actually believe I’ve done it again. Cue me rushing like a madman to trace my steps, vainly leaving my contact details with every info desk and waitress I can find, before accepting the inevitable and enduring the stress of trying to cancel every bank card I’d had on me. It dawns on me there were a couple of gift cards tucked inside too. Great. I’m never seeing that wallet again!

So, a few days go by, and all the while I’m mentally kicking myself for being so extraordinarily scatter-brained. No one has been in touch, and I’m torturing myself wondering whose hands it could have fallen into this time.

Suddenly my phone rings. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I suspect it’s the police calling to tell me my ID’s been found being used to cut lines of coke in the den of some highflying drug baron or other.  Thankfully, it turns out to be just my boyfriend.

Thoughtfully of him, he’s passed by the train station’s lost property one last time on his way home from work, just in case. And I don’t believe it – my wallet has been handed in. Everything – gift cards, cash, ID, bank cards – is still safely inside. I’d come to  the conclusion that mankind as a whole was just a total write-off; yet, some kind soul had apparently spotted my wallet on the train or platform and done the decent thing. I was ecstatic!

I’d presumed the worst of others, only to be reminded that there are still some good eggs left out there, few and far between as they undoubtedly sometimes are. I couldn’t be more grateful to that refreshingly caring stranger who made my day, and I wish I could thank them, whoever and wherever they are. I wouldn’t say my faith in humanity has been entirely restored, but the next time I lose something (which, me being me, will no doubt be sooner rather than later), I won’t be quite so quick to give up hope on it coming back to me again!

Review - Vivienne Westwood's 150th Anniversary Edition Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Read Me: Westwood's Alice is a collector's dream, but her real-world message is no tea party

   To mark the 150^th anniversary of its publication, Vintage Books has teamed up with iconic    British fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood, to create a stunning special edition Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that also includes its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, hitting the shelves earlier this month. 

   Having previously been described as ‘the Alice in Wonderland of fashion’, who else but Westwood should have designed the latest incarnation of Lewis Carroll’s whimsical work? In the past, she has revealed that Alice’s story was one of her favourite childhood books, and looking and looking back at her collections, it’s easy to spot its influence on her work.

   Falling deep into the earth through a rabbit hole, playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts; passing through a mirror to the inverted world beyond, battling the Jabberwocky – a little girl’s journey to discover her own identity and find her place in the world around her, Alice’s literary legacy has become forever ingrained into popular culture.

Via PA/Getty Images

   Vivienne firmly believes the tale should be read by every child: ‘the importance of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is that things are never what they seem.  They can have their own strange logic which has nothing to do with any kind of conventional logic but it is just as real. I think this is a very good attitude or lesson for a child to have – so they’re not always so complacent about believing what they’re told.’

   On Westwood’s  cover-sleeve, one of the instantly recognisable John Tenniel illustrations of Alice is set against a striking deconstructed Harlequin print the likes of which has been a favourite of the trailblazing label since the 80s, finished in an attractively tactile mix of matt and gloss. Derived from the costume of the character in the age-old Italian Commedia dell'arte, the use of a Harlequin pattern is certainly apt; comedic, mischievous, and not a little sinister, he has plenty in common with the Cheshire Cat whose intentions are forever unclear and whose famous grin somewhat menacingly brims with long, sharp teeth.

   

   Removing the book-sleeve, in stark contrast to its jagged, colourful chaos, we find a plain, white cloth binding below; yet, stood firmly in the same spot as she was before is our heroine, arms boldly crossed, immovable. A simple, powerful visual statement that hints at the strength and self-assurance Alice finds within its pages.

   As well as its decorative cover, Westwood has also designed the book’s endpapers, which feature a dizzying jumble of anarchistic doodles and quotes, the style of which harks back to her Punk roots when she her designs first began to redefine street culture in the early 1970s. Moreover, this special gift edition also includes an introduction written by the designer, consisting of an explanation as to why Alice’s adventures have always inspired her; a staunch political activist and Green Party supporter, Westwood has also added a foreboding ‘Climate Map’ and a hard-hitting text entitled ‘End Capitalism’.

   Vivienne clearly identifies with Alice, her questioning the madness of the world around her, her refusal to conform to it. ‘Never become complacent. The world we think we know reflects the way we are conditioned to see it. Maybe it’s not like that at all.’ By raising these contemporary issues alongside Carroll’s timeless piece of children’s fiction, Westwood has, in her opinion, ‘[…] helped fix it in the present moment. Contrary to appearances,’ she tells us, ‘this is the world we live in.’

   Despite this though, it has to be said that, whilst her reasons behind it are unquestionably admirable, the inclusion of Westwood’s rallying anti-capitalist speech remains the forcible attachment of a distinct and deliberate political agenda, however noble or humane, about which Lewis Carroll would have been be utterly horrified. Contrariwise to her message, by appropriating Alice’s tale for her own ends, is she arguably not also guilty of committing the very sins of propaganda she is warning us to reject? After all, for those discovering Alice for the first time, Westwood’s introduction has the potential to corrupt their engagement with the text by prematurely tainting their individual readings with her own. I absolutely applaud her tireless commitment to climate change awareness and the rejection of the greed-driven establishment, but, given her plea for us to independently think for ourselves, would such politically-charged personal reflections on the text not be better suited as a postface to the literary text?

   Whatever the case, and all political associations aside, this beautiful, highly collectible edition is a must-have for fashionistas, bookworms and the incurably curious alike, since it is a perfect example of the kind of gloriously provocative creativity and passion Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece is still inspiring in us after one hundred and fifty years, and will continue to inspire for many more years to come. Stripped back to its essence, the lesson is always the same; as Vivienne herself puts it: ‘always wonder.’

Clothsurgeon: Contemporary Street Style Gets a Sartorial Facelift

Offering both ready-to-wear collections and bespoke individual creations, from a signature bomber jacket to timeless suits, Clothsurgeon produces stunningly innovative, totally wearable clothing, every piece of which is a must-have wardrobe essential.

 Visionary designer, Rav Matharu, splices the aesthetics of the streetwear scene in which he began with the bespoke silhouettes and sumptuous, premium fabrics of London’s Saville Row, to give our everyday staples a devastatingly stylish nip and tuck.

The founder of the London-based Luxury British menswear label broke the internet late last year when he unveiled a reconstructed ‘SweatSUIT’ he made from four pairs of Nike sweatpants to wear to one of the classic brand’s exclusive events. With requests now pouring in, Rav has since customised other bespoke, unofficial Nike one-offs, including a single breasted over coat made from running jackets and a two piece sweatpant biker jacket ensemble.

Clothsurgeon’s SS15 collection, ‘La Ravolution Sorrealiste’, draws inspiration from the uncanny forms and contours found in the works of artists such as Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dali and Man Ray. Award-winning American rapper, Big Sea, sports some of the brand’s latest creations on the cover of his new album ‘Dark Sky Paradise’, released in a few days’ time.

Our diagnosis? This bold menswear brand is incurably redefining the wardrobe of the modern, style-conscious man.

To find out more about Clothsurgeon, visit the official website here.

Photos from Clothsurgeon

‘Day Became as Night’ – The Solar Eclipse in Myth and Days Gone By

Across the UK today thousands of people looked to the skies to catch a hopeful glimpse of a partial solar eclipse; the first such occurrence seen by the nation since back in 1999. And we weren’t disappointed.

Much of the cloud that had been predicted broke and onlookers were rewarded with the breath-taking and eerie site as the path of the moon’s orbit crossed between earth and the sun and sent us into temporary twilight. Those who were stuck inside and missed it needn’t worry – you only have to wait a mere 75 years to see the next one here again.

Further up the northern hemisphere in Svalbard, where hotels have been booked up specifically for this occasion since as far back as 2008, the obscuration of the sun was total, and the islands were plunged into utter darkness. 

The word ‘eclipse’ itself actually derives from the Greek ekleipein, literally meaning ‘to abandon’, since the sun seemingly appears to forsake the sky. With this in mind, it’s easy to see how ancient cultures across the globe created all manner of myths and legends as they sought to explain an event which even today – despite our scientific understanding – cannot fail but to fill us with awe and a certain vague sense of dread, as daylight is momentarily extinguished.

Though they had a great knowledge of the heavens, the Inca people of South America were surprisingly unable to predict eclipses, so when one took place they became understandably distressed. They feared that Inti, the Sun God (and second only in importance to the Creator God himself), was displeased and had hidden his life-giving light from them. Although the Inca rarely practised human sacrifice, such anxious times often demanded it, in their eyes, along with offerings of food, livestock and gold, in an attempt to appease the god.

According to Hindu belief, the sun is devoured by the demon Rahu during a solar eclipse. It is said that he once tried to drink sacred nectar that would make him immortal, but the sun and moon quickly realised his plan and alerted the god Vishnu, who lopped off the demon’s head just as he had begun to drink. Since the nectar didn’t get any further than his throat, only his head became immortal, and floated off into the sky. Ever since, he has vengefully chased the sun and moon and manages to swallow them from time to time, but they always re-emerge from his severed throat.

The ancient Chinese, on the other hand, believed that it was a dragon consuming the sun when an eclipse occurred and so would shout and bang whatever they could get their hands on to frighten off the creature.

Viking Mythology predicted that Ragnarök (the apocalypse) would be brought about when two monstrous wolves devoured the sun and moon, so a solar eclipse undoubtedly had them worrying that the end of the world had arrived.

Whatever was thought to be their cause throughout the ages, eclipses have almost always been seen as ill omens. Various early historical accounts tell of one total solar eclipse that took place during a 6th century battle in the long drawn out between the Lydians and Medes. As fighting commenced, ‘day was suddenly turned into night’; both armies ceased their combat out of fear and became anxious to agree a treaty of peace.

Supernatural association with the phenomenon still exists even to this day. Some people maintain the romantic notion that certain significant cosmic events appear to be inexplicably connected to the life of King Richard III, whose body is to be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral this weekend after being discovered buried beneath what is now a car park in the city. On the day of his wife’s death in March 1485, a great eclipse of the sun took place; several days after Richard’s defeat at the Battle of Bosworth that same year, a partial lunar eclipse or “Blood Moon” would have shone down as his corpse lay on humiliating display, naked and bound, beneath the arches of a nearby church. Numerous fervent Ricardians see this latest solar eclipse, only a few days before his reburial, as the final celestial sign to coincide with important events relating to the life of the last Plantagenet king.

As well as the solar eclipse, today also marks the Spring Equinox, exactly halfway between the longest and shortest days of the year, when the Earth’s axis is perpendicular to the sun’s rays, and day and night are of equal length. What’s more, the moon will be orbiting at its closest point to our planet, appearing much larger than normal as what’s known as a Super Moon. 

The rare coinciding of these three celestial events could be seen by the superstitious as a portentous sign of change, of new beginnings. Whatever the case, however, it is a day to make each one of us pause and be reminded of the many wonders of the universe we live in.

(Image 1 © Sarah Deboe 2015; Image 2; Image 3&4 taken from De aetatibus mundi imagines by Francisco de Holande; Image 5 Das Wunderzeichenbuch (The Book of Miracles), 1552. )

Readdressing the Art of Correspondence: Letters and Love Parcels

Nowadays, keeping in touch with family and friends can be done in seconds. Whip out our phones and we can chat instantly via a hundred different apps pretty much anywhere, anytime we like. With that in mind, the thought of putting aside time to endure the inconvenience of even writing an email – never mind a letter – to a friend would seem, to many, a Herculean task worthy of a medal.  

In the 21^st century, the act of writing something so long that isn’t a kind of business handover or Facebook profile bio just to connect with someone you love, not to mention the prospect of having to potentially wait days for a response, seems unnatural, unfathomable, and quite frankly unnecessary.

A letter won’t function like, say, a Whatsapp conversation where replies to everything we write are instantaneous and inevitably shape and change the direction of the dialogue before we’ve quite finished what we’re even trying to say. 

Instead, you have to sit down and do a bit of personal reflection; think back to recent events in your life and wonder about those happening in the life of a friend.

Just imagine... You receive a reply in the post after having poured your heart out in a letter to a friend days before. You tentatively tear open the envelope. You unfold the piece of paper within, and staring back at you is nothing but a giant, solitary, sad-faced emoticon. It’s a laughable thought, yet why we don’t bat an eyelid when that exact thing arrives to each of us every day in mobile format? The trap of developing a habit of detached insincerity when interacting with a screen can be all too easy to fall into.

Recently, a close friend of mine moved away – not terribly far, but far enough to impact on how often we see each other. Before she left, we made a promise to become pen pals. Ever since then, an envelope arrives through the letterbox every once in a while to surprise me and never fails to brighten my day.

It’s so meaningful to know that someone cares enough to put pen to paper, go out, buy a stamp, and track down a post box. A letter is such a delicate thing, but is so reassuringly real; it’s a physically tangible reminder of how important you are to somebody. 

And why does it have to stop at a simple letter? You could share that song lyric or line of poetry that’s been floating about your mind on repeat, doodle a little work of art; slip in a fallen autumn leaf from the garden that caught your eye or an old postcard you discovered of a place you love.

A unique art project, The Love Parcel, took life in late 2012, and is the creative brain child of Miranda Smith, who is on a one-woman mission to spread all the eponymous love she can through the humble medium of your local postman.

Please, Mr Postman: creator of The Love Parcel project, Miranda Smith

The concept is simple. Make the effort to create a little package of captivating ephemera; send it off to Miranda at The Love Parcel HQ in Maryland, U.S.A; keep an eye on your post box and maybe sooner, maybe later, no matter where you are in the world, you’ll receive a special parcel that she has lovingly spent time putting together – just for you. No catch. No ulterior motives. Just a heartfelt, personal experience for its own sake shared with a stranger, all inspired by her memories of maintaining childhood friendships through being pen pals.

“I like to think of it as ‘treasure trading’”, reveals Miranda. “We connect to one another from near and far through carefully assembled parcels filled with surprises. By connecting our present day selves with an archaic form of communication, we will know that someone, somewhere, loves us.”

Haven’t time to make something yourself, or just can’t bear the wait? You can purchase a readymade parcel or zine from her mini online shop, where any proceeds are channeled into keeping the project running. Miranda shares stunning pictures of the things she sends and receives on The Love Parcel Instagram feed, now with over 30,000 followers and counting, to encourage more and more people to join the snail mail revolution.

“There is no better feeling than receiving something that isn’t a bill in your mailbox and the only way to make that feeling even greater is by not knowing what exactly it is that you’re about to open. Human beings are drawn to mystery and the unknown and I’ve made it my mission to perfect the element of surprise in what is now an archaic, yet highly romantic, form of communication.”

It’s amazing how even the smallest effort can make the biggest smile, so why not ready those postage stamps and get #loveparceling to your nearest and dearest too?

To find out more about The Love Parcel, visit the Instagram feed: @theloveparcel or check out the website: www.theloveparcel.com

A beautiful example of all the touching handmade parcels that Miranda sends and receives daily

All images used are the property of Miranda Smith/The Love Parcel

Hangin' On the Telephone: The Anti-Social Reality of Social Tech

Connecting with other people should be easier now than ever, what with us having handheld devices on us most of the time, and access to all sorts of social media imaginable. These things were designed to bring us all together, but the ironic reality is they’ve somehow succeeded in founding a generation of individuals that increasingly spend their time isolated in a bubble of digital distraction, cut off from the world around them and everyone in it.

I recently spotted a young family sat having lunch together – well, when I say “together”, they may as well have been on different continents: The parents (in their late twenties) were sat in silence staring at their phone screens, and their daughter, who was no more than 1 or 2, was sat vacant-eyed and glued to her iPad, just totally switched off from her surroundings.

  Now, I’m not naïve enough to preach that children ought to be kept away from this kind of technology – after all, depriving youngsters of an acquaintance with things like IPads in this day and age will unquestionably disadvantage them in later life – but the time they do spend with it has to be regulated. It is so easy to plonk your little tot in front of a screen for hours on end to keep them quiet, but the more you do so the more you’re risking him or her growing up completely lacking in basic social skills.

Looking around, our modern generation especially seems to have already become worryingly desensitised, with little if any empathy for anyone except ourselves and our own; explore the  furthest end of this spectrum, and you have youngsters that have grown up to be alarmingly hostile towards others and to anything and everything that’s different from them.  Worst of all, we’ve gradually conditioned ourselves to find all this absolutely normal.

Flash forward to a terrifying Orwellian society where mankind has evolved an extra flattened edge to the thumb (ideal for screen swiping) and each of us exists utterly cut off from the other; suspicious, hostile and totally without compassion or consideration. Ok, well maybe the thumb thing is a bit excessive (though you NEVER know), but the rest doesn’t seem quite so far-fetched.

Instead of settling for a vicarious existence through a screen (hey, if you didn’t check in on Facebook, were you ever really there at all..?), why don’t we all set a precedent for the future and make a conscious effort to put down our devices a little more often, go out, and just experience life? Catch up with friends?  Laugh? Try something new? I like my thumbs just the way they are, anyway.

CULTURE: CHARLIE CHAPLIN'S STUNNING AND MOVING SPEECH ON HUMANITY

Charlie Chaplin’s beautiful and moving speech on humanity and the fight for a free and united world, from his film The Great Dictator (1940), and with the addition of stirring music by Hans Zimmer from the film Inception (2010).

Utterly stunning. Never have his words rang more true than in these times of oppression, greed, and fear.