Peek-a-boo


Lace is a beautiful material, but I think that fake lace is even better. Probably a good thing too, because that's all most of us ever get to wear these days.

I have never had the pleasure of rummaging through the attic to find Victorian lace heirlooms, nor does my family have a Christening gown that has passed around from baby to baby since my great-grandmother was a tot.


I did however, have an embroidered lace bolero. This was an 'antique' so the store keeper informed me, everything in her store was. It cost a small fortune, but, as I was on holiday, and it was lovely, and I'd never see anything like it again, I couldn't walk away empty-handed. Could I?


Yes, lace is frighteningly expensive, that's because of all the work that has to go into it. Have you ever tried making it! I took lessons and it took me about a week to do a couple of inches! So, it's a much a better idea to opt for the fake stuff made from stretchy material that can do some incredibly flattering things.

For a long time it was not respectable to show lace because of its revealing qualities, so it was only seen on underwear. Victorians draped lace seductively over the grand piano - revealing only its feet - so respectable.

Lately, something has happened. Somebody somewhere, Cher or somebody like that, maybe it was Madonna, some fashion icon, left off their day clothes to reveal lace. The fabric of underwear was suddenly outerwear, and now it's perfectly respectable for even the nicest of us to show-off our undies to the world.