When I was just 5 years old I used to dream about owning these knotted and crocheted dresses and glam silver shoes. The dresses looked sexy even to my young head but I wa very creative even back then. I collected cigarette adverts, fascinated by Silk Cut and cosmetic brands. The dresses came from the famous Golden Hands magazines my mother collected. She didn’t make anything from them and eventually threw them away…how I wish I had them seeing as I collect retro magazines.

I sometimes wish I had been born 15 years earlier and had my teenage and twenties in the late 60’s and 70’s. I feel I missed the best time in the UK before we hit the Capitalist 80’s. Good for us bankers at the time, but not good for the manufacturers, as now, with unemployment and closures. The 90’s were grim and I am not so sure anything has improved since then. But hopeful for the changes were are going through now – maybe there will be a creative time again, with pride in culture, hope and the UK and Europe getting their act together even through Brexit upheavals. And maybe I will get knitting and slip into these dresses and celebrate how 2021 onwards could turn out to be ok after all.

With the lockdowns, I returned to reading again and have just finished this brilliant book. The last page resonates the most…in the consumerism of big business we have lost the gems of creative creativeness on the small scale. The workload of these two designers bordered on slavery. This time of virus does have its victims but maybe, just maybe we will all step back, see our own homes as creative hubs and start to craft locally again. Leave the greed to China, to Primark and other big brands and in time hopefully they will see their time is over.

Hopefully the online retail platforms wont play too many algorithm games and everyone gets a fair stab at showing their talents.

Whatever happens, I will make sure I get to wear silver shoes.