Dedicated Follower of Fashion. Ray Davies and the Kinks
Ray Davies is one of the twentieth century’s finest songwriters. His lyrics often appear 
simple but after a few listens you begin to see the layers beneath.
In Newcastle in the sixties I was one of those dedicated followers of fashion who strutted his stuff around the clubs and dance halls of my home town. As I approach seventy these things do not seem as important as they once did but there is still a part of me that would spend too much money and too much time in a clothes shop.
Fortunately my pathetic pension ensures I shop more often in St Oswald’s Charity Shop than John Lewis’s men’s department.
An Autobiography in a Pair of Pants
A post war baby boomer born in a smoggy northern city
Sporting towelling nappies and plagued with nappy rash
Cycling through the back lanes from school to avoid the bullies
Scabby knees sticking out from under grubby grey schoolboy shorts
Faded blue denim jeans and a scarlet red polo-neck jumper
Sartorial independence bought with a paper boy’s wages
The Marrakesh express in the seventies under an African sun
The Sahara saw the first unveiling of summer shorts
Bell Bottom Loons covering Crockett and Jones cuban heeled boots
Hip hugging trousers revealing a tantalising glimpse of faded underwear
Paul Balman work suits with purple paisley silk waistcoats
Pretending to be a businessman and failing miserably
Tight black levi jeans with a black shirt and a mean look
Performing poetry in a smoke filled pub on a Sunday night
Empty pockets in patched Craghopper cargo pants
Trying to make a decent living as a poet and failing miserably
Paper underwear and a cotton smock tied at the back
Waiting In a French hospital watching a heart monitor all night
Settling for elasticated black trousers and baggy jumpers
Needing something that accommodates an ever expanding waistline
Buying two pairs of aspirational trousers at Marks and Spencer
Taking six months to lose ten kilos so that they can be buttoned up
Being able to pull on trousers whilst standing up and not falling over
The final chapter waiting to be written and the last zip still unzipped
©Jeff Price August 2017
