Pinafore by Toast
In our September issue, editor Lisa Sykes takes a look at the not-so-humble pinafore. Beloved of school girls and style icons alike, here’s how to channel some famous pinafore-wearers.
Wear your pinafore like…
…Dorothy (of Oz fame)
Blow into town in your blue gingham pinafore (handy for gathering up to carry your dog in) and bring new friends out of their shells with your endless positivity and practical attire. Pair your pinafore with ruby slippers for a pop of colour.
… Pippi Longstocking
Primary colours and patch pockets give this short pinafore a carefree, can-do attitude. Plait your hair at a jaunty angle to further this effect and casually lift horses in a display of Scandi strength that says ‘this pinafore is ready for anything’.
…Jane Eyre
For this pinafore style, adopt an attitude of humility with an undercurrent of quiet defiance. During Jane’s time at Lowood School, the girls were ‘uniformly dressed in brown stuff frocks of quaint fashion and long Holland pinafores’, Charlotte Bronte tells us. St Trinians is NOT the look you are aiming for. Try to look downtrodden and sorry for your very existence - don’t worry: this pinafore will do most of the work for you.
…Alice Liddell
John Tenniel, who illustrated Lewis Carroll’s tale, did not base his ‘Alice’ on the real Alice Liddell but on a model called Mary Badcock, after Lewis asked for a fair-haired child for the illustrations. Her blue dress with white pinafore was completely fictional but designed to give Alice the look of a girl ready for any adventure. We can’t help feeling that falling down a rabbit hole and playing croquet with live flamingos may all have been better undertaken in a nice, practical pair of slacks but at least she looked stylish while being inadvisedly curious.
…Goldilocks
If you’re going to steal porridge from wild bears, best do it in a pretty, puff-sleeved dress paired with a practical pinny you can wipe your hands on quickly before making good your escape. And definitely don’t hang about or fall asleep in the medium-sized, medium-softness bed or you’ll never get the creases out of that nice cotton pinafore…
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