Winter is here

Winter is almost upon us, the Annuals are out in the shops for those of us that recieving them at Christmas is boyhood ritual we've kept with for all our lives, the Christmas Trees will be arriving in our town and village squares with illuminations and guess what happened?

Photo credit W-T-O at UR Forum/A.I. 

It snowed late Monday night here - believe earlier in the East Midlands - and kept up Tuesday morning as I was out attending the bins given our collection day this year is Wednesday as I decided it was sensible to move them earlier ready for kerbside collection.

I couldn't resist gathering the snow from the top of the bin a good one and half to to two inches up and throwning snowballs as the children were getting ready to walk to school in their thick coats and wellies.

Yes, this weather brings out the eternal boy in short trousers doing boyish things!

I also trimmed the size of the cds a bit as some new compilations came and I ordered up some special wallets that hold all the cd book and rears plus the disc taking up much less space from Slim Disc in Telford, Shropshire.

Of velvet and its allure

Bit of a damp coolish day as I type this and I'm think a bit of older classic ways of dressing  such as cord shorts which were preffered in some Prep schools for being more hard wearing but also fitted in with Play, something you might change into after lessons or upon coming home and guzzling some pop.

That was more like the kind of thing and a year a half back I had commisioned although mine were more 5 inch inside leg which was a bit longe than what was normal when I was around twelve.

Practical and hard wearing.

For some reason Velvet and even colours associated with velvet tend to have a image problem in the UK being looked on as either namby-pamby, old-fashioned or shades of "Little Lord Fauntleroy but it need not be.

For instance you could have olive or gold velvet short trousers which with draw string and generous pockets does lend itself as much for play except of the roughest kind as just casual attire.

Browns do work too and this more traditional dress cut styled pair might well work  as would dark blue and what is wrong with shorter inside legs so long as they're decent .

Teemed with suitable socks which I know white historically had an image issue but does go well why shouldn't the modern adult little boy not wear something like this if that is him?

Odd ideas and no need fors

This is being put together on fly during the storms having had to pop outdoors to rescue the refuse bin that had blown over from the kerbside where it was put out for collection just before I got to sleep after eleven last night.

Things are moving ahead with this time away fairly well other than this cryptic comment to say that a person one was picking up enroute had apparently stipulated that one wasn't to wear shorts as in that area you'd stand out and could lead to comments and that.

Instead they suggested wearing long trousers or a kilt.

It's rather less that being in a development of relatively low level flats with shared garden that one might be mindful for having a high likelihood of having mothers with school age children of wearing school uniform entering and leaving their place.

One is obliged pretty much to read the room when it comes to shared public spaces such as parks but on the face of it it a kilt in  home counties of England would stand out and in any event shorts is a broad term.

For instance while I do have school short trousers in various shades of grey, I do have blue cordoroy ones that next to nobody would associate with school and a pair of cream long cargo shorts that go just above the knee that in this area many men wear all year around.

You'd think the latter would of been acceptable as casualwear or are there torchlight swaying in the night mobs that would create scenes that see men in shorts as a threat to their children running the corridors in that area?

Given I've no long trousers that fit given there is no need in my life for them, to accommodate  this individual I'll wear a pair of black Puma trackpants which ironically when worn with a baseball jacket, cap and trainers only saw me attempted to be framed for a crime I didn't commit and told by the police in Cheshire that if I didn't wish to be be on the end any unwanted attention I was to present differently in their area.

That same look was never an issue in London or Surrey.

Pictures and reflections

As I type this I'm not feeling too great really best described as a gluey inflated head that feels that pressurized it's about to burst and "funny" tasting mouth.

I've a fair idea of what sort of thing this is so it's going to be topping up the anti oxidants, vitamins and isolate for a period until it's gone.

There are a number of things to talk about this week, one of which is really around photograph usage at our forum which sometimes brings issues either of someone being more into one detail in the picture - let's say school uniform - that they ignore context which might be corporal punishment which as many of our behinds know was very much alive and well in our day is something that not just being banned in schools today often is seen as child unfriendly by hosts (and potentially abuse).

The other is more the deligent sort of person who wishes to know "where the land lies", issues around copyright, control of images where schools and others may say "only for our site and nowhere else" and so on.

We've put up pinned thread to cover that which should help.

When it comes to my blogs generally I keep with respecting an organizations wishes and provided the content isn't  problematic then I use things that are public domain although that doesn't guarantee you may hear someone may say "but that's our picture, take it down" or mean an image may of been obtained through harrassment and for some things text may be included for context when it comes to looking at parts of past school life and an illustration may help.

That usually works here.

The other is as the days get shorter and you start to notice autumn is creeping in with its soft sunlight and colourful displays being about, your mind goes back to when you climbed trees and collected your Horse Chestnuts for soaking in vinagar for playing Conkers with your mates.

You look at that reflection, it may be a shadow on the grass or especially a reflection in window you are passing and you wonder "Who's that boy?" then you realize actually it is you.

In your shortened grey short trousers and given the rain the last few days your red waterproof coat the past is the present at least mentally even if it is 2023 rather than 1973 with mind and presentation as one.

To go from eleven inside legs that on me were just on the upper third of the knee standing tall to three, decent and an absolute deadringer for exposing as much as was back in the seventies has been a journey over the years.

We've found the right length of short trousers for this adult little boy.

Summertime shorts blues

I was out On Monday when I recalled something that happened around nine years ago one morning on a day rather like today.

We have a relative large garden being on a corner plot so you have front, corner and rear which interestingly enough actually has a different post code than the reminder of the house as we bought that seperately and we have more mowed portions and other bits where various plants and flowers are planted.

Being near woodland we have a good number of birds about and birds do spread seeds about about and that has resulted on occasions in having things like wild poppies growing.

Well for a number of years we had a few growing near the front door, just a few inches from the door handle and lock on the right and towards where the door meets the brickwork on the left so while they were out you'd try to avoid catching them as these poppies were quite big with tissue paper consitency petals.

One day I was going out and I had a pair of olive five inch inside leg short trousers on I'd bought probably from British Home Stores as they did have more old school hiking shorts in and I noticed the poppy was sticking out a fair bit so I went to turn sharp right to avoid it as I appeared stuck to something.

It transpired I'd missed aim and got the back of my shorts caught on the brickwork which had torn the back in a way that even if you did sow them up, it would show as part of material was missing.

"Damn" thought I as I had to go back into the house to change to something more ahem decent.

"Why does trying to save the poppy cost me my shorts" ?

Ever since then I have been very careful at this time of year not to risk damaging my short trousers while getting out via the front door.

Corduroy trousers, Mum and me

 Things that were originated at one point but arrived at another come into this very much changed situation as we have now got the nuts and bolts of Mum's funeral arranged with date, time, person to officiate and formal notices for the press all underway.

The history of corduroy trousers and me goes back a long time, generally the era of the creeping in long trousers when Mum was looking for something hardwearing as with my disabilities I was more likely than most boys to fall over and damage them.

You might say, I certainly did, that frankly the best thing given all of that was short trousers full stop as at least all that was needed was cleaning up any cuts, antiseptic such as TCP and plasters (bandaids) to keep it clean but this was the 1970's and everybody was pushing longs typically jeans as they were held to be "cool".

The first cords I had were dark dusty pink colour which frankly horrified me - it might of been a pretty colour but no boy wore pink in 1970's britain ever - being almost girls so I had to keep a watch out coming from Sunday School and the likes if in them as other boys would give you grief and some for wearing anything they felt girlish.

Later one were at least more sensible colours such as navy blue and brown although it was never long before I was going around with at least one well worn out knee and this topic came to for during the Long Trousered Rebellion of the mid to late 1970's.

Fast forward to 2022 where as we all know that arguement wasn't just settled over time although it took initially a compromise to be put back in short trousers but moving over the last few years especially during Covid to wearing them around 98% of the time no matter what.

What might of happened if instead of those dreaded dark pink cord long trousers perhaps the hard wearing requirement was taken up but in the form of corduroy short trousers which were not uncommon in prep schools as general wear for that very reason?

Well Mr P who does stock traditional aka "proper" short trousers in adult sizes amongst other things was having made some navy blue cord short trousers with traditional white lining which tends to be hard to get today for some reason or other.

That picqued my interest that placing a pre-order happened.

 

The other thing was by doing so at the point of ordering the length could be altered to something more of that era rather than this "on or just above the knee" trend of today so I had them taken up to a inside leg of five that have more the coverage of the boy on this historic picture on the left, noticably shorter but not head turning and a close match for how mine were then.

They arrived last month due to a few issues with materials rather than as anticipated before Christmas, intentions being to wear when spending christmas with Mum so given she was very ill then she didn't get to see them.

It was a pity because they looked great on me - Mum did come to like me in short trousers all over again - and I'm sure she'd of seen that really would of been a better idea had she'd done that back in the day.

An abiding memory was just before Christmas Day sat with her watching the CBeebies Puss In Boots pantomine intently in grey shorts looking very much as her little boy enraptured in the performance before things took a bad turn.

*Top photo credit: Albert Prendergast Ltd.

Things that come together eventually III

I wrote a couple of entries last year talking a bit about how in a number of ways I am finding myself acting and being more of my emotional age not least with how the current Pandemic is affecting  life in a lot of ways.

This also covered the extent to which in the wider community I was being seen more as child as I go by more how I am and feel rather than roles that aren't really me.

There are certain images concerning how you would see yourself I have spoken about because in time they've become a muse for boy who remains so, an inspiration for where I'd be now. 

I am a product of very much the seventies and early eighties as I was somewhat reminded of watching a rerun of the 1980's episode of Back In Time For School series and the previous episode covering the 1970's when it comes to the cultural influences and attitudes.

My still a child self is highly informed by that spilling over to how as that child I associate how I dress as to being my age.

We've looked a bit at uniform on here not as much as the other blogs admittedly and really he is more like boys of my era dressed like not least wearing much shorter shorts than boys today so for school.

One issue with short trousers today are most cheaper pairs have no lining at all which we were used to and that those that do today do use for some reason or other black which wasn't what were had.

It happened that a limited run was organized by a certain retailer of otherwise regular David Luke proper grey short trousers as worn still in a number of schools such as combined infant/juniors or prep schools but with white lining.

A new pair more like those I wore then was what I wanted.

This cropped picture shows the approximate length having being trimmed from seven inch  to three inch of this classic shorts with a zip fastening that I was more used to and the fastening tabs although they are elasticated at the back

This is the full length lining that for my pair has been restitched after alteration.

Boys of my era stepped into our short trousers seeing the white lining, not quite the classic white but off white polyester/cotton lining before tucking our shirts in, fastening and zipping our flies up.

I was rather taken by a boy in that show who remarked upon not being sure about showing so much leg in his very brief P.E. shorts in a bit about school games but that was the thing, we did show more of our legs, it was very much boyish.

The authentic ten year old Chris was used to and expects to wear short short trousers not mid thigh never mind just above the knee that expose more of his legs and thighs.

The best short trousers for me are a new pair as short as those that prep school boy from 1980 wore that have the same sort of lining and that is what I have now.

They are taken up to a highly authentic length so when worn with the rest of my outfit, I look as that boy I remain and feel.

They just feel fantastic on me!

The decision to put in short trousers is made

Different things do come within the remit of this blog as it is about adult little boys, how and when you discovered you were never a chrono-adult but one thing as it applies with me how it was I have been put back into short trousers now.

The history of trousers and me is a long one that I may get around to writing about in depth at some point but from the 1970's there was a drift towards making boys just over 8 "big boys", dressing them in jeans and long trousers socially even if school may of insisted until 11 in you being in short trousers.

Unlike most of my peers I rebelled against that simply because I wasn't that boy - heck I was still a little boy in so many ways - and over time won back wearing shorts.

In more recent times I moved from wearing mainly 5 inch inseam hiking shorts to back to proper school short trousers a move my mummy has eventually fully endorsed even though they aren't lined as those I originally had were.

We have an agreement that she keeps just one pair of longs that she decides if I need to wear to certain occassions where it may be akward to wear short trousers but from now on that is it.

And I am glad to dressed as HER little boy.

I'd love a old school duffle coat or parker, the sort of coat I used to wear beyond kagoules in late spring or summer but these days I have padded ones that finish just below my waist so when I'm out my short trousers and long socks are visable to all.

And of course I am inspected to ensure I am properly dressed with everything tucked in and socks pulled right up.

It makes me feel very young to be treated this way but really it feels so right.