No problem: put your foot in it

PLIMSOLLS, sandshoes, takkies, sneakers, which do you prefer? Well, it doesn’t really matter because they all belong to the same family: a canvas shoe with a rubber sole.

For a long time, they have simply been a cheap, durable item of casual or sports field footwear.

But suddenly they have acquired an upmarket fashionable image, bringing with it a price guaranteed to make a sizeable dint in the customer’s bank balance.

True, they may have been spruced up, but there’s no disguising their origin.

How long this fad will live is questionable, so I must resurrect that forgotten pair of takkies hidden away in a cupboard somewhere in the house.

Problem is, I can’t decide whether to use them to cash in on this unexpected opportunity or to take up tennis.

Staying with fashion, an interesting development in the UK is the onesie, an all-in-one fleece garment that covers the entire body.

Intentional or not, this newcomer is strongly reminiscent of something going back more than 70 years to wartime Britain.

It was the siren suit, a necessity made from stitched-together blankets. Its name was prompted by families who rushed to cold, dark and often damp air-raid shelters when sirens warned of German bombers on the way.

That dreaded sound must have been enough to give anyone the shivers.