STYLE NEVER GOES OUT OF FASHION

How people dress tells you a lot about them.Did you glance in your full-length mirror just then?

A man in rags will ask for a euro to fill his stomach (allegedly),whereas a toff wearing white tie and tails will ask to fill your dance card with his name.You certainly sound popular.

Fashion is an instant language which some men never learn to speak,unfortunately,although most women are fluent in the parlance of designer chic.Audrey Hepburn proved the truth of Karl Lagerfeld's dictum that "One is never over-dressed or under-dressed with a Little Black Dress." And it won't show any caviar stains if you are having breakfast at Tiffany's.(Why did Lagerfeld say "One"?)

'Babe' Paley,voted the world's second best dressed woman -- after Wallis Simpson,oh dear -- once changed fashion by tying a scarf around her handbag,causing a trendy tidal wave copied by millions of women.All because her bag clasp was broken,perhaps. There have always been style icons,some of them men. Beau Brummell was a dandy in Regency England who 'made cotton stockings and dingy cravats a thing of the past.' He took 5 hours a day to dress and had his boots polished with Bollinger champagne.According to Beau, to be truly elegant,you should not be noticed.How elegant that makes me feel.He eventually died shabby and insane in France,after being in debtors' prison.He should have polished his boots with sparkling wine. The amateur detective and foppish clotheshorse Philo Vance was always 'scrupulously correct in his dress,yet unobtrusive' -- unlike Lord Byron,who liked to dress up flamboyantly in exotic cloaks and turbans and wore curl-papers in his hair at night.His daughter Ada was a founding figure in the field of computer programming, an idea which makes my hair stand on end.

Not only clothes can influence fashion.Think of David Bowie with a lightning bolt on his face,and Salvador Dali,whose shoe-shaped hats and upturned wax moustache were part of his brand.Dali avoided paying in restaurants by adding drawings to the cheques he wrote, confident such valuable pieces of art would never be cashed,except in Scotland.

Hermes created the Birkin handbag in honour of the singer Jane Birkin,and you can buy one nowadays for half a million dollars,lucky you.Kim Kardashian sometimes wears bandage dresses,useful for both traffic accidents and fashion disasters,and of course Lady Gaga often lives up to her name.

Kindly clothes designers offer us new fashion choices 4 times a year,perhaps in the belief that fashion is like eating,you should vary your menu to increase your happiness.(According to Bo Derek,"Whoever said that money can't buy happiness didn't know where to go shopping.")

Perhaps most of us would agree with Mary Quant that fashion as we knew it is over: "People now wear exactly what they feel like wearing." That provides me,at least, with a quantum of solace.

Crescendo International Choir performed three successful concerts in April, providing free musical entertainment for people in the Costa Blanca area and raising money for various causes. Most recently, Crescendo International Choir performed at La Siesta Evangelical Church in La Siesta Urb., Torrevieja, on Monday, April 17. Aretiring collection at this concert raised 376 euros for the churchís charity work.

On Saturday, April 15, at Santiago Apostol Church in Benijofar, Crescendo Choir gave a free concert in the evening, after the regular mass. More than 250 euros was raised to help the town hallís social services department buy food for people in need in the Benijofar area.

At the start of April, Crescendo Choir gave a Saturday evening concert at Salt Church in Los Montesinos. At this event, 420 Euros were raised through the red bucket collection after the event. Half of this money went to Salt Church for its own use and half went to Crescendo Choir to help it continue giving free concerts as the music director and the pianist are paid professionals. Member dues also help cover this expense.

For more details about the choir or upcoming events, please see crescendo-choir.com. You can also follow the group on Facebook at CrescendoTorrevieja or if you can email info@crescendo-choir.com.

The choir would be delighted to have more singers, especially basses. This international group sings a variety of songs ranging from musicals to spirituals, from pop to classical, mostly in English or Spanish. Rehearsals take place at Rincon de Miguel in Los Montesinos on Mondays between 17:45 to 20:00. All singers are welcome!

Noa is a small, cheeky 2 year old.

He loves lots of cuddles.

For more info

966 71 0047 / 688 792 515