Saturday, June 13, 2009
Excitement, adventure and really wild things
Or what passes for them here.
Today was, of course, graduation. The annual event that sees some of the more amusing crimes against style (although probably not fashion) visible in Iceland today. I had seven students graduating, and thankfully all of them dressed like civilised human beings. :)
I've just looked up my entry for this time last year:
To keep myself amused during the speeches I can't follow I've taken to noting the changes in fashions worn by the graduands. Last year it was big bold prints in bright colours; this year it's black and white (possibly with more restrained prints) or plain bright colours. Dresses are commonly either shoestring, strapless or even backless, with puffball or asymmetric hems. Boleros, even over dresses with sleeves, were also common. One or two that didn't conform to this pattern did look a bit like costumes from a seventies SF movie, although there was also a rather nice red belted t-tunic. Only four of the graduands wore traditional dress - a long black kirtle with embroidered bodice seams and front panels and a long apron (often patterned) over a plain white blouse, plus a black skullcap hat with a very long dangling tassle. The overall standard was higher than last year, although the number in traditional wear has halved.
Not a lot has changed, fashion-wise, although the shoestring and backless dresses have gone. At times it was a little like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century meets Ashes to Ashes, and the number of girls in national dress has again halved, but the plain colours were out in force. The worst-dressed-sentient-being-of-the-day award goes to the chap who wore black tie with bright red baseball pumps. And I won't go into the number of girls who were, ah, a little too ample for their stick insect dresses. Take it from me, ladies, tight fitting dresses do not flatter anyone with more than the most minimal curves.
After graduation and the traditional following photocall I went up to the office to write my presentation for Monday's faculty meeting. This killed two birds with one stone, though, as it allowed me to kill the time between graduation and A's graduation party in a manner more useful than driving home and then driving back. The party was a big family and friends affair, which was nice, and I finally got to meet A's grandmother, who is the woman who dyed and spun the wonderful embroidery wool that A gave me a while ago. I've yet to decide what to do with it, as I really must do something worthy of the skill that has gone into the dyeing and spinning. My current thought is to use it to embroider the edges of my hangerok once I get around to making the thing.
That covers 'excitement' and 'really wild things' but not 'adventure'. Well, on my way back to the office from coffee with a friend yesterday (it made more sense to do a couple of hours of extra work before the graduation rehearsal than to go home and back again) I noticed that there is a new Bónus supermarket in Akureyri, on the opposite side of town to the original one. It's a bit smaller and somewhat quieter than the main one, which is a good thing from my point of view. So today I decided to explore this, mainly in search of some detergent so that I can do essential things like wash my fencing armour (it got rather dirty last weekend). I think I might use start using that one as it's closer to the route home than the other one.
For now, though, I'm going to go and do a bit more work on the knotwork dragon. I think I've got the main body sorted, and I'm working on the other fill bits. Pictures will follow eventually.
Today was, of course, graduation. The annual event that sees some of the more amusing crimes against style (although probably not fashion) visible in Iceland today. I had seven students graduating, and thankfully all of them dressed like civilised human beings. :)
I've just looked up my entry for this time last year:
To keep myself amused during the speeches I can't follow I've taken to noting the changes in fashions worn by the graduands. Last year it was big bold prints in bright colours; this year it's black and white (possibly with more restrained prints) or plain bright colours. Dresses are commonly either shoestring, strapless or even backless, with puffball or asymmetric hems. Boleros, even over dresses with sleeves, were also common. One or two that didn't conform to this pattern did look a bit like costumes from a seventies SF movie, although there was also a rather nice red belted t-tunic. Only four of the graduands wore traditional dress - a long black kirtle with embroidered bodice seams and front panels and a long apron (often patterned) over a plain white blouse, plus a black skullcap hat with a very long dangling tassle. The overall standard was higher than last year, although the number in traditional wear has halved.
Not a lot has changed, fashion-wise, although the shoestring and backless dresses have gone. At times it was a little like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century meets Ashes to Ashes, and the number of girls in national dress has again halved, but the plain colours were out in force. The worst-dressed-sentient-being-of-the-day award goes to the chap who wore black tie with bright red baseball pumps. And I won't go into the number of girls who were, ah, a little too ample for their stick insect dresses. Take it from me, ladies, tight fitting dresses do not flatter anyone with more than the most minimal curves.
After graduation and the traditional following photocall I went up to the office to write my presentation for Monday's faculty meeting. This killed two birds with one stone, though, as it allowed me to kill the time between graduation and A's graduation party in a manner more useful than driving home and then driving back. The party was a big family and friends affair, which was nice, and I finally got to meet A's grandmother, who is the woman who dyed and spun the wonderful embroidery wool that A gave me a while ago. I've yet to decide what to do with it, as I really must do something worthy of the skill that has gone into the dyeing and spinning. My current thought is to use it to embroider the edges of my hangerok once I get around to making the thing.
That covers 'excitement' and 'really wild things' but not 'adventure'. Well, on my way back to the office from coffee with a friend yesterday (it made more sense to do a couple of hours of extra work before the graduation rehearsal than to go home and back again) I noticed that there is a new Bónus supermarket in Akureyri, on the opposite side of town to the original one. It's a bit smaller and somewhat quieter than the main one, which is a good thing from my point of view. So today I decided to explore this, mainly in search of some detergent so that I can do essential things like wash my fencing armour (it got rather dirty last weekend). I think I might use start using that one as it's closer to the route home than the other one.
For now, though, I'm going to go and do a bit more work on the knotwork dragon. I think I've got the main body sorted, and I'm working on the other fill bits. Pictures will follow eventually.