Accessories of love?

I was going to talk about the forthcoming celebration of Burns Night, of revelry and all sorts of quirky, fun accessories like sporrans, kilt pins and brooches. However, the horrors in Haiti have thrown me completely off kilter (excuse the pun). This sort of occurrence makes us reassess our lives. What really matters – our family, our friends, our material worth? It makes me wonder if even our clothes are important, let alone the concept of fashion, or jewellery.

Why isn’t there a universal set of rules in the event of a natural disaster? Why should anyone be reduced to an anarchic, Lord of the Flies type, scenario? How about a job for everyone in an emergency situation – and some guidance as to what to do if everyone else around us dies? Meantime, we're left feeling pretty powerless, after being told there’s nothing we can do to help survivors across the sea - apart from sending money - when what we’d like to offer is tangible love and support like hugs, food, water, shelter and hot baths.

Of course, a few decades ago, we wouldn’t even have known about distant seismic activity, until it was far too late to be of any assistance. The problem now is that, despite all our economic and technical progress, and all the power of modern communications, we’re still at the mercy of our geography and the earth’s basic elements. The best we can do is to educate and co-ordinate ourselves to try to cope as effectively as humanly possible in natural disasters – though, surely, more could be done in the way of teaching, organization and self-sufficiency?

Which brings me back to the ancient Celts. They coped with adverse weather conditions and difficult terrain and survived long before and after the Romans left our shores. Their society was based upon class and kinship, on tribes and clans – the very structures that seem to be neglected today. Hardly surprising then, that gang culture should be emerging out of the fragments of our former society?





I’ve digressed quite a lot, so I’ll get back to my main point, that the embellishment of clothes is a luxury. Accessories aren’t essential, so why not recycle them and invest in vintage bags, belts, jewellery and adornments? For instance, I can recommend this stylishly-plumed, old-fashioned Scottish kilt pin from ShopCurious, if you’re planning a bit of a highland fling on the 25th, and you don’t want your kilt flying open all over the place.







Anyway, I’ll leave you to slope off to the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond for a spot of haggis to consider this food for thought. I expect you’ll be taking the high road…

Will you?