RetroProgressive – Bestial style for winter?

Big furry ears make me happy. It might work for you too. Can you imagine the winter high street bustling with creatures? Foxes, badgers, the odd Minotaur, not to mention all the beasts you can’t name. Could hats change the world?

Asks Lewes based felt-maker and performance artist, Barbara Keal.

Here are some of her designs:

Could this be part of a retro-regressive trend?  As we turn ourselves into animals, dogs are getting their own London restaurant. Soon we’ll all be back sharing primordial-style long houses with our livestock.

And who is responsible for this curious clothing time warp? Antler wearers have included fashion leader, Lady Gaga, and other well-heeled looking, neatly dressed types.


The recent cold weather may be partially to blame. And, of course, at Christmas anything is acceptable.

Will you be tempted to unleash your inner beast?

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About Author Profile: Susan Muncey

Trend consultant Susan Muncey, is Editor of Visuology Magazine. In 2008, she founded online curiosity shop, ShopCurious.com. She writes on style and trends for several blogs, including Visuology.com, ShopCuriousMag.com and The Dabbler. She previously owned cult West London boutique, Fashion Gallery, one of the first concept stores in the world. Susan graduated in geography from Cambridge University and is also an Associate Member of the CFA Institute. She lives in London with her husband.

14 thoughts on “RetroProgressive – Bestial style for winter?

  1. Gaw
    November 27, 2010 at 08:09

    You could top it off with a Where the Wild Things Are romper suit and have a wild rumpus on the high street. I’m strongly in favour of this trend, which is surely retroprogressive to a record, Stone Age degree?

  2. andrewnixon@blueyonder.co.uk'
    November 27, 2010 at 08:25

    The pointy-eared wolf ones are very Where the Wild Things Are, I wouldn’t mind one of those. No prices on the website…I guess they’re priceless.

  3. info@shopcurious.com'
    November 27, 2010 at 09:06

    Had no idea Dabblers were such a wild bunch. Brit, I will investigate the prices and let you know..

  4. johngjobling@googlemail.com'
    malty
    November 27, 2010 at 10:36

    We have a dog restaurant, it’s called the kitchen. Not sure about the Druidic look, someone always wants to be the grand poo-bah, Pressa looks ready for the cull but there again he always did.
    The problem of course is how does one get in and out of ones S-Klasse in that headgear, swap it for a Vespa maybe.

  5. richardpthomas@mypostoffice.co.uk'
    Richard Thomas
    November 27, 2010 at 11:26

    It may be a little unwise for a partnered man to wear any form of head gear with horns since to the classically minded it would set him off as a cuckold.

  6. andrewnixon@blueyonder.co.uk'
    November 27, 2010 at 14:26

    Good point, Richard, wouldn’t want to look ridiculous….

  7. info@shopcurious.com'
    November 27, 2010 at 15:09

    Malty, I though Prescott was a Jag man? (as well as a stag man..)

    Richard, thanks for your enlightening comment – I had to do a bit of research to find out what you were talking about and trusty old Wikipedia helped me out. I was particularly amused by the variations of meaning in different languages (Gadjo, even the Romanians wear horns) The Chinese translation ‘wearing a green hat’ is rather odd. Related terms seem to be used widely in Trinidad and Tobago (eg horner-man and a horner woman etc) The bit about theories in evolutionary psychology and cuckoldry as a fetish is curiously fascinating. Didn’t expect this to lead to talk of a ‘sperm competition’, but there you go..

  8. mcrean@snowpetrel.net'
    November 27, 2010 at 15:40

    Yes, long floppy hats with long floppy ears have suddenly appeared all over the place. Every man his own chief justice. An African chief or a Roman solder might top that off with the head of a lion, leopard, bear or wolf so in the circs horns are a bit half-hearted (though the epics are great). Perhaps a sign that one would have liked the full beast but sadly couldn’t afford it? I’d guess that for the full beastly vibe you’d have to go the extra mile or £££ and top off your gear with a full Alien or Predator head or some other beast from fable, er, nightmare. At least this would look more interesting than those dull helmets cyclists now wear.

  9. Worm
    November 27, 2010 at 22:10

    this sort of stuff would go down a treat with austrian skiers

  10. info@shopcurious.com'
    November 28, 2010 at 16:16

    Only in Austria!

  11. info@shopcurious.com'
    November 30, 2010 at 21:48

    Of course, Rosie. Frisia: Wear the fox hat?

  12. rosie@rosiebell.co.uk'
    November 30, 2010 at 22:08

    Susan – it’s a whole wolf pelt, isn’t it?

    There are grey squirrels nicking the food I put out for the birds whose tails I’d like to convert to ear muffs.

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