By total fluke, our trip to the Isle of Wight coincided with their annual International Scooter Rally. We found ourselves surrounded by fashion from another era – the 60s, to be precise. Parker jackets, Fred Perry shirts, winkle pickers, blonde beehives… There’s a great article on British Mod fashion here. Though, bless, the 60s are a long way behind us now and some of the rally’s sharply styled working class heroes were looking decidedly middle class, well fed and crinkly around the eyes!
I always get a little flutter of anxiety around groups of people dressed in a very prescribed way. I think it’s because I don’t particularly like conforming and even conforming with a rebellious undertone is too much conformity for me! (I say I don’t like people dressing in a prescribed way, but I was willing to be snapped with my future husband in his navy uniform! Strange. He still hasn’t presented me with an engagement ring. I expect he’s saving up for the honeymoon cruise.)
In other news, my latest Guardian blog post on sewing summer dresses came through with some fantastic reader comments around the topic of the cost of sewing. Indeed, the comments are much more interesting than the article itself! Which led me to think… Do you read a blog post for the main piece, for the comments, or both? Do you skip reading comments or fast forward to them? I think the best blogging is a conversation and I love it when a piece takes off in an entirely unexpected fashion. Blogging is a living, breathing creature, the author a mere conduit.
Good for those times when the author has a holiday-numbed brain, useful for nothing other than rambling!
I loved the comments on your Guardian post. How can a handmade Summer dress totally fitting you and your style ever be compared to a £10 dress from Primark ??
I read blogs for both the content and the comments. Sometimes I will return to a previously read blog to see what new comments may have been added. To me, blogs are very much a dialog/conversation. You are (hopefully) not speaking to a void when you put your thoughts out there 😉
Amazing these all bikes … so you will have first honeymoon cruise then engagement ring… hmmm… interesting concept. I always say I am going to marry yearly – as there are so many wedding dressess I love 🙂
Could you ream comments without reading the post? I have to try it …
As I said, I don’t like to conform!
🙂
Yes and all those bikes drive many of the locals nuts.
oh mods! How i wish i was there the first time…
I like to read the whole post and then the comments, and then realise someone already said what i wanted to say.. and sometimes i comment anyway, and sometimes i slink away back into my little corner haha
I love replying to my blog visitors comments – sometimes they bring up whole new points of what i just talked about which makes it a little more cosier and worthwhile.
I was amid albeit a10 year old one! Donkey fringe and all. Unfortunately the rallies often ended in a fight with the rockers though!
Ahhhh how fun! I’m a bit of a scooter enthusiast, and these make my little red Vespa seem pretty plain in comparison!
The Isle of Wight is mentioned in a Beatles song so I have always wanted to take a little trip there… why not? 😀 Thanks for sharing! Also, your article was great… and the comments? Wow! You really got everyone talking! ~Laurie
oh i wish i had my own vintage vespa… sigh
off to read the comments on your post over at the guardian…
Comments are the best part about blogging! I love lurking the comments, and I’ve had a lot of people tell me they love lurking the comments on my posts, so yay 🙂
I read my blogs for the main piece and then go to comments. If it’s the Yahoo home page or a controversial story on my local tv’s webpage, I go straight to comments. I learn a lot about humanity from the comments.
The main post is a great jumping off point for conversation. I don’t comment a lot here (but read faithfully) because sometimes I feel like I’m talking to myself. But I like meeting all the “characters” who do and start getting a feel for different personalities. I’ve even started reading other people’s blogs because of interesting comments that they had made.
As for the Isle of Wight… it sounds like one of those wonderful British places that are just right for a Gothic novel setting.
If I’m reading hurriedly, I often read just the post and come back later to read the comments. The conversation is part of the whole and, particularly with technical stuff, some of the best advice is to be found in answers to a question posed – that is, the comments. And, like most of us, I’ve discovered new blogs by following up on some of the commenters. Heaps good all round.
I love the post and the comments and I particularly like it when I can comment on comments, on my own posts and others. Yeah, its a conversation.
I read both. I will the read the whole article but not necessarily all the comments. The comments section can be too depressing sometimes (not so for sewing blogs, I think Tilly may have discussed this) with people sniping at each other, the article and the author. If one doesn’t agree, I believe in taking the time to word ‘polite’ but meaningful conversation. (eh, does that make me boring idealist?)
The comments are so important! Creates a whole post, I think.
I just got an iPhone (always five years behind everyone else…), but the bloglovin app doesn’t show comments, just the main blog post? I end up having to click through to the “original post”, and then not all are mobile-friendly sites… So I often end up “unreading” the post and visiting it via laptop later!
I usually read both. I do really enjoy the conversation in the comments. If I’ve found an article particularly interesting, I’ll come back and check the comments to see how the conversation develops. Often you pick up lots of great tips from commentators. I also really enjoy being part of the conversation.
By the way, you did some lovely panning shots of the scooters. You really captured the movement well.
Random Crafting Adventures
Omg. I can’t believe the comments on your guardian post. People must be bored or rude or both. I didn’t read more than about 5 comments; the bad tone is no good for the soul.
I always read both the blog and the comments, it makes the article whole to me. I’m off to read your Guardian piece!