African hats

I've been in France on my holidays, very nice it was too, I'll show and tell tomorrow but for now I'm at home with dongle internet so I've scoured the archives and here's a morsel.

The funny hat I mentioned in the Eva post is in fact . . . a circumcision hat. I've got two of them.

I bought them from Harvey the beautifully camp man on the market. Just to give you an idea of how camp here's a small example - I hold out a plate of cake to Harvey, he takes a small slice, I say "Come on Harvey you can take a big one" he jumps up all ruffled "How dare you! You naughty girl!" Then he glances from side to side and says " . . . but just for the record, yes I can" and off he wiggles into the market. He's also from Paris and says 'zee' instead of 'the', what a fine combination of characteristics.

Harvey sells African antiques and artefacts. These hats are from Mali, they're given to little boys who have just been circumcised - as a sign that they've been brave. The boys then go to the road and lay their flip-flops on the tarmac; passing motorists give them small change for being brave and the boys lift their flip-flops and let them pass. "But" Harvey says "Sometimes you 'ave to drive over zee flip-flops, because zay are chip-chopping like zere is no tomorrow!".

It was very good of Jack to agree to model them. What I like about them is the thick fabric they are made of, the stripes and the many possibilities of making shapes, maybe with a little alteration you could make a very wearable design that someone might actually put on to leave the house . . .

. . . and I won't tell them the back story if you won't.