Singapore Worlds 2004

[John Stewart]

Ooooh!

That's so bloody funny.

Now, put the photoshop away boys. Just for the record, I have worn a gown once and only once. It lasted approx five seconds, and will never happen again.

Lurid orange, I'm afraid, is not quite my favourite colour.

Who's decision was it to make undergraduate gowns so fugly anyway?

As for being in Mr Joss's league - perhaps due to a distaste for sipping away on some fluid while making polite chit chat about nothing to self-important people might have something to do with it.

[Barry Joss]

As for being in Mr Joss's league - perhaps due to a distaste for sipping away on some fluid while making polite chit chat about nothing to self-important people might have something to do with it.


I'm lost. Does that paragraph actually make any sense? And if it's saying what I assume it must be saying I can only assume that, Mr Stewart, you have had a sense of humour bypass.

The context in which I said you were not "in my league" was a simple riposte to your comment about my not being "your type", what we call in the trade "banter". My remark had nothing whatever to do with class or social-circle or whatever you think it did.

I'm sorry that the almighty chip you appear to be carrying on your shoulder has prevented you from seeing it and reduced you to making such pointlessly snide attacks on my character.

I recommend that you work harder on the "polite" part.

[larkvi]

Lurid orange, I'm afraid, is not quite my favourite colour.


Then run for office, and get one of the blue or purple ones

Or, if you switch to Divinity, you get a black one with a purple cross on the back. I hear it grants you the power to call down God's wrath upon sinners, to boot.....

[Eliot Wilson]

They're hardly orange. Striking red,perhaps. A funny thing; I was enormously proud (and very ready) to wear my red gown when I was an undergraduate, as it was a symbol (one of several) of my membership of the student body, and I was, and am - controversially enough - proud to be a St. Andrews student. Has that time passed?

[David Bean]

[s]Eliot Wilson wrote on 01:09, 25th Jul 2003:
I was, and am - controversially enough - proud to be a St. Andrews student. Has that time passed?

Not in my book! I loved the red gown, not least because my ever-evolving raisin string, a symbol of the bizarre institution that is my academic family.

What I'm not so fond of is the idea of trying to colour-coordinate the gown with the rest of one's outfit, an activity that seems to me to be doomed in every case to fail.

[Eliot Wilson]

Co-ordination is so very easy for the gentleman student, though. Black tie goes admirably with a red gown.

[Barry Joss]

It does indeed, Mr Wilson. That said, the black gown goes terribly well with everything, making life simpler. Though, and I think you'll agree, there is something a little gauche about co-ordinating one's gown with the rest of one's outfit. Smacks a little of trying too hard.

[Eliot Wilson]

Well, indeed, Mr. Joss. I have found, in fact, that a black gown can accompany anything from trews to, well, 'Teenage Dirtbag'. Versatility is the hallmark of a St. Andrews graduate. Or am I thinking of cirrhosis?

[Barry Joss]

It comes to the same thing, Mr Wilson.

[Donald Renouf]

[s]Barry Joss wrote on 16:16, 25th Jul 2003:
It comes to the same thing, Mr Wilson.

How? Versatility = cirrhosis? Don't quite follow that, young Joss. Expliquez, s'il vous plait.

And while selecting one's outfit solely to match a red gown may be going to far, I would have thought that at least making sure it doesn't clash horribly is merely one's duty to society.

[Barry Joss]

Mr Wilson was, I suspect, utilising language in a highly selective and individualistic fashion. I have a strong feeling, indeed, that he was employing "versatility" in its little known usage of "horrific drunkenness".

However, in respect of the clashing or otherwise with an academic gown issue, I stand by my original position. There is, I believe, a certain stylish rakishness, a certain devil-may-care dash about not caring whether the gown matches one's outfit. Indeed, as we should be wearing our gowns on all ocassions, it would be something of a chore.

Oh, and I suspect you meant "too".

[David Bean]

[s]Barry Joss wrote on 13:44, 26th Jul 2003:
However, in respect of the clashing or otherwise with an academic gown issue, I stand by my original position. There is, I believe, a certain stylish rakishness, a certain devil-may-care dash about not caring whether the gown matches one's outfit. Indeed, as we should be wearing our gowns on all ocassions, it would be something of a chore.

Absolutely! The idea of trying to colour-coordinate the gown makes it sound to me like some kind of fashion accessary, rather than a symbol of academia or even - dare I say it - a mark of distinction.

I met a girl towards the end of the year who wears her gown to all exams. Good on her, I say. She put me to shame.

[Anon.]

[s]Barry Joss wrote on 13:44, 26th Jul 2003:
...he was employing "versatility" in its little known usage of "horrific drunkenness".

Er - righto.

...Indeed, as we should be wearing our gowns on all ocassions, it would be something of a chore.

Well - all one'd have to avoid would be pink shirts and anything red or orange. Not that much of a chore, really.

Oh, and I suspect you meant "too".

[blushes] Yes.

[Anon.]

[s]David Bean wrote on 20:11, 26th Jul 2003:
Absolutely! The idea of trying to colour-coordinate the gown makes it sound to me like some kind of fashion accessary(sic)...

Not at all - just avoiding clashes would be a near-natural instinct, like not wearing brown shoes with a blue suit.

[Thackary]

What colour shoes should one wear with a blue suit?

Or should one simply avoid wearing a blue suit?

[Eliot Wilson]

Blue suit and black shoes. Obviously. This isn't Italy, you know.

[Thackary]

What recommendations do you have for blue jeans?

[Barry Joss]

I would strongly recommend any well-boned pair of shoes with jeans. Brown or black is acceptable, although it is my experience that a more squared toe is better with jeans - and perhaps I might suggest a matt/suede finish?

How this thread has evolved. We applaud it.

[Eliot Wilson]

It does, of course, go without saying that we take a dim view of blue jeans when paired with a gown.

On a side matter, we also take a very dim view of blue jeans when teamed with a jacket and tie. You're not Bobby Ewing. Get over it.

[Barry Joss]

Unless you are Bobby Ewing. In which case, disregard.

Oh, and Mr Wilson, it may interest you to know that I have this day received an email from Mr Darby asking who you are and commenting on this very thread.

Small world.