Fact is stranger than fiction, I’ve heard. While, I’ve read some really farfetched fiction that makes me wonder what the human imagination will come up with next, I have to admit — sometimes it’s just so. From conspiracy theories to random coincidences, some of the most mundane things in life actually have the most interesting stories attached to their origin or prominence.
Maybe, it’s just human nature to trace the origin of things, no matter how insignificant. Maybe, we’ve just got way too much time on our hands to ponder over the minutia of random thoughts that drop in between our ears. Or maybe... a good story is worth telling because, it’s too good to be true. Let’s find out!
The next time you’re struggling with a bra clasp - think literature!
Bet that confused you. Honestly, what could the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper have anything to do with a bra clasp? (Other than the protagonists being total rascals and needing some skill in that regard, at some point.)
So get this, the author of these famed and respected works of literature — Mark Twain, also known as Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who is also known as the inventor of a clasp to tighten an adjustable elastic band (sound familiar?) I kid you not... In the words of the man himself on a letter written as far back as 1874, ‘The vest, pantaloons or other garment upon which my strap is to be used should be provided with buttons or other fastenings on which the strap is to be detachable and adjusted. When changing garments, the strap may readily be detached from one and put on another. The advantages of such an adjustable and detachable elastic strap are so obvious that it needs no explanation — Signed Samuel L Clemens... clearly!
Moral of the story, never judge a book by it’s cover. (I just had to throw it in there.)
Cover that derriere woman!
Ah! New York... The Big Apple... The City that Never Sleeps. Anything can happen in New York, quite literally!
For example, way back in 1939, New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia ordered the city’s exotic dancers to be more covered up in honour of the World’s Fair. And, voila, the thong — officially landed in New York, providing food for thought, centuries at a stretch! No wonder the city never sleeps. Don’t believe me? Google it!
I have to admit, these factoids consume a fair chunk of my daily cognitive ability. Totally random but extremely bizarre occurrences, like the French numbering system... Really? They could come up with unique names for numbers all the way till 60. And then? Imagination ran out? Or was it the wine?
While I continue to be baffled by these vital quandaries, till next time, keep it sharp!
— A fashion aficionado, film maker, script writer, stylist and marketing junkie, the writer indulges in the latest fashion and currently drives marketing for youth fashion brands in Indus League —A division of FLF.
Great Napoleons’ buttons!
The French have always been a peculiar people. The reasons and rationale scarce makes sense to us mortals who deal with more practical and existential issues. The wine, women, food (snails and frogs legs, for crying out loud), the language and of course, the number system; Replete with eccentricities of another kind. More on that number system later... Did you know that first buttons on coat sleeves was a result of a small man with a big ego, and an appetite for war, getting squeamish about snot? Yes, I said snot, the kind that lingers annoyingly when the weather is well, nippy. The small man in tights, a funny hat and lace on his chin — yes, Napolean, made all his soldiers sow tin buttons on the sleeves of their coats as he couldn’t handle them wiping their noses on their sleeves. I don’t know about you, but, the guy kind of reminds me of my matron in the school dormitory who had the strangest logic and fiercest implementation policies. Now, you know who thank for those buttons on your coat sleeve!
