London Underground Fashion Victims

Fashion Victims on the Tube

After a break of a week, while I was sunning myself in Malaga, with not a Tube train in sight, it's back to Friday's Fashion Victims. The day where I showcase people who have taken a style and "made it their own". (Trade mark Louis Walsh)

Novelty Belts

Just in case you had thought the metallic look was beginning to be over.


Sadly it's not. Although I think that Gold Belt woman's friend was doing her bit for International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Plus Fours or Twiggy Trousers?

They're sort of the same length as Twiggy Trousers but the tight hem gave them more of the appearance of plus fours


Perhaps it was the dark socks/tights that helped to, coupled with some shoes that wouldn't have looked out of place on a golf course.

I have cold wrists

I don't understand wristwarmers. To me they are slightly less sensible than leg warmers.


Why not just wear a jumper than covers up your arm? Could someone please explain.

Swimmies on the Tube

Finally, a guest TFV spot from Jim F


He couldn't resist sending in a picture of "Lurid flourescent leotard on top of black leggings, topped with hoody. There were two of them on the Hamm & City yesterday morning but could only get one.

The looks they were getting..."

I can only presume they were off to dance school or unless the 80's Fame look is really coming back.

That's it for this week. The previous victims can be found here and if you've missed the whole set they can be seen on the following Flickr set.

Coughing Banned on the Tube

Thank goodness for inverted commas

I love the way the London Paper's headline about coughing being "banned" on the Tube is next to the picture of that paragon of health, Fag Ash Lil aka Kate Moss. Much tabloid space given over to her smoking a fag in a bar in Ireland, but she's not been banned from coughing on the Tube.

In fact the judicious use of inverted commas means that no one's acutally been banned from coughing on the Tube. We learn that a Government body want us to see that coughing and sneezing without covering your mouth on the Tube is anti social behaviour, because it could spread a killer "public transport" flu (Yes, I love inverted commas too).

Professor Lindsey Davies, national director of the Government's Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, said: "We will be ­encouraging people not to cough or sneeze without something over their face. If we make it socially unacceptable to cough and sneeze in ways that spread disease, we have a chance of preventing the pandemic."

The Londonpaper say that Government officials "are urging millions of Londoners to arm themselves with a hanky and make it 'socially unacceptable' to cough or sneeze.....Estimates suggest that one in four people in Britain will be affected in a pandemic. The last major one struck in 1918 and claimed more lives than the Great War."

Does this mean that we are going to get a spate of ads on the Tube telling people to not travel without a hanky? What happens if you're about to sneeze but one hand is strap hanging and the other is holding a bag or briefcase - will you be jumped upon by the PIP police? Perhaps things will get so bad that we'll see more people travelling around with those little white cotton masks that commuters wear in Japan.

But before we get into panic mode, I remember blogging about viruses being spread on the Tube quite some time ago now and there was a suggestion that the risks were over-hyped. "The Health Protection Agency says there is no indication that passengers in London and the South East - where public transport is more crowded - suffer more respiratory illnesses than other parts of the UK." said the BBC

Even so it doesn't feel great to be in a crowded Tube with people coughing and spluttering around you, specially when you learn that sneezes travel from speeds ranging from 100mph - 200mph depending on which fascinating fact table you are looking at. In The Guardian, which also covered the story, Professor Davies said "When a person with the flu sneezes, large droplets containing the virus can travel up to a metre through the air".

Just let me know when we hear the first announcements from Tube drivers reminding us not only to "Mind the Gap", but warning us that "Coughs & sneezes spread diseases". Maybe Sheriff Ken will cough up some funds so we see some TV adverts with a range of Londoners extolling the virtues of wet wipes and Handy Andies along with their Oystercards.

Lost on London Transport

Strange things found in the TfL Lost Property Office

Yesterday, I was kindly sent the very diverting Book of Lists: London, as the publishers, Canongate, happened to come across some of my pictures on Flickr and wanted to use them to illustrate their book.

Amongst the 180 lists of London which would keep a London pub quiz team happy for weeks, I found 14 of the weirdest things left on public transport. How some of the items would have even fitted on public transport, let alone left behind, beggars belief:

1. Two and half hundredweight of sultanas
2. Lawn mower
3. Breast Implants
4. Theatrical coffin
5. Stuffed eagle
6. 14-foot long boat
7. Divan bed
8. Park Bench
9. Garden Slide
10. Jar of bull's sperm (how they identified it as belonging to a bull is beyond me, one assumes it was labelled)
11. Urn of ashes
12. Dead bats in a container
13. Vasectomy kit
14. Two human skulls in a bag

If you were sitting across from any of the people carrying these items, wouldn't you think of calling them back and saying "Oi, you've left your dead bats behind", or "Excuse me madam, I think you've dropped your breasts". But if these people were travelling on the Northern Line weirdness is just part of the journey.


I'm always surprised about the number of people I've seen carrying computers on the Tube. But sadly they never seem to forget them.

Friends of London Transport Museum Auction

How much would you pay for the first copy of Metro?

Or a King's Cross Tube Station roundel? Or your own personalised announcement on the Docklands Light Railway?

Thanks to IanD, I learnt that The Friends of London's Transport museum are runing a charity auction through eBay up until the 1st October, to raise money for the refurbishment at Covent Garden. Transport related lots include: a one off bus driving experience, rare model buses (Fimb get your bids in); use of a routemaster for the day or evening; a train cab ride (currently standing at £255 - Graham O'Mara gets to do this every day); a tour of Kingsway tram station; plus 'lots' more.

Surprisingly, no one has yet bid to be a mannequin in the museum itself. If you've been to the Museum you'll know that there are dummies sitting in the trains on display. So you for the a mere six grand you could be immortalised like one of the Tussauds wax works. As normal the dummy would be dressed in suitable clothing for the period but the face would be personalised to resemble the winner of this lot. A perfect although rather expensive way to scare the living daylights out of your friends if they visited the museum next year.

Happy bidding!

Fare evasion dilemma

Any legal eagles amongst you?

Back in London now and thanks to Neil for holding the fort while I was in sunnier climes.

While I was away, someone left a message on goingunderground's message board with the following question:

"HELP! - A few weeks ago I was stopped by a plain clothes officer, and as I did not have a valid ticket, so I was told I would either be cautioned or prosecuted. I have received a letter saying that I should write to them explaining my case so they will decide whether to prosecute or caution me. The thing is, in spite of having a valid ticket at the time, I touched the wrong one on the machine (which belonged to someone else) by mistake. I was advised that I can only get a caution if I plead guilty, but in this case they might still prosecute. Does that mean that if I tell the truth, that I touched the wrong ticket by mistake, I will definitely be prosecuted and have criminal record for £1.50??? I really don't know what to do and would appreciate some advice. Cheers!"

So what happens in situations where you do have two tickets and you use the wrong one by mistake? There must be genuine cases where this happens. Or would TfL see this as the fare evasion excuse number 239, in the great collection of Lost Travelcard Excuses? Surely if you explain your mistake they would understand - because technically you have actually paid your fare and are travelling with a valid ticket - but just not showing it.