My brother Robert says we must dress up in vintage clothes (1920s, ’30s, ’40s or ’50s) for the Vintage Cycle Event to be held in Dawlish next Sunday so Chris bought a £2.60 boater, a 99p moustache set and a £2.99 cravat with matching handkerchief over the Internet – he wanted to be an Edwardian gentleman (Lord only knows why!) whilst I thought I would wear a black dress, pearls and big white hat for my Italian film star look. When Chris’s boater arrived a few days ago I tried it on and felt rather envious – I reckoned it suited me and it struck me it would be more fun to go as a naughty St.Trinians schoolgirl. Chris agreed and we decided to go as a pair of unruly escapees from school.

At first Robert thought our idea was more “carnival” than “vintage” but he’s glad that we’re coming at all and he softened. Here are some shots of the try-outs…