Sam Fryer finds the Fifties look can be had for a bargain

FASHION and films have always seemed to walk hand-in-hand. When I was seven or eight years old, all I wanted was a headband like Coco wore in the film Fame and, years before, my mother and grandmother were copying the fashions from film stars like Brigitte Bardot and Lauren Bacall.

The opening of the re-mastered version of Grease at Wycombe 6 last Friday, could mean a flood of Fifties inspired fashions will be hitting the streets again. Potential Pink Ladies will be hotting up the Summer Nights with full skirts, pedal pushers and little cardigans.

Although I missed out on Teddy-boys, Greasers and rock-and-roll by a couple of decades, and I was only about four years old when Grease came out the first time, I decided it was time to discover the appeal of Fifties fashion - on a budget.

It is two weeks until pay day and I needed to buy Fifties style clothes at Fifties prices.

Charity shops are a great way of saving money, but it is often very difficult to find everything you want in just one. The important thing is to decide what kind of look you are going for before you begin.

Being more of a Sandy than any of the other Pink Ladies, I decided to give the leather trousers, tiny shorts and high heels a miss.

My first stop was the South Bucks Hospice Shop in Castle Street, High Wycombe, where I picked up a light blue cardigan for just £3 and the kind assistant even threw in a scarf for free.

My mother told me she used to make her own skirts in the Fifties by cutting out a full circle of material and cutting a hole in the centre to make the waistband.

Finding a skirt which was that full was tough, and none of the charity shops had any net petticoats in stock. In the British Heart Foundation shop in White Hart Street, I managed to find a white skirt, which looked quite full for £5.50.

I picked up a pair of blue daps for £3 and a plain white shirt for £4 from The Imperial Cancer Research Shop in Church Street, High Wycombe.

High street stores have also seen how popular films can influence fashion. In preparation for the imminent craze for bobby socks and pedal-pushers, C&A, in the Chilterns Centre, High Wycombe, has stocked its own range of Fifties inspired clothes, with a Nineties edge.

If you fancy the rock-chick look, then it has a range of black PVC capri pants and skimpy black tops, or for the feminine look, it has lacy cardigans and flounced dresses.

For the ultimate look this summer, then followers of fashion should make a statement with C&A's pedal pushers, (re-named clam-diggers), camisole tops and cardigans.

Dolled up in my Fifties clothes, I decided all I needed was a Cadillac, a Teddy-boy and a lift to Wycombe 6 for the next showing of Grease.

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