Fashion

Plunging necklines and the suchlike didn't exist then - it was only later that slightly open back dresses were worn. I once remember having a slightly see-through white organza dress made, and my father said "My dear child, you'll make a laughing stock of us!"

And I answered "Why daddy? There's nothing wrong with it!"

I also remember a time when I had knitted my sister a mohair dress in a rather loose stitch. My daddy wouldn't let her wear it, so I unstitched it and made it into a jumper.

I'll tell you something that'll make you laugh. The first time I wore lipstick I was on my way to Hersonissos. When I opened my bag to give the conductor my ticket, I saw a scrap of paper wrapped around the lipstick. It said: "Respectable girls of your age do not wear this kind of thing." And when I saw that, I felt like... I would rather have been given a beating than seen that note. I was that upset! My father had quietly slipped it into my bag....

I also remember when I first varnished my nails a little, using pink, so it didn't show. My daddy saw it and said "What's that?" And I replied that I'd dyed my hands while peeling sour cherries to make a sweet, and had varnished my nails so it wouldn't show.