You're right, of course, Alan, about the flat shoes. Indeed, on more than one occasion I've met a folky male acqaintance accompanied by a new female, wearing high heels, and I've thought to myself, "That'll never last, her shoes are wrong", and I've been right, it didn't last.

Floaty skirts and dresses are common at dances but less so at concerts, clubs or sessions, where there may be nothing much to distinguish the female folkie from the general public. A general hippiness of attire (bright colours, velvet, patchwork, "ethnic" styles, etc) is acceptable but by no means the norm.

Long hair for folkie women is a lot less common than it used to be, possibly because the girls who wore it like this in the 1970s (as I did) are now getting grey, and long grey hair can look a bit scary and witch-like. Of course lots of women dye their hair, but long dyed hair can look a lot more artificial than a shorter style.

At a folk club last night, I had a quick glance around the room, and more than half the men had facial hair of some sort. That's very different from the wider population, and I'd say it's the most distinctive thing about the appearance of the folky community. That and the flat shoes.

But these observations come from inside the folk scene. What I'd like to know is how the lazy journalist who's never been near a folk event would try to typify the female folkie.

Marje