Our Palare In Polari
Bona Ogle London
Vada the print. Cause the scene.
Bona Ogle means “bona to vada” in Polari, the lovely old lingo once nanti-spoken by omi-palones, theatre nellies, performers, queens, chancers, charmers and all sorts of fantabulosa creatures who knew how to keep their sparkle when the world was being a right naff old trollop. We slapped London on the end because this city is our lattie, our muse, our spiritual gin palace, and occasionally the place where we stand on the bus thinking, “Has everyone else secretly agreed to dress like a damp biscuit?”
Bona Ogle London first poked its lacquered riah above the parapet during lockdown, when the world went all quiet and everyone was pretending banana bread was a fully formed personality. What began as a little fantabulosa notion for a few printed bits and bobs grew into the big, bold, slightly unhinged world of Bona Ogle: clobber, colour, characters and carefully arranged visual carry-on.
We were bored of fast fashion. Not just a tiny bit bored, dear. We mean flat-out-on-the-chaise, fetch-me-a-large-one, please-make-it-stop bored. Same shapes, same colours, same so-called “must-have” things that everybody mysteriously chucks aside three weeks later. We wanted clobber with more zhuzh in it: clothes with stories, jokes, odd little secrets, strange beauty and the occasional “hold on, what’s that little omi doing in the corner?” moment.
At Bona Ogle, print is not decoration
. Print is the star turn, darling. It flatters, distracts, reveals, conceals, tells tales, starts palaver and occasionally behaves so outrageously it might be asked to leave a respectable establishment. Our prints are made to be vada’d once, then vada’d again properly. First glance: “Ooh, bona shirt.” Second glance: “Is that a man made out of tiny men doing questionable things?” Much better. Much more us.
We do not believe clobber needs to be shoved into gendered boxes. Bodies are complicated enough without a website screaming “OMI” and “PALONE” at you like a confused games mistress with a whistle. Instead, we talk about fit, shape, fabric and feel. You decide what works for your fabulous person. Wear the frock. Wear the strides. Wear the enormous printed sweatshirt. Wear the whole blinking lot and stand beside a wall looking important. The rules are yours, ducky.
Bona Ogle is body-positive, inclusive and built on the belief that style should be joyful, personal and just a little dangerous to dullness. We want lovely people to feel bona, look bona and express themselves without waiting for permission from a trend forecast, a magazine editor or a terrifyingly thin creature in a beige room.
We also believe that fun clobber should not come with miserable ethics sewn into the seams. Our pieces are made to order in the UK, which means we do not produce mountains of unwanted stock just to set fire to it later like a Bond villain with a spreadsheet and a nasty little laugh. Making to order helps cut waste, gives you more choice and means every piece is created because some gorgeous soul actually wants it. Revolutionary, apparently. Who knew?
Where possible, we use UK or EU-sourced fabrics, recycled options, vegan alternatives and high-quality inks and finishes made to last. Many pieces can be ordered in different fabrics, sizes and finishes, so you get a proper say in what you wear. We like that. It feels less like being flogged an outfit and more like being invited into the dressing-up box, only with better seams and fewer mothballs.
We want you to wear your Bona Ogle pieces properly. Wear them to death, darling. Take them out. Spill a bit of life on them. Dance in them. Loaf in them. Flirt in them. Sit dramatically in a café pretending you are absolutely not checking who has clocked your outfit. Good clobber should gather stories, not sit there looking frightened in a wardrobe.
And when a piece has lived its first life, we do not think that should be the final curtain. We are interested in repair, reinvention and repurposing. Old garments can become new pieces, scarves, shoulder pieces, shaggy jersey textures or something completely unexpected and frankly quite fabulous. We would much rather a garment got a second act than ended up in landfill. Some of our clothes are born dramatic, so a comeback feels only fair.
Fast fashion has made a right old mess: damage to the planet, overproduction, poor working conditions and clothes treated as disposable before they have even had a proper night out. Bona Ogle is not pretending to be perfect. We are a small brand, not a saint in a sequinned coat. But we are trying to do things better: locally made, fairly produced, thoughtfully designed and created without the usual mad dash to the cheapest, fastest, flimsiest version of absolutely everything.
Our work is not trend-led. Trends are fine, but they can be terribly needy. They come mincing in, shouting for attention, then vanish and leave everyone holding a lime green micro bag and a face full of regret. Bona Ogle is more interested in originality, character and pieces that still feel interesting long after the algorithm has wandered off to bother some other poor lamb.
We take inspiration from art, history, queer culture, old prints, strange objects, nature, London life and the glorious nonsense of being human. Then we twist it into something unmistakably ours. If something looks traditional at first, vada again. There may be hidden figures, secret jokes, surreal little details or a tiny visual ambush waiting patiently in the pattern with its lashes on.
We are here for the people who want clobber with personality. The people who like a bit of wit with their wardrobe. The people who know that looking bona does not have to mean looking sensible. Especially not sensible. Sensible has had quite enough airtime, thank you very much.
So vada the print. Cause the scene. Make an entrance, even if it is only into the corner shop for milk and a packet of crisps. Choose the thing that makes you grin. Mix it up. Layer it strangely. Wear it beautifully. Wear it badly until it becomes beautiful. Wear it because it feels like you, only slightly louder and better lit.
Bona Ogle London is for anyone who wants clothes with humour, heart, craft and courage.
Bona to vada, bona to wear, and absolutely nanti here to blend in.