Many people have admired my clothes as I travel the country. I like to think I am a suitably suited sartorial bear - but it didn't start off that way!

When I first became aware of living in the Children's Corner at St Mary's church in Plumtree, I was (big gasp) a bare bear! I know, it's dreadful. There I was living in a church and running around with nothing on! And, what's more, it was quite cold with the heating off.

I soon put a stop to that though and ordered up a couple of T-shirts to hide my shame. So now I had two T-shirts, one in green with white writing and the other in white with green writing. They said "St Mary's Church Plumtree" on the front and "Big Ted" on the back, in case I got lost or forgot who I was.

It soon became obvious that I required another crucial bit of apparel - trousis! If you've ever sat on a damp wall, or in a holly hedge, having your photo taken with a bare behind (snigger, "bear behind" - old joke of the ursine variety) you'll know exactly what I mean. So Auntie Fiona managed to snare me a couple of pairs of rather snazzy trousis to keep my beautiful bare bear behind covered (or as I like to say, "... my beautiful brown bare bear behind unbare" [I don't think that's a word, Big Ted]!).

I then had to make some adjustments to my T-shirts 'cos they were a bit long and always had to be rolled up or they looked like dresses (which made Little Ted snigger and fall off the pew).

And then finally, I was given a lovely present - a stripey cardigan made especially for me. It's lovely and bright and kept me warm in St Mary's when the heating was off (most of the time) and when I was out and about in the winter and inclement weather (again, most of the time).

Then when I left Plumtree and moved to Kib I updated my wardrobe with three new T shirts all with my name and web address on them. They're in white and grey and blue and are very smart. I left an old T-shirt, one pair of trousis and my old cardigan behind at Plumtree for Big Tod to use - as an Antipodean bear he feels the cold much more than me. Auntie Fiona knitted me a lovely new blue cardigan (I heard some rude words during the manufacture so I think it was a bit tricky!).

These pictures show the various stages of my wardrobe as it built up (I've not added a picture of me without any clothes on at all - that would be rude). There are some hats as well, the notes underneath say it all. (Click on a picture to see a bigger version and some more notes - sometimes.)