Favorite Clothes From Childhood

 

Friends have been posting photos of clothes they've worn and loved and it made me think of some favorite threads over the years. Comfort and simplicity have always ruled in my case, though I loved clothes and fashion as much as my well-dressed mother. When very young, I loved my cotton striped seersucker shorts. I had a couple of pairs, green and yellow.  My favorite dresses were brown. One a brown with white collar and a little embroidered rose, the other a brown and blue plaid. Our mom bought me and Kim the cutest pants with a small-flowered print in 66-67. I was in love with those pants, they conferred cheer. Mine were greens and Kim's were golds.  I distinctly recall how nice the store display was. It made me think of the Beatles, there in Ivey's in Greenville, SC. 

After moving to St. Louis in 3rd grade, I recall just a few outfits until 8th grade There was a soft cotton blouse my grandmother sent, a natural green and cream combination. She'd made me a wool skirt to go with it. I wish I still had the purple wool skirt and sweater she sent me that year. I didn't wear it as often as I would have later on. I had to get used to wool. But I recall being so surprised at the purple clothes in the box. Purple is a color I like but have a hard time wearing. Even then, I suppose.

There was a short-lived muumuu trend around the time Sugar, Sugar by the Archies came out. I ended up getting a pea-green and pink one, which I knew instinctively looked terrible on me, no matter how cool it looked on the rack. As so often happened when I was young, what I wanted was either not quite right, plaid cpo coat in the wrong plaid, ghastly colored muumuus, boy's converse in the wrong colors, or didn't quite fit, like bell-bottoms which were always a little too short. Then there are the things I coveted and never got: desert boots, gogo boots, white shoes with a ribbon tie.

By eighth grade, I loved Plushbottom brand denim bell-bottoms, there was something about the softness and heft of the denim. I loved them more than Lees and Levis. I believe one of my favorite tops was a fun and quirky brushed flannel knit top I got from Foxmoor. It had a racecar print and snaps. It was a very dark gray and I wore it until it began to fall apart. I had one Young Elizabethan dress in dark forest green, similar to the one pictured. I'd wanted the blue, and as my luck would have it, they only had a green dress in my size. I had extreme envy of friends who had a small collection of these romantic dresses.

I have sympathy for my mother, taking me shopping and hearing me complain that the colors weren't right, yet being so determined to own the currently cool clothing. She thought I needed to hold my horses and wait, but that was a hard-won lesson for me, later in life. My unsatisfactory life in fashion. Though I did find many treasures over the years, and really can't complain. 

~Dorothy Dolores