Thursday, January 23, 2014

1956: Aunties, Style & Battles


I am so happy that I uncovered a few pix from my past over the last several months. These two are dated February 1956 and are pretty good examples of the polar opposites in my style choices as a seven year old -- plaid and Levi’s and fluffy organza. The top pix is me with my all time favorite, Auntie Opal. You may remember me talking about her in previous entries – she was the poster gal for girlie-girl in those days; and I loved that about her. I would feign illness just so I could go to Auntie Opal’s instead of school while my mom worked! She’s the one that taught me about nail polish, hair scarves, tabbies and jewelry! Tons of jewelry -- all costume. In my mind, she was the epitome of mid-50s style, even on a family day trip to the Mojave Desert! I loved that woman.


The second pix is of me and my brother. Yes, that is a “shrug aka bolero” that I am wearing over my white organza flouncy dress. I remember the dress so well. It had tiny red polka-dots woven into the fabric and, of course, I was wearing a starched petticoat underneath to make the double layered skirt stick out. Oh, those shoes, I hated those shoes. Somehow my mom had it in her mind that white oxfords were better options for healthy feet – so I wore them until in the sixth grade I kicked up such a fuss that she lightened the sensible shoes rule to every other day! The good news is that by the time I got to sixth grade, oxfords and bobby sox were in vogue – so not really sure who won that style battle!




Looking back, I do think we develop our personal style pretty early on in life. As early as three or so, I knew that I felt more comfortable in Levi’s and shorts and rather plain tops; pretty straight forward and very “Plain Jane” as others teasing me would say. Today I love wearing skirts, sweaters, shirts and jeans and you’d be hard pressed to find anything in my closet with a ruffle or flounce. Oh wait…I have one cardi with a small organza ruffle down the front. This spring I will have to do an OTD while wearing that lone wolf! I guess my question for you today is how early did you start expressing your individual style? And, has that style changed dramatically over the years?

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