Throwback Thursday: Crop Top, Bermudas & 1965

Thought it would be fun to share a few more pix from 1965. These taken by a photographer as tests for a project in the hills of Irvine…long before Irvine was ever developed and there was still an occasional adobe casa sprinkled here and there. Yes, back in the olden days when I had lots and lots of hair and brow! I remember that crop top so well – not only did I love the lines and fit of it – look closely at the neckline – it had a semi-bateau shape with a wonderful soft rolled collar constructed from a soft linen. Sigh, why don’t they make clothes like this in 2014? (Or is that the chant of a granny who thinks everything from the past was better than it really was? Yikes!)

Yes, now for a bit of brag – this was another of my designs and creations all those years ago. Thanks Auntie Alice for making the pattern from my sketches – I still kick myself that I didn’t learn the skill of patternmaking all those years ago. I marvel at those who do it well. The two-color print on the top was a lovely shade of turquoise and white; but not garish nor neon in any way. Just the right hues and the shorts were linen…always linen – tailored old style with a back zip and fitted just so.

Today, I would most likely style the outfit with one of the angelite gemstone bracelets from my collection and a few vintage bangles…Bakelite would be nice. Oh, wait, I might like it with one of the chrysocolla bracelets tossed with a vintage metal or wood bangle or two. The brown of the rainbow hickoryite gemstone and wood would be a great complement for my Bernardo leather sandals, which you can't see in the pix. The outfit would also be playful with one of the enameled starfish charm bracelets scrambled with a few bright vintage Lucite pieces. Lots of ideas, that’s for sure! That's the fun part of creating your own style, isn't it? Just playing.

On the topic of young fashion designers, earlier this week I read about a new program that is coming to LifetimeTV – called Threads. The show is unscripted and developed by the group responsible for Project Runway where teens (I am assuming teens since they say young designers and Seventeen Magazine is involved as is MissGlamorazzi aka Ingrid Nilsen of YouTube fame) are put to the challenge of designing and creating clothing and accessories. I think I would have been all over that back in 1965; but maybe not since the competition would have frightened me off.  It's true, I was pretty shy in those early years.

I love that there are so many talented young pups out there today who have platforms available to them to share there creations. I do hope that the actual show meets or exceeds my expectations when it airs and doesn’t turn into a hypercritical negative bullying session that drags on for eight weeks. (Well, now you know where I stand on all the negative judging carried on in unscripted programs. Guess that’s why I don’t watch much TV these days. Being a granny again?)

Curious – when you look back at pix of you as a teen, do you wonder how you would style the same look if you wore it today? 

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