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Hi Hi!
I was 12 when my mom gave me $30 to take to the Pacific Garden Mall and buy school clothes. Delighted and nervous, I hopped on my bike. I’d never shopped on my own. It was 1974, I had a subscription to Teen Magazine, I knew to snack on low-cal frozen grapes to try and achieve the sexy thigh-gap (never ever, not in my body). I squirted my brunette hair with Super Sun-In (which turned it orange, oh well…), used baby oil to tan my face, and put oatmeal and honey on at night to soothe the sunburns. I was a California tween, well-schooled in what was expected of girls, with solid ideas about style.
First, I bought a pair of Levis— corduroy bell bottoms. They hugged my hips, they were a color that reminded me of my grandma, whose bathroom was sky blue. Yes, I was a kid who tweezed her eyebrows to high arches, and bought pants the color of her grandma’s bathroom. I also had a 3 record set of Fred Astaire music and knew the words to the songs:
You've made my life so glamorous,
You can't blame me for feeling amorous,
'S wonderful!
'S marvelous!
That you should care for me!
Next, a raspberry Danskin leotard because, well just look at it!
I completed my outfit with a pair of desert boots. Come on! Of course I did. All the cool kids wore them.
And then I was out of money. My mother was not happy. I was meant to buy several outfits, not one GLORIOUS ensemble! Can you just see me, sauntering to my locker on the first day of school! I was so happy. I had the outfit that would change my life! I would fit in. I would sit at the right lunch table. I’d be invited over to a friend’s house after school. Boys would find me cute. And then I had to wear it every week, again and again, and again. It was a pain to go pee because I had to take off the leotard, or do a “side job” which was sometimes messy. The waist band on the cords was a little too large and the thigh holes a little too snug because of the no thigh-gap situation. But the desert boots? Perfection!
Tell me, what was your GLORIOUS ensemble?
For you: 10 clothing related writing prompts!
Thanks for reading. I hope your day is filled with stylish clothes and loving friends.
If you missed the last few jewels… no fear! Here they are: cookies. melon salad. novel. dance. poem. cake. friendship.
And, to stay in the loop:
Tell your people you love them, and take care of your skin!
In 7th grade in 1977 I started the school year with *my braces off* and a pair of orange gaucho overalls with a shooting star on the front pocket. Yeah, baby! Worn with a striped blouse and new famolares! Worn for first day of school *and* school photos so there’s evidence. All these years later, my best friend still recalls them as my “spiffy orange gauchos.”
i had a seersucker skirt and matching top in middle school that i felt so cute and pretty in. i've been looking for another one ever since!