Did anyone wear the old hand me downs from their relatives like I did?
I had relatives give my parents their old clothing from their kids in the 70’s. So part of my childhood was wearing clothes like these. Was I daring fashion icon ahead of my time wearing retro, or did I look like a goofy freak?
Can’t say. The kids still talked to me, but some of my clothing was unique. As much as I like technology, at times I hated it growing up. You see Polyester was so popular in the 70’s and those clothes just wouldn’t die. That’s why many of them lived on and were gifted to relatives. They looked new, and they looked funky.
As I grew up I choose to go to thrift stores and add to my wardrobe to balance things out. Living in a small town we didn’t have many options besides big name stores that had poor selection. At one point I had to have some clothes ordered in the store because they didn’t carry my size. So you can see I was between a rock and a hard place here.
Fortunately even though I wore some dated clothes, it inspired an interest in fashion. As I grew up and could afford it from thrift stores, I bought some very nice clothes. One of my friends said that I was stylish which made me feel good. At times even the opposite gender complimented my style. Maybe this clothes things was helpful?
As I got older I continued to buy nice clothes and it helped me look professional at work and distracted people from my computer help shortcomings. I could always distract them by talking about my outfit. It seemed that people appreciated what I wore and I continued for a long time wearing nicer clothes than the people around me.
Until lately. Now don’t get me wrong I still like nice clothes but the desire to buy new clothes isn’t what it once was. I used to buy new wardrobe about every year or so, but now I am only buying individual items and donating to thrift stores again. I love the texture, style and fun that clothes can bring but I think I have satisfied this urge for the most part. No more cuff links at work, or oxford shirts with button down and no more historical pieces that are period correct.
Clothes are fun, but its time to explore new topics for me.