A-Z: I Remember.........Clothes

I Remember When......
Recalling Memories of My Childhood

Most of my CLOTHES as a child  were home made. 

My mother, Kathleen Weston, nee Danson  was a dressmaker, apprenticed to a tailor at the age of 14, so my Sunday coats  always had velvet collars, embroidered with flowers and a matching bonnet, and my "best" dresses usually had smocking.  Skirts for little girls always had straps (braces)  and I was about 13 before I "graduated" to a grown up skirt.

My brother and I  in 1948.  See the Peter Pan collars, smocking on his baby top and the cross stitching on my blouse   - all my mother's handiwork.  

 The ritual dress for going out in winter in my early 1950's childhood - A Liberty bodice over my vest, a skirt with short socks, home knotted jumpers and a pixie hood, Wellington boots, gloves kept safe on a string through my coat sleeves, plus a long scarf criss-crossed over my chest and tied at the back.  I hated Liberty bodices- the rubber buttons were difficult to fasten and undo, and if the day got warmer, you ended up all sticky inside them.
 
I grew up in north west England where winters were relatively mild, but this was the days before tights and girls then did not wear trousers. Boys were stuck in short trousers until the milestone of their voices breaking. I have no winter photographs of my childhood - the camera must have been reserved for summer only.

Both my mother and aunt kept me in hand knitted jumpers and cardigans, though I remember being less than pleased around the age of 8 to open a Christmas present and realise it was a jumper - not a toy. A winter occupation was to help my mother unravel old knitwear and wind up  the balls of wool for re-knitting.  This was still the postwar era of "make do and mend". 

Party dresses were often taffeta with puff sleeves and a sash.  A touch of luxury was to have an angora fluffy wool bolero to wear over it in chilly weather - no central heating in those days!  

Summer c.1950

Mum always made me a new sundress for holidays, with a matching little bolero jacket.  The one in the picture (right) was green and white - she was very fond of putting me in green.  Dresses were often gingham, with white Peter Pan collars and the standard footwear was a pair of brown Clark's sandals with the cut-out flower.  

In my teens in the late 1950's, the big fashion statement was to have a "puffy out skirt" - the more petticoats and the more puffed out the better, to wear with a waspie black belt. It was a disaster when the petticoats went all floppy after too many washes.  I also recollect  a lilac and white gingham dress trimmed with broderie anglais - made popular by a young Bridget Bardot. 

Other memories were of shirt waister dresses, pinafore dresses,  plastic macs, awful plastic hoods called rainmates,  baby doll pyjamas -  and summer duster coats.  Why  were they so called, as  I could not see women dusting the furniture in them.  Apparently they originated from loose garments worn  to protect clothes when driving  in early open-topped motor cars.     

When I started university, the first thing I bought from my grant was a hooded duffle  coat to dress the part of a 1960's student.  

Then mini skirts came in and I joined in the fun!  

 
More C's
What part did CHURCH play in your childhood?   What  CHRISTMAS traditions did you follow?    Which CRAFTS did you enjoy as a child?   What  CHORES were you expected to do around the house?  What was your first CAR?

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Onto D for Dolls, Dogs & Desserts  

In Case You Missed.....

A-Z Challenge 2016 Theme Revealed:   
I Remember......Memories of Childhood

A is for Autumn  

B is for Babies, Books, Birthdays & Brownies  

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