Monday, July 14, 2008

do-re-me-me-me



so it's been a while between memes. and thanks to the delightful magical_m, we now have a new one.

i love that this is about clothes. ages ago i did a post about clothes i have loved and lost. i think the clothes and shoes we have worn and inhabited are as nostalgic as old photos and houses. does anyone dream of houses? i used to have a recurring dream which featured a building in the city which was unlike any i've seen, but seemed so real. i have never been to the nicholas building, but when i do finally go, and i will, i fully expect it to be the building from my dream.

to the meme.

WHEN I was 1, my parents dressed me in...
some sort of frilly shirt i imagine and wool tights? i don't know, ask my mother why don't you?


WHEN I was 5, I dressed myself in...
i don't think i was dressing myself at five. i would have been the spoilt and over-parented oldest child until i asserted my independence and moved away from mother at the age of 18. (just finished re-reading my mother, myself. by nancy friday. buy it and read it all you daughters/mothers.) what am i talking about, when i was five my bro was 2 and into the saucepan cupboard and under the sink and eating the toilet freshener and the cat food. i probably did dress myself. there is a photo of me in red woollen tights, mum's silk, spiky-heeled wedding shoes and a faux-fur ski hat, with glomesh evening bag, but i think that was "dress ups".

WHEN I was 7, my favourite outfit was...
it's a toss-up between my white, lace-up knee-length boots and cream knitted poncho which got spag bol sauce on it at leo's spaghetti bar one time; and an all-red outfit - a pants suit with flared trousers and a red top (with some white, horizontal bands across the chest) and white skivvie underneath. i remember i had pale brown boots that went over the pants, they were quite loose and went mid-calf. it was almost like the at-home-aboard-jupiter-2 outfits that the robinson girls wore, so i felt very penny in my red pantsuit.

MY favourite school photo outfit was...
the one when i was about 8 or so and i was wearing illicit gym boots (converse high-tops for you young people out there). my primary school had a uniform, but i would take my gym boots in my bag, and change into them on the street on the way to school, because my mother wouldn't let me wear them to school. but there i am, deceit fully displayed, right there in the front row of my grade 3 or 4 school photo.


IN high school the fashion trend I started was...
the school shoes with the t-bar strap. when i was in hsc everyone was still wearing the lace-up black school shoes. at the beginning of the year, i got a pair of the t-bars (well, me and another girl but I swear it was just us two and it was coincidental and a concurrent, non-conferenced decision). by the end of the year, many others did too. and then by the time my sister was in year 12, everyone had them. do you see the lace-ups anywhere now? i rest my case.

ON my first date the outfit I wore was...
i can't remember my first date. i don't think i had one (see '80s diaries). let me think...

nup. my first relationship went like this: i met a guy at a party, we pashed that night, i stayed at his place, but nothing else happened, honest, and after that we started hanging out. i was 18. then we moved in together. i wasn't a dating sort of person.

FOR my high school formal I wore...
a polyestery, burgundy-red frock with an elasticised waist, and some sort of shirring over the chest region. i think it had some sort of puffy sleeve as well. it wasn't awful, it was quite grown-up and mature and certainly not an '80s taffeta catastrophe. can't remember the shoes, but i think there was pantyhose involved. the shoe would have been a plain court-shoe with an ugly, conservative heel.

AT my 21st I wore...
i didn't have a 21st party. to celebrate my family and i went to tolarno's for dinner in st. kilda but i can't remember what i wore. i was living with my boyfriend at the time, and my mother gave me $300 to spend on myself. i spent it on bills. then later, when i was travelling i spent $300 on some gold jewellry, as a replacement present. then it all got stolen a few years after that while i was living overseas. (irrelevant information included because there is no substantial answer to this one).

THE oldest item of clothing I still wear is...
some fishnet stockings my mother had in the '60s. oh ok, i don't wear them, but i still have them. and sometimes, occasionally, almost never i do wear them. i plan to wear them next weekend, because we are going to a tour de france dinner, and while we eat french food, i will be wearing my fishnets.

THE item of clothing I wish I still had was...
those 2 mohair cardigans i bought more than 20 years ago, which have recently featured in the diary excerpts. also my shiny-lycra black full-length leggings - i reckon i could give them a red-hot go under a skirt with flat shoes.

MY current favourite item of clothing is...
the cheap ankle boots i picked up at dfo, but only teamed with my jag wide-leg jeans (the first i've had in years that aren't always slipping off my arse). i'm also still really digging the glossy black patent-leather handbag i got in florence (benetton). oh, and my geelong beanie - the hat of victory.

and i tag the following:
jo_blue
d-stah
AOF

and so the boys don't feel left out:
perseus
INC
BEVIS
gullybogan
do it or not. as you will. no pressure.

13 comments:

magical_m said...

what about your hermes scarf?! surely after all the argy bargy you went through to get that it must be a current fave.

i had t-bar shoes in high school too... we called them minda boots. if you know anyone from adelaide ask them what minda boots are and they will most likely describe those t-bar shoes.

x

Perseus said...

Year 10, 1984 at Generic High... Eastcoast short-sleeved windcheater with faberge stretch and desert boots. To this day, it's the only time in my life I felt like I was 'in fashion' (though my argument is that 3 piece suits are never OUT of fashion).

Oh, and I have a vest from Greville Street 'Euphemia Dangerfield' purchased in about '88, and I suspect the first item they ever sold.

Thank you for mememifying me dearest Melba, but as I explained to Squib when she also memenanised me, my site is strictly book reviews so I can't play properly.

But thank you for the thought!

Melba said...

that's ok perseus. you have played here, and that's enough for me.

keep it pure at yours, i say.

thanks for contributing.

also, m_m: the hermes. i think i have to grow into it. ie. be one of those elegant old ladies with a hermes scarf. i've worn it a couple of times. i'll see how i go.

Mex said...

this tour de force/french party sounds wonderful! will you be eating lots of stinky cheese and baguettes and fondue?

GS said...

Oh no - this is going to be a hard one! Will take me a few days to build up the courage. I could do a whole meme on fashion disasters though!

I'm not Craig said...

I have no idea how to begin remembering half of this stuff. I may have to look at photos.

This could take a while.

phoenixmummy said...

yeah, uhh, OK I'm lost. OMG I'm such a newbie! My names on the list, what am I supposed to do?

phoenixmummy said...

I just googled memes. Got it! Now I've just got to give it some thought. Thanks.

Melba said...

there's no hurry people. take your time.

mex, we will be eating cheese. last time i got stinky cheese from a shop in lygon st that sublime recommended. this time i think i won't bother with real french cheese. just a couple of half-wheels of blue castello will do me.

GOD I LOVE THAT CHEESE.

fondu, no. but isn't that swiss? the main reason i think it's swiss was that it featured heavily in asterix in switzerland...

phoenixmummy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
phoenixmummy said...

Hi Melba,
Have just partaken in my first meme, thanks to you, but not sure what to do with it. It's at http://liveandteachmalaysia.blogspot.com/2008/07/
melbas-fashion-meme.html

Have forgotten how to link these things directly with html. I can come and post it here though if you want.
cheers

BEVIS said...

Oh crap. You've tagged me on a CLOTHING meme??!

I'll struggle, but I'll give it a go.

Bless you.

*glares menacingly*

Melba said...

that's ok jo. you are meant to do the memes at your blog. but people like perseus who have a good reason not to, they sometimes respond in the comments section.

will check yours out, thanks for playing.

and bevis... looking forward to yours.