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My Life In Clothes – Playing Caps

23 Aug

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

Here I am at Acadia University playing caps in somebody’s dorm room. The rules are simple. The object of this game is to flip a bottle cap into a glass of water approximately 10 feet away. If you miss, you have to take a drink of beer. You’ll notice the old style beer bottles, called ‘stubbies’. When I think back on my university days, playing caps and drinking beer is what I remember most, since I spent a lot of time doing it. God only knows how I graduated.

I’m wearing a circa 1975 pair of wide-leg jeans, a white blouse and some kind of vest, which I guess I thought made me look sexy.

Something is happening with my hair, because it looks straighter than usual. Maybe I tried a new conditioner or hadn’t washed it in a while. And the climate in Nova Scotia was less humid than Montreal, so my curls calmed down. Also I’m wearing too much blush — or maybe I’ve had too much beer. Either way, this was how I spent a typical Saturday night back in the day.

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My Life in Clothes – Flower Power

20 Jul

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

Oh … my … God. What can I say? I thought I looked fabulous, I suppose, despite my ‘deer in the headlights’ expression. I have no idea where I was going. I can only hope there were no people there.

And what kind of friend would allow me to go out in public in this dress? I guess the kind of friend who liked brown, orange and ivory flowers on a dress, like me.

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My Life in Clothes – Beige & Brown

3 Jul

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

This outfit is pretty boring. In this photo I’m sitting in front of my dorm — Seminary House — at Acadia University. I’m wearing a brown blouse, beige pants, and a beige, belted, cardigan sweater. Not sure about those shoes, but they look rather geeky. And what was I thinking wearing brown socks? I was in a very anal place back then.

I wore a lot of beige and brown in those days. Those colors were trendy in the seventies. The problem is, I continued to wear them long after they went out of fashion. I can’t be accused of being a trend setter.

It wasn’t until my daughters became teenagers that things changed. They would roll their eyes at some of my outfits and insisted I wear more color. You can learn a lot from your kids.

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My Life in Clothes – Suede Jacket

6 Jun

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

This is one of my favorite photos of me and my mother. It was taken in September 1975, and I was headed to the airport on my way to Acadia University, wearing wide leg jeans and a gawdy polyester orange and brown print blouse, plus MY FAVORITE dark orange suede jacket.

How stupid was I not to keep that jacket? Don’t miss the blouse or the jeans, but that jacket … hope it’s still around, somehow, somewhere.

I love the outfit my mother’s wearing. Very 70′s housewife chic. And her satchel-styled bag is back in style this season, except in a different color – neon.

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My Life in Clothes – High School Uniform

30 May

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

This outfit is basically what I wore all through high school — wide leg jeans or pants, and a sweater covering a collared blouse with the cuffs showing. All that’s missing here is the little cherry brooch I often wore with it. This top looks like one of those ‘faux’ tops, so I don’t think there’s actually a blouse under this, just the collar and cuffs. I think my fly is undone. Oops. I look drunk in this photo.

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My Life in Clothes: Red, White & Blue

23 May

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

On the right is a blouse I thought looked pretty good on me — red, white and blue patterns were really in. Again with the short shorts. Oh well, I had nice legs, so why not? This photo is proof that tying up your shirts in the front to expose your navel was in fashion way before Shania Twain made it cool. Just sayin’.

Here you can see that my ‘fro has really taken off because I finally stopped fighting my curly-haired heritage <sigh>.

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My Life in Clothes: Winter Coat

17 May

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

Winter Coat, 1974

My friend in high school did modelling, so here I am being coached by her doing my best imitation of sexy, wearing my winter coat in a shopping center parking lot, leaning against a pole. I look really dumb, but  I wish I had kept this coat — it screams  ‘the 70′s’. It fit me really well, too.

As usual, I have a lot of hair happening, and in this photo it’s completely out of control. I had thick, curly hair, which I hated at the time, so I would blow it dry and brush it straight — alas, hair straighteners hadn’t been perfected yet. All I ended up with was frizz.  About a year later I gave up, got a hair cut, bought an afro comb and gave in to my curls.

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My Life in Clothes – Raggedy Ann

9 May

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it?

I owned a Raggedy Ann doll as a child which I loved to death — seriously, she has no face left. I eventually got a newer Raggedy Ann, but never loved her as much as my original, which I still have in my possession even though she’s faceless.

So I simply had to own this Raggedy Ann T-shirt. I can’t remember where I bought it. Even my daughters think it’s cool, and wished I had kept it, but I gave it away in a weak moment.

Here I am on the right wearing the same Raggedy Ann T-shirt with a pair of Daisy Duke shorts. I didn’t buy those, I simply cut off an old pair of jeans. Everybody did back then. FYI, this photo wasn’t taken in the year 1720, I’m not that old. It was taken in the summer of 1975, I think. Me and two friends were standing behind a sign in the picturesque village of Port Morien, Nova Scotia, where I spent my childhood summers.

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My Life in Clothes – Ugly Uniform

2 May

Do you remember some of the outfits you wore when you were younger? Do you wish you still had them? I do. Even though some clothes were hideous, I thought they were cool at the time, and they defined my style — and the decade. Interestingly, the essence of my style hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Frightening, isn’t it? 

Circa 1960's - in school uniform

Willingdon Elementary

Yes, I’m so old that I wore a school uniform, and my school looked like a prison. The uniform consisted of a black or dark navy blue box pleated tunic, worn with a white short or long sleeved blouse and a sash or belt. I wore tights or knee socks with my black leather oxfords. On important occasions a school tie was worn also. On gym days the girls wore a pair of ‘bloomers’, which actually looked like navy blue underpants.

Just for the record, I didn’t think this uniform was cool. I simply had no choice but to wear it, since kids didn’t have much of a voice in those days. I was aware even back then that there is nothing stylish about a black, box-pleated tunic and white blouse.

I grew up in Montreal, at a time when Montreal was an amazing city. Now it’s a shadow of its former self. I can say that since I was born there.

I thought my Cat’s Eye glasses were pretty cool. Later on they became hideous, but I think they’re actually back in style, or soon will be. If you wait long enough, everything old is new again.

An interesting note about my elementary school above. Same school that William Shatner a.k.a. Captain Kirk attended. Pretty cool, huh? I LOVED Star Trek even before it really caught on. The only thing that got me through Wednesday’s piano lessons was knowing Star Trek was on Wednesday nights and I would get to see Captain Kirk, my very first crush.

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