Where is Chevy Chase in this photo?

"Ready for adventure.

Our blue Ford station wagon was packed, complete with the home made car top carrier, ready for our trip out west. My mom liked to dress us in matching bright clothes on trips so we wouldn't get lost." (via)

This photo is almost too sweet to be snarky about. But still...

Family sojourn

Ready for adventure, yes?

matching outfit joy!

Sturdy place to stow

Things that you will surely need

Plaid guarded on roof

I love Papa's hat

And Mom's scarf around her neck

Red plaid pants? Awesome.

On a holiday

But no Chevy Chase with you

I miss Christie B.

Then and Now

"So there I am, and there i was in 1975. A styling young filipino kid with freakin blonde hair. At some point, my hair went from black to blonde! But more disturbing than being a half asian kid with blonde hair is the corduroy outfit my parents dressed me in for this portrait. I mean, really...Plaid collars, cuffs, and pants? Plaid? Really?" (via)

But oh yeah--he has more to share.

"Horrified. That is my reaction to seeing this picture again, after all these years. Horrified.

There I was in 1981, still a good lookin' kid, ...And on picture day, this is how they dressed me. Blue V-neck sweater vest and that shirt. Oh GOD that shirt!" (via)

In my sphincter, I can feel the sound of that old timey photo album paper, lifting noisily from the stick 'em pages of cherished family memories. Crinkle. Crinkle. Crinkle.

All the Ladies, Independent

"My sisters and I on a spring day. I have been told by more than one person that this best represents my relationship to my family. I am the dark haired one. I am sure I threw a fit because I didn't want to be dressed like my sisters. I hated when we were dressed alike. I gotta be me!

tenuous link-hat." (via)

How bad-ass is she? With her hand-knit Rastafarian hat, and Weather Tamer windbreaker, taking center stage in the sea of Crocheted patriotism that is her sisters' red, white and blue ponchos.

Don't make this sister try to blend in--she'll come out swingin' with that big broom behind her. More power to you, my friend.

Is bad taste inherited?

Is bad fashion sense passed from one generation to another? I do think this is a question I will puzzle over periodically here. Do we learn from our parents' mistakes, or

This young one, who grew up to be a humor writer, seems to think so.

"I am hardly a slave to fashion, and blame my mother for starting the bad taste early in life. I guess I should thank you. After all, when your mother dresses you in red plaid pants, do you have any choice but a career in humor?" (via)

I confess that I had a jacket very similar to this, in pale blue. It may even have had matching pants, and I certainly accessorized with a plaid tam I had. I cannot, in any sense, blame my parents for the combination other than to say--they did purchase those items.