Dang-That woman can SEW

"Disco fever 1979! I was about 4 at the time...How do I know I was loved? Well...Mom made that suit. She's got some sewing ninjitsu." (via)

Sewing inspires
haiku to fabulousness
fashionista mom

Mama wields scissors
Makes suit of finest fabric
Polyester best

Turtleneck is nice
because it means there is no
need to make a tie.

I never knew they were called Mudflaps

"Mudflaps over the ears."

A picture of my from back in the day...I was, obviously, born in the mid-1970's. Dig that outfit. What were my parents thinking?" (via)

Mudflaps? MUDFLAPS?

It just makes me want to start singin' CONVOY.

And of course, I am loving the crepe-soled shoes, light brown with dark brown laces. At least they match the buttons on his stylie suit.

A Child Bride update, Leisure Suits and the Dykes of Tomorrow

A random sampling of fun today.

I was thrilled to get an update after yesterday's post about Jessica. Just in case you've forgotten her, here is Jessica, the child bride, modeling for Dress Ups!

What I didn't know yesterday was this:
"I totally forgot to tell you that they fired
me from the modeling gig because they said the look I was giving had gotten too seductive and it was starting to look like kiddie porn." I'm a little afraid that they could even begin to assess something like that!

This poor boy was forced to endure this outfit for a NINE HOUR FLIGHT.

"I was 14 years old and was visiting my friend in the Netherlands, who lived in Bilthoven, a small town not far from Utrecht. For reasons that still aren't quite clear (something about good impressions) my parents thought I should wear a three-piece suit for the nine hour flight to Amsterdam. I'm not sure what my friend's parents thought when they first saw me. Maybe they thought every teenager in Canada wears suits all the time." (via)

Oh, Canada. But on the other hand, let me just say how amazing this kid's parents were to let him travel to the Netherlands by himself.

This young one finds the divine, or the divine joke, in the 70s fashion foisted upon him by his parents.

"Now is as good a time as any to mention one of the funniest style jokes God ever played on the U.S. when He convinced people to think Leisure Suits were cool. Here is an extremely embarrassing picture of myself and my parents. Wow, my mom and I are in matching suits that she made. That’s awful." (via)

Finally,while trolling the interwebs, I came across something that I am simply in awe of, and a little jealous for the cache of amazing photos it already holds.

Let me preface by saying that here in Northampton, Massachusetts, we are proud to claim ownership of the title the National Equirer once gave us.

That's right--we live in LESBIANVILLE, USA.

Dykes of Tomorrow is a bit like a family photo journey through our hometown. Let's visit, shall we?

Here's Carly.

"I don't know what my mother was thinking dressing me in this 3 piece suit, but I really rocked it don't you think?!" (via)

And I think I may have gone to elementary school with Lizzy.

"I HATED pink. I despised it and refused to wear the color in addition to any manner of clothing I considered to be "girly." My mother, however, wanted to have our portrait taken and was distressed that I would look like a boy so the only way she would allow me to wear my sneakers and jeans was if I would wear this pink sweater monogrammed so elegantly with my initials.
I started a club called the Tomboy Club, and there were very strict rules against wearing pink or being a "girly girl." Applicants to the club had to do things like crawl through the mud, hang upside down and run really fast." (via)

The Tomboy Club sounds much cooler than the club I started. The Garfield Club, however, did have membership cards for Tara, the one other member, and I. Club activities largely consisted of being able to copy images of Garfield from the funnies each day. Needless to say, membership never really grew and the club disbanded after Tara and I could not agree whether or not to include Opie in our pictures.

Finally, here's Lisa.

"This was a school pic they made me wear a dress for and I wasn't happy about it. The photographer kept telling me to smile and I thought I WAS smiling! But I really hated getting dressed up for these things."
Really, Lisa? I never would have guessed that from the look on your face.

Thanks again to Dykes of Tomorrow for these great pics.

See you tomorrow! (And as always, send your submissions to myparentsmademewearthis at gmail dot com)

Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry

My husband's baby book is a wealth of terrific outfits. He chose his most hated for me to share here.
Even though he couldn't really have known at the time, the expression on his face seems to say how humiliated he feels in this Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit. Now, he still looks at the photo with complete disgust and remembers hating this outfit every time he saw it.
And there are many, many photos immortalizing this little number since his mother chose it as the wardrobe for a "professional" photo shoot.

This outfit was humiliating for many reasons. One, this was how his mother dressed him for his own 3rd birthday party--and no, it's not that she was a progressive, gender-bending, ahead of her time woman. It was just bad taste.
The pink pants are appalling, as is the wide, white girl's belt, but what he really hated was the shirt. There's really nothing about this that doesn't say girl's outfit. What was she thinking?
Oh, and on the see-saw in front of him? His first girlfriend--Stephanie Greene. How could she not have liked that hot ticket behind her? (Of course, check out her shoes. That's hot stuff too, and so practical for outdoor play.)

Before my two "favorites" of my husband's outfits, let's just say that he loved this Lederhosen outfit, and still loves it. He thinks he and his baby sister look adorable, and while I wouldn't torture our own son in the same way, I tend to agree.


When my husband and I met, nearly 18 years ago, he never told me I was dating a Super Model. And yet, here he is, in his modeling debut.
5-years-old, rocking the polyester leisure suit, and all for a good cause. The event was a "STYLE SHOW"--no, I'm not joking--to benefit the San Antonio Junior League. The collar, wider than the suit lapel, is especially lovely, and I'm sure made out of a fabric completely unknown in nature.

My husband looks physically pained when we revisit this last outfit. So many awful memories of this particular day.
Not only did he hate the violin, he hated everything about this outfit. The ill-fitting velour shirt, which he despised, and the wide-leg jeans. 10-years-old, his first violin recital, and probably his last.
We also have many duplicates of this photo, which doubles the shame as he remembers it possibly being sent out with the family holiday cards.

The best thing about family is that when we laugh at these, at least we're laughing with each other--I promise, honey.