5.30.2012

thooooose were the daaaaays


my day 11 outfit for mmm reminded me of just how awesomely intricate RTW pieces were back when our parents walked to school uphill-both-ways-in-the-snow, so i had to get some close ups for you.  like i said, i'm pretty sure this was a mommaballoona maternity dress.  look at the embroidery on this little piece of cotton heaven!  i love all the angles and the little insets and trim... the buttons are from my stash, it used to have small plastic jobs that didn't seem to have the same standards as the rest of this dress.  i topstitched it like crazy in gold, carefully hiding and tucking all the worn places away.  it feels like a faded photograph on, and i always just barely iron it for fear of it disappearing completely.

i found this frock in my parent's magical attic (no longer in existence, sadly for me and probably a source of great relief for parental kalkatroonans).  it didn't matter how many times i'd sneak up there, i would Always. come out with some treasure.  the magnitude of the prize dictated whether i would show it to said parents, or stuff it in my overnight bag.  in my mind this was not stealing; it was a rescue mission.

i like my mind.


this stitched belt was rescued by ruggy from his dad's Oh My God We Are Getting Rid Of EVERYTHING period.  you know that phase, yes?  when you can't stand your closets and shelves and cupboards any more?  and then lament over everything you maniacally tossed?  oh, the wondrosities that were fated to boxes by the side of the road.  and the thing is, i probably wouldn't have known to save any of it even if i'd been there.  i looked at ruggy like he'd been hit on the head with too many sports related flying objects when he brought this belt home.  it came with a joe namath polyester button down (as in, the tag said joe namath menswear, and the shirt had repeating drawings of joe namaths surrounded by women) and a pair of acid purple bell bottom jeans.  i was all into the jeans.  sadly, my ass was NOT.  circa 70s ruggian dad apparently had a booty the size of one of my thighs.

even though papa ruggy was eager to let this stuff go, he made us promise we would never get rid of the shirt & belt.  (the jeans were abandoned shortly after arrival.  it was too depressing.)  i'm glad we made that promise, as i wear the belt constantly now... we'll see if joe namath ever makes it into heavy rotation.  (ba DUM dum.)


i left many, many accessories behind in NY, so the only embellishment for this outfit was a pair of earrings found last christmas with mother ruggy.  they were fifty cents.  THEY WERE FIFTY CENTS.  hand painted!  i lurve them.  

(now... dad du kalkatroona, if only you'd find that lions head gold necklace, i could dub this ensemble the Parental Parade Package.  or was it swallowed by magical attic?)

23 comments:

  1. The thing I love most about old clothes is that stories are attached to each garment. When something new is bought, it doesn't have character. There's nothing to it except a price tag.

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  2. That dress kills me! It's so gorgeous. Also... I really need to see the Joe Namath collection shirt. I hope that it's trimmed with fur or some sort of other amazing embellishment.

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  3. Oh wowee, that ribbon plus embroidery plus eyelet plus mesh!!! EEEE!! I love it! What an inspiration! That was definitely a rescue mission worth sharing.

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  4. Oh, I just love that color on you - and the belt is fantastic! I think we need to see that Joe Namath shirt STAT.

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  5. Ugh, you're killing me. That dress is amazing...damn my Mom for being an OCD neat freak who never keeps ANYTHING.

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  6. "...my friend, we thought they'd never end, we'd sing and dance forever and a day..."

    Um. Nostalgic road trip songs aside, that is a great combination of things in one outfit! Although I will say, my first panicked thought when I saw the photo was, oh my goodness, somebody dyed an Edwardian blouse blue!! That's what lace and insets and embroidery makes me think these days...then I read further and was relieved.

    Seriously, great colors, though!

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    1. i love where your brain went. pray tell... why would it be bad to dye an edwardian blouse? are they only supposed to be virginal white?

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  7. The details! I love that dress. Things like that are what keep me picking through dusty racks of worn clothes in thrift stores (because my mom sadly did not keep a ton of her old stuff... She went through that "simplifying" phase years ago, much to my--and her--now-horror. The things she tells me she got rid of make me cry a little... Not that *I* need more stuff. lol.).

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  8. Great color, great embroidery, great everything! Of course it needed to be rescued from the attic. I'd say you deserve a prize for doing so, but you get to wear that, so...

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  9. That dress really is so beautiful! Such a treasure. Unfortunately I come from parents who believe in routinely throwing everything away - like twice yearly - so no treasures are ever EVER left behind!! I've often chided my mom for not keeping some of the awesome dresses and jewelry she was sporting in those old photographs when she and Dad were dating. She says they weren't in good condition - but I DON'T CARE MOM! EXCUSES!!!

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  10. When my own dear mother "simplified," she threw away her sewing patterns. Threw them away. I live just down the road from her. She could have let me have them. But, no, she paid to have them carted away in her weekly trash pick-up. I almost would rather she had burned them than just tossed them out with the trash.

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  11. I'm tempted to try my hand at something like that, but I probably don't have the patience or the talent! ha

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  12. Attic treasures are the best especially when you know how to bring them up to date as you so aptly do!
    Though I had your blog listed on my blogroll, I just discovered I wasn't one of your followers until today. I'm so glad I'll get regular updates now!

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  13. I endorse rescue missions as a must and I want a magical attic. I think my parents could have done better with their "collection" of finely tuned junk…and they too seemed to have cleared out treasures when I wasn't looking…boo to them!

    Love your dress, share? Maybe??

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    1. but it is here already! see mmmmonday the fourth: http://oonaballoona.blogspot.com/2012/05/mmmmonday-fourth.html

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  14. Your inheritance is divine! I am sure these items are happy to be seeing the light of day and getting loved by you. Rescue mission success!!

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  15. Oooooh, I love your mum's dress, those details! If it DOES ever disintegrate you have to find some way of preserving the bodice panel details and grafting them onto a new blouse or dress.
    My mum has a box of 70s Canadawear, and I was about to say it's full of HUGE unwearable woollen tunics and fur hats but upon reflection I have to say it has yielded a few items suited to the Australian climate over the years. High-waisted hot pink velvet culottes with suspenders and a gauzy floralprint blouse for underneath- wore the blouse to a school disco, unbuttoned and knotted at the waist. Next time I go to my parents place I will hunt down the culottes and try to recreate the whole outfit. I am likely to have your same experience as with the purple jeans though, did everyone in the seventies have 4% body fat or what? ? My sister discovered a pair of black velvet maternity shorts in the box a few months ago, I HAVE to see her in them before she pops out my niece?nephew? at the end of this month!!

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!