Friday, July 23, 2010

Skirt week - Mum-made non-skirts of 1986

Cam over at Curlypops has instigated "Flashback Friday Fashion Fail - The Debutante Edition" . I have to say that I fail at the Flashback Friday Fashion Fail, firstly because I didn't have a deb, and secondly because I don't think I had any fashion failures. I love (and still love!) everything I wore and my mum made it all.

Here's a shining example - my senior formal in 1986.

Senior formal - 1986

I really, really wanted to wear a red dress, but I remember having to ask permission of the Senior Mistress at school. I don't know why - something about the year being 1986 and what was considered "decent" for 16 year olds. While some of the girls at school were flying to Brisbane to sort out their formal dresses (I know - really), Mum and I were at Gardams (when Townsville had a Gardams) and Carrols on Saturday mornings picking out the perfect shade of red in waterwave taffeta. I loved this dress - from the semi-puff sleeves to the crossover lower back, from the boatneck to the V in the bodice. Not such a fan of the white court shoe though. The bloke was kind of cute I suppose.

Senior speech night - 1986

A month or so later I had my speech night. I think Flo Bjelke-Petersen was the guest speaker that night and all the mums brought  a plate of pumpkin scones to share for supper after. Gosh - we knew how to draw a guest speaker at Pimlico High, we did. My Oma was there that night, I remember, and I wore another mum-made dress. Another hit - red and white striped, drop waist, square neck, multi-directional. It broke all the rules for horizontal stripes.Very fashion-forward for 1986.

And now back to July 1986 for the Townsville Show, which I went to with my friend Suzanne every year. By 1986 Suzanne had left school and was an apprentice hairdresser. She was much more a woman of the world than I was (even though we were both 16).

Townsville Show - 1986

Yet again, I'm wearing mum-made by way of the shirt. I think it was a flannel with a thin black stripe. I remember feeling pretty smashing in it, and then I asked mum to make my a black tie and she obliged. Obviously Suzanne and I coordinated what were were going to wear that night - it was the biggest social event of the year in Townsville, after all. Those jeans are kind of strange though. Ugh.

Cam has a linky thing at the bottom of her post, and you can see some truly excellent examples of fashion fails when it comes to formal wear. Go and check it out!

13 comments:

  1. They're such fabulous photos, and you know what, without the puffy sleeves, the red dress would be quite wearable again right now. I wish my mum had been able too make clothes!
    Now I'm totally jealous that Flo came to your school too!

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  2. My Mum made my dresses too! Was fashion just a little more grown up then?? I think you look smashing in your red dress... and how we loved the tie - I had a red one to go with my tartan pants and braces ... HOT!

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  3. Your prom dress is ... well, of course it's crazy from todays point, but I can see that you felt very beautiful in it. And I really like your dress from the speech. I could easily wear something like that today.. just with a bifferent styling.

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  4. OH MY GOODNESS! My son is currently a student at Pimlico High. This world is a very small place! You may well have gone to high school with my brother-in-law.

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  5. I had a red dress for my year 10 farewell too (imagine that - me - in a red dress!) but it was not the ubiquitous waterwave taffeta, it was a sort of crepe I think. I probably still have it at home (my childhood home!) even though it was over *coughtwentycough* years ago...I might have had very similar jeans to yours too!

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  6. What fabulous photos: thanks for sharing. Perhaps I should go see what photos I have of homemade outfits from that time. Although I was making them myself out of Make it Easy. I remember being most proud of a drop waisted sailor dress...

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  7. Thanks for giving me some nice Qld and 80s memories - Gardams and Flo! I SO loved it when mum took me to Gardams to pick out my own fabric!

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  8. OMG! I'm having Townsville flashbacks! I see you've had your hip gene working from a young age! Love the 80s!

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  9. Would really like a dress like your speech night dress for this summer - I remember something similar I had in the 80s and it was so comfortable and stylish. Love your school dance dress too - very special. I had a lovely one my mum made me too for my first uni formal - not only was it a great dress but we had fun working on it together! Very special indeed.

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  10. awesome pics, wow your mum was a dab hand with the old needle and thread....lucky you :) thanks for popping by before.

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  11. Great post! I'm sad to say there wasn't much in the way of handmade clothes for me during my teens. Not that I would have appreciated my Mum making me any, I was embarrassingly obsessed with surf/skate brands...

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  12. Funny. I did wonder whether my mother in law would have preferred a heads up on the redness of my wedding dress. There was an ill-concealed look of horror. Love how you do red AND horizontal stripery...

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  13. I can see why you loved your mum-made outfits - they (and you) were (are) gorgeous! Unlike my mum-made outfits, all yours fit properly and suit you.

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