Featured THRIFT STORE FIND - AP POLO SWEATER RELATED TO RALPH LAUREN POLO?

Sounds familiar, Scout! The very first time my mother took me to a store to "allow me" to pick out 1 piece of store-bought clothing for myself was for my 13th birthday (7th grade.) After that, since my birthday is in the late fall, I got to pick out one outfit to start school and then had to wait until my grandmother would buy me something for my birthday. Then wait again until Christmas. Unfortunately being the oldest of 5 there were no "hand-me-downs to fill in the gap.

Probably explains why, when I got into my 30's and had a finally fair amount of income to spend on myself, I went bonkers for clothes!

 

My grandmother made all my clothes until I was in college. She was a professional seamstress and yes, talented.

But how I longed for a pair of store bought jeans.

 

@journeymagazine

I think you already knew the kitsch value of your kooky sweater and think we've talked it into the ground. Sorry we hijacked your thread, but hopefully you won't mind if we play it out

Just jump back in when you're inclined

 

Ignore, plz

Got in the weeds with editing quotes

 

As the youngest with a sister and 2 cousins, I wore a LOT of hand me downs! Lots of them handmade copies for the 4 of us! New clothing picked by me meant so much!

I don't think my mother got a lot of pleasure from fashion and shopping. She had a kind of bedrock good taste, but I craved flair and we all banked on birthdays with Grandma Honey. She was all in for a real birthday dress at Miss Luan's in Long Beach. I think it meant a lot to our parents, too.

As 'teens, our parents felt safe to let us walk down to Del Amo Mall after school, where I got to luxuriate in fashion - that's how I met and fixated on my 3 piece set

@Jivvy please tell me your grandmother didn't make your jeans (she did right??)[/QUOTE]