Because of the fact that I love second had clothes and the little stories that they tell, combined with the fact that tomorrow is Mothers Day, I think it’s appropriate to post a little something about second hand – or rather hand-me-downs -, memories and(for the first time in NEMESIS, BABE history) my mom.. Kind of.
Last night I called my mom to tell her about this post I was going to do. My idea was to make her tell some wondrous stories about which memories she had had in her youth, wearing the clothes shown on the gif above, that she handed down to me(thank god that all women in my family were exactly the same size in their youth, so that my moms clothes from her teenage/young adult years fit me like a glove). “I kissed my first boyfriend in that yellow pant suit,”, “I traveled through Europe in those checkered shorts.” or “I used that school bag everyday through high school.” were the stories I’d hoped she would tell me.. Unfortunately it didn’t go as I planned and I didn’t get any nostalgic stories about these clothes that I’ve valued so dearly since she passed them down to me: “Well, about those clothes I don’t really remember a thing”, se said. But I didn’t call in vain, because I did get stories and they were stories about clothes. I was told about the green velvet anorak that she wore on her graduation and about the yellow terrycloth bathrobe that she won in a competition and wore, running around the beach, ecstatic about being in fashion at that time.
My point in all this is actually, that there is something important about that connection between clothes and memories. Even though I didn’t get the stories about these clothe stat I wanted, my questions for my mom ended up bringing up a nostalgic feeling within her and the stories about the clothes that she remembers as a big part of who she used to be, were told. Personally I have a mission to also remember to make memories with the clothes that I wear – especially the ones that I know I will keep for years and maybe even pass on to my heirs in 50 years. Because just like an old photo or a passed down teak table can bring memories about past experiences of people you’ve known, clothes are just as nostalgic items.
photo by Stockholm Streetstyle
I have clear memories of the most memorable days when I wore my moms hand-me-downs. Like my very first fashion week in Paris, where I wore my moms old, yellow pantsuit, a thin leather jacket and a pair of lace-up shoes form H&M in 10 degrees celcius weather. The day I was photographed by Stockholm Street style for the first time ever. Or my last day of school in high school, where I’d put on my moms 50’s like checkered shorts with big wavy hair, and 80’s t-shirt and socks in heeled sandals. Or back before I and my mom shrunk that orange sweater when washing it, where I wore it as a dress with my asymmetric hairdo and a blue plastic thing on my head, when going to dye my friend’s hair.
The most of my memories are actually attached to the clothes I wore. I remember my outfit from my 9th grade physics exam just as well as I remember what I wore, when I won the fashion blog awards this January. And I hope that I, just like my mom, once will be telling stories that arise from the memories of what I’ve worn.
Which piece of clothes have you worn on your most memorable days? And which is your favorite clothing heirloom?