Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Yesterday's Musing got me thinking about how the clothing I've worn has changed over the years, so here's a quick overview.

In my earliest days, I wore cute little dresses that my mom selected for me, as shown in this photo of me at 7 months.

For every day wear, I crawled around in baby overalls, and when I was little I was such a klutz that I was always ripping out my knees, so a lot of my pants were carefully patched by my mom, often with embroidered patches that I secretly loved.

Sometimes Mom made me clothes herself. One of my favorites was a sailor dress that matched a sailor suit for my brother. I loved this dress but thought that I could only wear it when my brother wore his sailor suit, and since he didn't like his, I almost never wore it.

As I grew older, play clothes and dress clothes were more closely delineated. To run around and play, I wore pants and T-shirts most of the time. In this photo, taken when I was 7 with my brother, mother and newborn sister, I'm wearing one of my favorite shirts. You can see, if you look carefully, there's a patch on one of my knees.

Shortly after I entered fifth grade, I got glasses and my mom insisted on cutting my hair, since I wasn't good about combing it, and it would knot up, especially in the back. I also went through an awkward chubby phase. I tried to blend in as much as I could, wearing jeans or corduroy pants and pastel sweaters.

In this photo, taken in 1983, I seem to be trying to hide behind the tree.

My dressy clothes were also usually pastels, such as this dress I wore for my confirmation in 1984. The material, typical of 80's clothes, was sparkly and pink.

By the time I was in high school, I was being a little more inventive with my clothing. I loved to find things that were unique, such as the shirt in this photo. You can't really tell, but it only has one sleeve. Don't ask me why. I've never seen another one.

And then there were a few items that were slightly trendy, such as my newsboy hat, and this very 80's looking sparkly sweater, from about 1987.

Nothing changed much throughout my high school years. I usually avoided the trendier clothes, which I thought didn't really work on me. During my chubbier days, I didn't feel particularly pretty, so I opted for unisex clothing such as jeans and sweaters. And I wore a super short hair cut. They were sort of "don't look at me" clothes, I suppose.

I did have one favorite item, though, the jean jacket my parents gave me on my 16th birthday. Here I'm wearing it with a typical baggy T-shirt and nondescript pants.

The summer before my senior year in high school, I lost a lot of weight and grew my hair longer. I started to feel better about myself, and as if to celebrate, I bought some brighter clothing. I was ready to be seen. In this photo, taken at my high school graduation party with family and friends, I'm wearing my favorite pair of brightly colored JAMS shorts, matching socks, and a T-shirt for the school I would soon be attending.

In college, I would soon come out of my shell, both socially and sartorially.

More on my life in clothes:

Part Two

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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