Monday, September 25, 2006

They're Vintage!

Does everyone have something in their closet that they just can't throw away? I'm not talking about the fabulous, expensive outfit that you found on sale and you're sure that you'll wear somewhere, someday. I'm also not talking about the much loved jeans that have more holes than fabric or the concert t-shirt that reminds you that you were once young and cool (at least in your fuzzy memories). Several years ago my beloved Grandma passed away. Since I'm known as the sentimental one in my family, it was decided that I should become the lucky recipient of Grandma's...shoes! Those who know me well know that I'm a bit of a fashion nut & also a fan of classic, vintage items. The problem with my new shoe collection is that Grandma's shoes are at least half a size small and as stylish as my Grandma was, well, they're not shoes that she wore in her 20's (or even 50's!). These are the shoes that Grandma was wearing in her 80's. So taking up a large corner in my closet, I've got at least 20 pairs of shoes that I can't wear or even bring myself to give away. One day I walked into my closet & I could almost hear Grandma say "Dolly, my white shoes would look so pretty with your green dress." So, I threw caution (and fashion and comfort) to the wind & squeezed into a pair. This turned out to be the first (and hopefully last!) time my style was criticized in the press: "Erin Murphy's cute dress was cursed by her matronly pumps!" You just can't win.

4 comments:

Marlo said...

I find it hard to throw anything away.. -shifty eyes-

Susannah said...

I have two dresses my husband bought for me when we were in Venice, five years ago. I wore them both once, the two nights after we bought them. One is very sexy, not fit to wear in public, the other is covered with beads, so you can't sit down in it. After one year they wouldn't fit anymore, but I still had them hanging in my closet. Now, after loosing a lot of weight, I can get into them again, but I doubt I will ever wear them.
But throw them out? Never!

Brophtron said...

Absolutely. Right now in my closet I have the nurse's cape that my mother first got when she finished nursing school (like the little nurse's cap, she hadn't worn it in years). We used to use the cape at Halloween to dress as vampires.

And I have my father's insulated navy jacket. It'll never be worn as a jacket again, but when I was young, we'd use it as a blanket on cold winter nights while sitting on the couch. It sits in the closet now, but there's no way I'd throw it out.

Brophtron said...

BTW, was it a man or a woman who noticed the shoes? Unless they were combat boots, I doubt I'd even NOTICE the boots. Did you have any pics of the ensemble?