Last week I was given a pile of vintage knitting patterns and I wrote about how they triggered memories.
And they also triggered questions like:
Did women really have such naturally small waists or did they wear girdles to create this hour-glass look?
And how would people react if a child went out today wearing this outfit?
Because remember the red and white outfit Prince George wore to his sisters christening earlier this year? The one that was a near-copy to one his father once wore? Well, my daughter tells me that other mothers like to dress their children in retro clothes too.
As a baby, Jools Oliver, wife of celebrity chef Jamie, had a hand-me-down embroidered nightie. Later, her own children wore this too and she was so inspired by the design and nostalgia that she designed her own range of retro children's clothes.
But some mothers, I discovered, do not want copies made from modern fabrics. No. They seek original vintage and retro clothes and when I saw photos I instantly recognised some of the clothes that my own children wore. In fact I still have one or two in my wardrobe. You know, those ones that hold special memories? They are carefully folded with the shawl that my nan knitted, the same nan who knitted those swimming trunks and bikini.
I wish the dress that my nan crocheted was there too. It was peach colour, sleeveless and scoop necked. Under the bust line it was a shell pattern, with a self colour lining. There was just one problem. When I first wore the dress the weight of the yarn and the lacy design caused the skirt to drop. I seem to remember my nan undoing several rows of shells so that it hang level again with the lining. Sadly, I don't have a photo of this dress but it is funny how some clothes stay in your memory.
In todays massed produced, throw away society, I wonder if the next generation will be able to say the same?
I wonder whether they will get excited by vintage patterns, as I do?
But I am not alone in this. In fact there is a revival. And I'll be back soon to tell you how I know.
If you missed my previous post about vintage knitting patterns you can find it here. Have a good Sunday, what ever you are doing. I'll be back tomorrow with another post for my 30 Day Blogging Challenge.
