A Few Family Fashion Faux Pas

My sister Pam and I were taking a little stroll down memory lane, on our high school alumni Facebook page, when the discussion turned to some of the fashion we used to wear....And that set me to thinking. Some of the things we used to be seen in public in.....well, now I just have to shake my head and wonder WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!?!?!

Early 70's
Hip hugger bell bottomed jeans.

The best place to buy these was at the Army Navy surplus store. They hugged so low that the zipper was only about an inch long. Maybe two. You didn't DARE bend over lest your cheeks show and that just wasn't done back then.
.They looked something like this, but were usually a little lower.

So we wore body shirts. These were shirts and tops that came all the way down to the crotch and then snapped, thus keeping them permanently tucked in.Here is a good example of the snap crotch body shirt that we wore with the jeans.

Now how did we finish off this ensemble, you ask? With platform shoes of course! Usually a two inch platform sole and a four inch heel. You risked a broken ankle every time you left the house.I actually had a pair that looked very much like these:

These were quite popular too:

Good grief it's a wonder more of us didn't break our necks.

Hot pants.....remember those?

Oh yes, dear readers...that little number you see here was considered quite sexy. Notice the white knee boots and the matching white shoulder strap purse. Also quite the rage was the sweater worn over the button down shirt.
I remember I had a hot pants outfit that was just to die for! It was a lavender hot pants-jumpsuit with a sleeveless vest over it.Silver studs on the vest. I wore it with white leather boots that laced up the sides.
Tres chic!!

Now those of us who didn't go the sexy mama route may have chosen the Earth Mother look.
A maxi dress down to the floor
Floppy hat
Earth shoes

The ruffle at the bottom was a definite plus.
The floppy hat could be felt like this one:

Or open and lacy for that summer look, like this:

I actually had a felt hat like the top one. I wore it with black pants that had huge yellow flowers on them, and a black almost see through blouse...ruffled at the neck and sleeve. I rocked that hat.

To complete the Earth Mother look there was the Earth shoe.

Notice that the heel is lower than the toe. That was intentional. It was supposed to make you walk better. It didn't.

There were some outfits that we probably should just try to forget. Like the summer halter dresses I wore that were sooo short they had matching panties underneath. Or the yellow outfit my sister had...open lattice work all the way down the side of the leg and blouse. (Although she was probably the only woman on Earth who could wear those pants and still look like a lady.)

Over the years I have gone from hot pants to hot flashes.....from hip huggers to hip replacements....from floppy hats to floppy .......well never mind.

Time to go....Has anybody seen my fannypack?

Life is short...

  I've been thinking, lately. Yeah I know...scary thought. But seriously, I've been thinking about things I should have done when I was younger that I can't do now. Regrets, I guess.

I wish I had gone roller skating more. Especially when the boys were little. I loved to roller skate. I should have stayed sometimes, when I dropped them off at the rink, and enjoyed myself.

I wish I had taken the boys to the park more. Just because I didn't like the outdoors, doesn't mean I should have deprived them. I'm glad their father took them camping and showed them how to 'rough it'. My idea of roughing it was no room service.

I wish I had made sure the boys had a better wardrobe when they were in school. Sure, money was tight, but we could have found a way to do better. I hope they didn't suffer for it too much.

I wish I hadn't snapped at my husband and my brother at my sister's wedding when they tried to tell me there was a bug on my hat, just before a picture was snapped. They had been cutting up all day, and I thought they were just annoying me again. They weren't.

I wish I had gone bowling more. Barbara and I used to go bowling and it was so much fun. I just quit having fun when I grew up.

I wish I hadn't been so 'understanding' every time my ex had an 'indiscretion'. Maybe if I'd thrown a hissy fit , he wouldn't have thought he could get away with it so often.

I wish I had taken better care of my body. A lot of my problems are things that could have been dealt with medically if I'd seen the doctor and dentist like I should have. (Back to the money was tight issue)

There were times in my life when I was mad at my sister and didn't speak to her for a long time. Over things that really don't seem so important now. Some I don't even remember. I wish I hadn't lost those years.

I wish I had finished high school with my class, and gone to college to study journalism. Maybe I wouldn't be just a hack blog writer now, instead of having a newspaper or magazine column like I wanted.

I wish I had learned how to choose better gifts for young sons. (I apologize for the year y'all got Bed-In-A-Bags for Christmas when you were kids. That must have sucked.)

I wish I hadn't abandoned my friends for my husband. Considering we had no mutual friends, I should have kept them close to me. Thank God they are back in my life now.

Now that I've gotten older, I'm doing more things that make ME smile.

 I wear hats outdoors. I tell somebody when they are being rude or unreasonable. I've learned to say 'no' when I just can't do what I'm asked to do.

Most of you  know the striking resemblance between my Dave and Santa Claus. This is the time of year when he starts to wear his Santa hat when we go out.
The other day, we were out on our power chairs when it began to rain. So we popped into the party store. BAD place for us to be....just too much fun stuff to play with.
Anyway, since he was wearing his Santa hat, it seemed only appropriate that I should be his Rudolph, so I bought antlers and a flashing red nose. And yes, I wore them on the way home. I always ride in front of him, since my chair is slower, so we looked like Rudolph leading the sleigh. I would even point the way for him at intersections. Cars were honking and people were waving.
It was FUN. And we'll do it again.

I think this is my point, dear readers. Please, no matter what else you have going on in your life, don't wait til you're old to have fun.

We're considering some reins with jingle bells on them..Too much???