recent posts
archives
subscribeHow I Styled: Dreams and Memories
March 3rd, 2011
I don’t really know what to call this outfit. I’d been referring it as Hippie Farmgirl but that really doesn’t sound appealing, does it? It’s not too much hippie and it’s not too much farmgirl either, but it’s got just enough sprinklings of each sense to bring me to that title. It’s the best I’ve got. (As I was working on this post, Ant said it reminded him of Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island. I can see that, aside from the fact that I’m in high waisted jeans instead of short shorts, and a button up instead of a halter. I am a modest Mary Ann. But I can see the similarities, I really can.)
I wore this outfit to go on a shopping run to a cake supply store with a friend. Oh how I’d been wanting to make it there for some time, and I’m so glad my bud Erin had this little nugget up her sleeve. I see many happy returns for birthdays, and Easter, and Christmas, and just because…
Anyway, this store has shelves of sprinkles. Shelves. Of sprinkles. Themes, holidays, a rainbow of colors. It was overwhelming for my indecisive self. I came away with purple polka dot cupcake liners and tiny heart sprinkles that Ella & I used to fancy up our Valentine treats. (Sooo, that’s how behind I am in posting this.)
My favorite parts of this outfit are the pieces that were passed down to me from family.
The belt belonged to my dad until he passed it on to my sister in her high school years. I was so envious. Something about this belt, the way it is permanently shaped into a dipping curve in the middle, is so endearing. You can tell it was worn a lot and must have been loved. When my sister packed her drawers and moved to San Francisco, she gave me the belt. It was a very emotional moment for me…
Wait, or did I just make that up? I kind of remember getting it on loan? Now I don’t know if I’m supposed to have it or not…
Do you ever do that? Confuse made up memories with real ones? I think I do it pretty often. It’s just like my favorite line ever, from The Wonder Years – let me share.
“As I stepped back up to the plate… all the cares, all the worries, all the burdens I’d carried around for the past few days just disappeared. Suddenly, the outside world fell away. It was just me. And baseball. My moment had arrived. And I knew what I had to do. I’m not sure how I did it. My memory begins with the crack of the bat, and the sight of the ball rising. Maybe that’s not exactly the way it happened. But that’s the way it should have happened, and that’s the way I like to remember it. And if dreams and memories sometimes get confused well… that’s as it should be. Because every kid deserves to be a hero… every kid already is.”
Pause…tear. It gets me every time. I need me some Wonder Years, pronto.
Well. I’ll stick with the memory (made up or not) of my sister passing this belt on to me. It seems sort of like a right of passage. I like to think that in her eyes, I had earned this belt.
(Teresa, what’s your version? And what ever happened to our agreement over joint custody of the rain lamp and the gnome lamp? I seem to remember you giving that rain lamp a permanent home hanging from your ceiling, but then I also seem to remember hearing how it fell to the ground. Let me know if a swap is in order…I’ve got a gnome hat to glue back onto a little gnome’s head. We sound like awful lamp owners.)
Outfit:
Button up: Old Navy
High waisted jeans: BDG at UO
Sandals: Steve Madden
Necklace: my dad’s
Dream Belt: my sister’s via my dad
Oh that’s right, I *LOVE* that belt!! I had totally forgotten it until now, but I can remember how it feels to buckle where the leather’s all worn. Awesome!
I don’t remember how you ended up with it. I wore it all through college, so I must have consciously passed it to you before I moved to SF. I’m surprised it fits so well, because I had to punch two extra holes in it to make it work for me, and you’re tinier than that!
But it looks great on you – entirely a part of your repertoire now. I still have dad’s bellbottoms I think, and mom’s peace sign necklace, but I don’t wear them much.
The rain lamp hasn’t been hung up in our new place! But I don’t think I can part with it.. was it really a swap of custody I agreed to? Let’s bargain! I love me a gnome, but my half-naked rain lady is just too mesmerizing… and you have the Billy Blanket! Which makes us far from even-stevens!
Correction: I do not have the Billy Blanket!
I completely forgot about it! It must be in the linen closet across the street. I’ll have to inquire about that…
I really miss seeing that rain lamp hanging in the corner of Grandma’s room, so it had better be up in your pad the next time we come to visit!
We’re trying to redecorate and I’m going to make sure the gnome lamp has a cozy place in the front room. (Maybe I’ll leave a corner free just in case that sultry lady ever comes to visit our home.)
And thanks for the belt – I do love it and it’s so much better knowing it’s got a good history.
For me, the Billy Blanket and the rain lamp are peas in a pod! I used to lay on the blanket in grandma’s room, behind those ugly brown recliners, and stare up at the lamp. We must hunt it down, even though it’s disintegrating! Or make new ones?