Playing Dress-up

Isaac Werner wrote in his journal about dressing up for a special Farmers' Alliance Meeting, and that made me think of the changes from decade to decade in fashion rules.  As I often do in preparing these blogs, I went to the internet in search of fashion rules for both men and women.  Since this blog was inspired by Isaac's fashion sense, I'll start with my visit to RMRS/Real Men Real Style.  (I've put an asterisk beside Isaac's fashion judgement dressing up for a farmers' meeting.)

1.  Care about your appearance.*  (He occasionally shaved...)

2.  Be aware of the menswear that came before yours.

3.  Know that sometimes you'll be the best-dressed man in the room.*  (He must have known that, since he went to all of the meetings.)

4.  Realize that "rules" are there for a reason, even if they can sometimes be broken.*  

5.  A good fit should always be your first priority when purchasing new clothing.

6.  Avoid temporary trends and fluctuations of fashion.*  (It was the first time he had dressed up since arriving in Kansas ten years earlier!)

7.  Treat your clothing like an investment, and shop slowly but smart.*  (He did buy a rain slicker for making long potato-selling trips, but he didn't mention any other clothing shopping.)

8.  Make excuses to wear the good stuff, instead of letting it get dusty in the closet.*  (Or, in his case, a trunk.)

9.  Dress appropriately, whether that means dressing up or dressing down.  (Well, it was a special meeting, and he was a speaker.)

10. Expand your wardrobe with clothes that work together, not standalone pieces.

The photo at the top of the page was taken about 1950 of three cousins playing dress-up one Sunday after church, wearing their mothers' hats, purses, and shoes.  All three of us felt very grownup, assuming that when we were grown ladies we would also wear dresses, gloves and heels with a hat when we went to church.  Here is the advice I found for ladies at one website regarding current church wear.  "Women are suggested to wear a skirt that is below the knee, cardigans or nice khakis with no shoulder or back visible.  Stay away from low-cut or clingy outfits as they can be offending in such places."  No mention of gloves or hats!

Fancy Nancy series, Glasser ill., O'Connor author

I was inspired to write this blog after reading an essay by Jane O'Connor in the New York Times, announcing her retirement of the Fancy Nancy series.  The character of Nancy loves uncommon words, and she likes to dress everything up, especially with her signature accessory of a boa.  Imagine!--A book series that inspires young girls to write letters to the author like this one:  "I like Fancy Nancy and the fancy words because I'm unconventional too (that's fancy for different)."  Or, this one:  "Some days when I feel gloomy (that's fancy for sad), I read one of your books and automatically it cheers me up."  Obviously, I'm all for books that make girls want to expand their vocabularies and appreciate the significance of what they choose to wear.  Bravo to O'Connor and to illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser who won the 6th annual Children's Choice Book Awards 2013 Illustrator of the Year when more than a million kids voted for her.  Helping children to love reading and to learn to use words appropriately is worth cheering.

Am I the only one who has noticed how often I see little girls dressed adorably and appropriately when their mother has chosen jeans for the occasion?  According to many of the fashion websites I consulted, women can choose jeans for many occasions.  Apparently young daughters see those events as requiring a dress, even when their mothers prefer trendy jeans.

Women do care about fashion, based on the number of websites offering fashion advice for women and the apparent interest in what Meghan Markle is wearing!  One bit of fashion advice for women seems to make good sense to me--"Dress for the occasion"--but I struggle to decipher exactly what fashion experts regard as too elaborate or too casual.  

Worn-out or Fashionable

A couple of years ago, my husband threw a pair of my favorite jeans in with a load of wash he was doing for his jeans, and mine somehow got tangled around the ringer and were torn in several places in the process of freeing them.  Last week I found them folded on the back of a shelf, and when I unfolded them they looked fashion ready!  I had saved them to wear when I was painting and needed something I wouldn't mind ruining if they got paint on them.  Obviously, I'm out of touch with fashion trends.

Does anyone else remember coming home from school and immediately changing into 'play clothes,' which were actually former school clothes that were too faded or worn to continue wearing to school?  Recycling is not a new concept for those of us familiar with hand-me-downs and play clothes.

As a bachelor, Isaac had to mend his own clothing, and he mentioned borrowing a sewing machine from a neighbor.  He didn't indicate what he was planning to sew.  Although he never mentions darning his socks, I suspect that he did quite a bit of mending in those thrifty times.

I'm not sure how the conversation came up during an office visit with our investment advisor, but my husband mentioned that I darn his socks.  The man is considerably younger than we are, and he looked at us with a blank expression.  "Darn?" he said.  "You know, when you get a hole in the toe or heel of your sock and you need to darn it," my husband explained.  The younger man's expression didn't change.  "She mends it," my husband said, adding,  "Sometimes I've done it myself."  "Why don't you just throw those socks away and buy new ones?" he asked.  "Well, I really like those socks," was my husband's reply.

I learned to darn in my 4-H sewing class.  I was taught to use a light bulb to spread the area of the sock and then carefully weave through the worn area of the sock to build up a web of stitches to reinforce the area without making an uncomfortable lump in the sock.  Among my mother-in-law's sewing notions that I inherited was an egg-shaped stone form which I believe is a darning egg.  Notice the indentations at the larger end of the egg, presumably created by needles repeatedly being poked into the egg.  Also in the picture is a burned-out light bulb which I use for darning.  I keep both of them in the labeled tin shown in the photograph.  It's a good thing I saved that light blub, since the newer blubs lack that shape.

Times change.  Styles change.  What is considered thrifty and what is deemed wasteful change.

Certain standards should never change.  Honesty.  Integrity.  Respect.  And, books that teach children the delight of language.  And just maybe, learning how to darn a sock!