Old Clothes

[yvette]

I have a silk scarf which was hand painted for me for my 21st birthday.... and that was a long time ago. It was given to me by my grandparents and I treasure it, it is cream with butterflies and hollyhocks painted impressionistically around the edge. Otherwise, I have a 50s handbag which used to belong to a ballerina, apparently she kept it in tissue paper and it is immaculate.
I love both these things because they represent the opposite to throw-away culture - I know I will keep them for ever.

[MuddyWitch]

My oldest item of clothing is the first jumper I ever knitted:

My parents were strapped for cash so our xmas pressies had to be cheap, but by heck they were full of love. My Mum bought me a 'jumper kit'; the wool, pattern, needles etc. The wool was in skeins so she rolled it into one huge ball. BUT in the layers were little notes of encouragement, odd daft cracker toys or the odd boiled sweet (the sort in wrappers). Then in the middle there was a little item of cheap jewellery.

I made the jumper during my third year exams (so 1976 for those purest out there! ) It is rib so it would just about streatch over my *ahem* adult ( ) size but I won't wear it but you'd need to kill me to get hold of it.

MW

[citizentwiglet]

I have a lovely red and purple striped hooded cardigan with wooden toggles that my grandmother knitted for my mum when she was expecting me in 1972, 38 and a bit years ago. I also have my grandmother's 1950s dirndl skirt and a couple of 1960s mini-dresses - sadly they have become rather too fragile to be worn. One of the skirts is shot silk which has got a huge stain from (we suspect) my grandmother's over-indulgence at a Christmas party resulting in her missing her mouth whilst drinking, and no specialist cleaner we can find dares touch it. The dresses - one has lace, and other has crochet as trim and both have got very fragile and liable to rip, which is such a shame as they are gorgeous.
Most of my everyday clothes, if I'm honest, are around 10-20 years old - I certainly still wear a frightening amount of the clothes I'm wearing in various college photos.

[Sinmara]

For my graduation ball at school I inherited a gorgeous ball gown from 1913 - my mother still has it, it'll probably be too big for me now though!

I tend to keep clothes that I like until they literally fall apart and I can't sew them back together again - I've got loads of 80ies Metal shirts which I got from an ex-boyfriend, and I love wearing some of my boyfriends 80ies goth clothes.

[pelmetman]

i found a pack of disposable paper knickers i bought 13 years ago with my eldest child

Reminds me of when I was in the Navy, not disposable......... but edible knickers I bought on a drunken run ashore in New Orleans
Naturaly I didn't throw them away as thrift has always been my motto

Unfortunately Sue was not impressed when I brought them home, and refused to wear them but in the end I gave them to my sister as an engagement present .....................well they were past their best before date anyway

Dave

[Millymollymandy]

ha ha ha Dave you are awful!

[scrap]

I still have my wedding shoes from '03.
Back then I refused to get a pair of shoes ''just'' for the occasion,so I bought a pair of low Dr. Martens.

[Susiwaa]

Not in the wardrobe but in the cupboard under the stairs I have my para boots and army jacket that I've had since I was at college in the early 1990's. My jeans from the same time are in a box somewhere, only thing holding them together are a few patches!

Oldest thing I know I have is my tshirt from Guide camp in 1985 when we celebrated 75 years. It shall be joined with my Guide camp one from this year when we celebrated 100 years!!

[spider8]

I have saved some clothes that I wore when I was 20 years old, quite a while ago then. They are stored away in a box and I've kept them in the vain hope that I'll be able to fit into them again one day . Don't really think there is much chance of that but I just can't part with them. All my everyday clothes are worn until they fall apart, then they become dusters as they're far too knackered to go to a charity shop........mind you, that's where most of them come from to start with!

[ina]

I have saved some clothes that I wore when I was 20 years old, quite a while ago then. They are stored away in a box and I've kept them in the vain hope that I'll be able to fit into them again one day .

Glad I'm not the only one!

And yep, my clothes could never be imposed on any self respecting charity shop after I've finished with them, either... Unfortunately, I can't buy a lot there, as they rarely have anything in large sizes.

[Millymollymandy]

All my everyday clothes are worn until they fall apart, then they become dusters as they're far too knackered to go to a charity shop

Same here, my husband has a load of old cloths in the barn for all those manly type of jobs that need old cloths (whatever that might be ) but they also get put to all sorts of uses..... when we had a plumber round last year who needed to do some work in my potting shed (the boiler room) I hastily removed the pair of men's boxer shorts that were wrapped around the tap as lagging as I was mildly embarrassed....

[Wombat]

I had an "Inspector Gadget" T-shirt - but sadly it has passed on. Now most that is left is my world class collection of flannelette shirts

Nev

[Milims]

I still have the shocking pink suit I was bought for my 16th birthday in the mid 80's. It was a size 8 but had to be made smaller It's so small that even my daughter who is 14 and very slight can't fit into it! Can someone telly why I'm keeping it?

[spider8]

I'm with you there ina, as I'm a size 22 and clothes in charity shops of that size don't come along often. I do wear mens shirts and T-shirts, fleeces etc., although the arms have to be rolled up many times but I do that anyway. They are cheaper to buy and are much more roomy .