Recently I dug out a photo from my 19th birthday for a friend who then posted it on Facebook. Much hilarity ensued, mainly as one of my friends (male) was wearing dungarees. I kept quiet on this point, I’ve always liked dungarees.
This reminded me of one of my best ever charity shop purchases – a pair of dungarees I bought when I was a student in Lancaster. They were 50 pence and I certainly got my money’s worth, best 50p I’ve ever spent, in fact. I wore and wore those dungarees. They were so baggy that they were perfect in the summer as the only bit that actually touched my body were the shoulder straps, and great in the winter as I could get loads of clothes on underneath them. I’m slightly embarrassed now that I even took them on holiday to Spain and wore them out one evening. I’m sure the other girls in our group must’ve been in pretty summer dresses.
I was, however, not alone in my love of them. I had a boyfriend who liked me in them, so much so that I used to wear them especially when he came to visit, much to the amusement of my then housemates. I think, though, that this says more about him than how good I actually looked in them. They did finally get demoted to painting dungarees (which is probably what they were made for in the first place) and I think they must be in the loft somewhere now as I could not have possibly thrown them out; they were like family to me.
I still have a guilty love of dungarees and would wear them now if not for the fear of being thought pregnant. On one of my potters round Barnardos I found a cord (another love of mine) dungaree dress. My first thought was “I’d have loved that when I was younger” then realised I still did, so I bought it. I did wonder if it was a child’s dress as it said large but fitted perfectly, but checking the label I think it’s Chinese. I’m not large but in China I am. I know this for sure as I’ve been to China and was trying to buy one of the classic Chinese dresses at a market. I was unsure what size I would be and was trying to explain to the lady that I wasn’t as big as I looked as I was bundled up in many layers, it was very cold. The lady undid my duffle coat felt me up and down and shouted “LARGE” across the market. Charming.
So, before I reveal anymore of my true geek, (duffle coats, cord, dungarees, there is no end) the point I’m trying to make is that charity shops not only provide great bargains but can allow you to dress as you’d like to rather than how you think you should. I would never have bought that dress new, I’m far too old. My childhood friend came to visit over Easter, when I answered the door to her wearing the said dress, she laughed and said “I love the way neither of us are wearing anything remotely grown up”. She was wearing a playsuit.
Sophie x
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