Her outfit was remarkable, and must've taken her time and money to put it together. it reminded me that she probably didn't really grow up to remember when those items were actually COOL.
When i was young, i got hand-me-downs from this wealthier, 'more popular' family in school. I absolutely loved the clothes, since to me, they were really stylish and almost new. My mom never really bought us any of the name brand stuff - so getting anything that said Guess or Ocean Pacific was really cool - even if it was from some snobby sisters who used to pick on me.
But i remeber loving these 3 ruffled western shirts, and a pair of Calvin Klein pin stripped jeans in 2nd grade. I was in heaven! I remember opening the full trash bag my mom gave me and couldn't WAIT to wear them to school, to show off how stylish i was!
And of course, i was ridiculed by both sisters who commented to EVERYONE when they saw me that I was wearing THEIR hand-me-downs. I remember trying to avoid them in school. i remember it was a good day when we didn't have recess or lunch at the same time. And i purposefully DID NOT play at the tennis courts in the mornings while trying to avoid those sisters.
But i perservered. I didn't die of shame like i thought would happen. I didn't love the clothes any less because they had come from some rich girl's closet.
Do I have any retalliation for what those sisters did to me?
No.
I have the memory of those shirts.
I also remember wearing one of those shirts to a Girl Scout meeting. We were putting together a time capsule and ALL the girls scouts got together to take a picture for it - which meant those snotty sisters were there too. But i just kept thinking, as we took the photo - that no one would remember whose shirt it was originally, and when they opened the time capsule in 2035 - everyone would think i was wearing just MY shirt.
6 comments:
I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of you in one of those shirts.
We always had hand me downs too. Most of the time from my mom's cleaning jobs.
this is a beautiful story. I love this.. My wife and I were talking about the nature of memory this morning, and how we choose to remember certain things to fit into our current reality. your story also goes to show that well, a shirt is a shirt, all of the importance of what is new and what is used is meaningless in the big picture of the world, it might also be like that with us as people as well
I am the oldest & my brother and I were the only grandchildren on my mom's side & the closest girl relative on my dad's side lived in Michigan, so they weren't many hand-me-downs to be had in my family. But that didn't stop my mom from buying the ugliest clothes she could find, on sale. I remember dreading picture day, she would not even let me do my own hair. I can vaguely remember one of those plaid shirts for 2nd or third grade class pictures.
I didn't get hand me downs. though my brother was older, he was skinny. I was not skinny. our close never really fit each-other at any point. I do remember though that my mom bought me striped shirts with a little alligator patch on the left. I used to like them but then a teacher made fun of the little alligator once and I hated the shirts ever since. I tried to tare the little things off, but they would not come off without ripping the shirt. That was my first memory of ever being conscious about what cloths I ware.
Actually, not that I really think about it. its so vague that the whole thing might have happened to my brother and I might have been trying to help HIM rip the things off.
anyway...
Richies suck. They don't even appreciate those beautiful houses they live in.
Man, when I was in second grade my mom got me a KICK ASS ocean pacific t-shirt/shorts combo. The shorts had a wild pattern, like they were a hand-me-down from David Lee Roth!
I took my class picture in those clothes. It was the last school picture I took without glasses. My hair was spikey... It ROCKED!
Not only was I the oldest child, I was the oldest grandchild, so I never got any second-hand clothes until I got older and started going to thrift stores.
Thats true. See cassie, you where just ahead of your time. Now hand-me-downs are COOL. Those rich bitches didn't know anything. You can go and spend a lot of money on new close that look like hand me downs. I bet the rich bitches are all desperate right now doing just that! HAHA
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