Old clothes

As part of our decluttering - prior to our downsizing - I went through a few bags of old clothes that were lurking in the back bedroom. These were things that I hadn't been able to throw away in previous purges because of their sentimental value ... they were part of the 'archive'. Well, it turns out that badly made clothes (I made them) from cheap materials don't fare very well in grotty plastic bags in the back bedroom. It was time to realise they had no inherent value, and memories don't vanish just because the clothes do. So I put them through the wash and have donated anything wearable. 

But, just to make sure that the memories live on, here are the highlights. For starters, this sunflower dress I wore from 1994 - 1996. Sunflowers were a big thing in the 1990s! Trust me. I know this dress dazzled the crowds in Thailand, Hong Kong and Vietnam. It also went to parties in our funny little rental house, with one of my dad's old brown cardies. Fashion!!!!

And Christmas in 1995 - easily dated because my sister's twins were born in October. Those are also her toddlers being wrangled. Not a great shot of anyone ... for toddler and twin reasons.

How about this fabulous paisley vest from 1990. 

Paisley was very big in 1990, as you can tell by my vest and my flatmates' shirts. This was in the early stages of a massive party we were throwing - possibly Brent or Gavin's 21st - we got a flat photo when people had arrived to take it but before everybody got unhinged. Brent was growing silverbeet by the back fence and someone vomited on it, but we never told him and the rain washed it off before he ate it. Actually before he cooked and fed it to all of us, now I think about it.

And just because I want to, an unrelated 1995 photo of a friend's wedding in Toowoomba. I remember thinking how unflattering that photo was at the time ... and now I think how pretty I am! How handsome my husband is! Aren't we lovely. And red-headed.