29.3.08

Cupboard Love (And Loss)

My wardrobe isn't a very extensive one. None of it is old enough to be called vintage, but it does contain the odd item that dates back to when my age was still in the single digits, and which I still fit into (this doesn't mean I am skinny- far from it in fact, it just means that the young BFH wore a lot of oversized clothes), and of these, the one I loved most was a pink chiffon blouse* that fastened at the neck with a pink chiffon rose. The flower in question wasn't a necessary part of the garment, just a silly bit of frippery, but my nine-year-old, fifteen-year-old and twenty-one-year-old selves can all remember being impossibly in love with it, which might have also been partly due to the fact that the blouse was so delicate that it only got pulled out for Very Special occasions.
The football World Cup final in 2006 was the last of these, which I remember rather clearly because I slopped gin down a sleeve after Zidane headbutted Materazzi. It was also the last time I ever saw The Rose, which was unpinned from the neck in order to save it from the rough-and-tumble of a cleaning it didn't need. Six months later, when a party begged for The Rose to be worn with fuck-off boots and scruffy jeans, it was nowhere to be seen- despite the fact that I'd lovingly wrapped it in tissue paper and tucked it away in a box. Much searching of cupboards ensued, but nothing came of that, and even now I can't bring myself to wear the blouse again, despite the fact that it looks perfectly all right with nothing at the neck. It's still really pretty, though..
I'm rather curious about the sartorial loves and losses of my readers, too- whether via misplacement, destruction, getting given away or grown out of..do tell me about it, please?
*not too far off in shape from this one, only it was sheer, slimmer and had a higher neck. And of course, the one in the picture doesn't have The Rose.

20 comments:

Yohan said...

I never know whether to count myself as a "reader" of this blog -- so much of the content baffles me! Hee hee. But I think I had an article of clothing that fits the bill.

For a few years I used to regularly wear this...er... pink-and-white pinstriped half-sleeved shirt that used to be my dad's. I think the shirt was older than me! It was soft and crinkly, and seemed to say "RELAX" in big friendly letters. Sadly, it was so worn that the collar eventually disintegrated.

Anonymous said...

I had a red & white checkered dress which would be so great for layering now - i bought it more than ten years ago and threw it out a couple of years later... now I am just wistfully thinking if I'd kept it, it would have looked so good with some items I own now.

MASALA CHAI said...

Oh I lost a suitcase full of clothes/ jewelry that pretty much made up my fav portion of my wardrobe, on a flight.

It was very overwhelming, sort of like a chunk of my life had been lost. Strangely enough, I broke up with the boy I was seeing then the same summer.

Sometimes I'm still sad about the suitcase of stuff . I wonder where the hell it went. & I keep thinking back to a certain top or earrings and I get very sad (but not too sad)

Yohan said...

Masala chai's story reminded me of another story -- I lost 2/3rds of my wardrobe one day in Delhi. Quite sad -- I lost all my college tee-shirts. It was in the final year, and it felt like fate was slapping me in the face for having a tendency toward nostalgia.

Anonymous said...

I used to have this green jacket that I wore constantly. It had a hole in the sleeve, and a big stain, and the front had to be held together with badges. It was falling apart but it looked amazing.
Anyways, I left it on an aeroplane last summer and I nearly cried. So many fun things had been done in that jacket- it held so many memories! It was from Pimkie, in France as well. Anyway, I have a new green jacket now, but it's not the same!!!

Anonymous said...

Love that you remember the good times in that shirt.... I remember that final too!

I'm scratching my head because oddly enough, I've been lucky with my clothes in that I've never lost anything that had high sentimental value to me.... obviously, there's things with monetary value which somehow didn't make that much of an impact on me loosing it (included two Miu Miu wallets, one Anna Suit wallet and a Miu Miu headband....).... if I lost my favourite charity shop loose black t-shirt, I'd be devastated however....

Dianna said...

so sad about your pretty pink rose. i love those treasured pieces of clothing that we have forever. i have a red jacket that was my mom's when she was young. i adore it, but it now has holes in the sleeves & one on the pocket. i still wear it, but my hubby says i look like a homeless person when i do. it doesn't stop me though.

Robin said...

I had a gorgeous saddle-colored, hand-tooled leather handbag, handmade, plenty-o-pockets in all the right places for all my bits & pieces, bought at the French Market in New Orleans the year after I graduated college (my first "grown-up" vacation). I lost it when it was stolen at the NY Public Library about a year later. The credit cards, license, sunglasses, makeup, etc. - all replaceable. Cumbersome, but replaceable. The Metro-North RR pass - expensive, but replaceable. But the bag... oh, how I hated losing the bag....

I should mention this was 18 years ago...

Rorosto said...

Something I don't think I will ever ever get over. When I was perhaps 10 years old, my mom gave my sister and me some of her old clothes from her hippy days, the real deal. I thought of it all as pretty costumy at the time, and couldn't comprehend styling something to make it more modern feeling at that age. Some of the loot was a number of original amazing Marimekko dresses that she wore around in the late 60s early 70s. I only liked one dress enough to bother keeping it but still didn't quite GET it. Now I wear it all the time with much love and a cute belt that helps modernize the shape for me. It makes me sick to think that we just gave away the others or something. How I would love to have them back...

Elizabeth said...

I lost my old cowboy boots to mold, and I donated a few things by accident to charity that I miss. One is a vintage dress I wish to gawd I still had. I could go on and on, but I don't want to bore anyone.

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse said...

I lose pieces all the time and it is a complete mystery where they go. One of my current biggest issues is having clothes at college with me and at home stored both in the basement and in the attic--I never know where anything is!

ineedmoredrama said...

this post has made me think long and hard about the items in my wardrobe. i can't say i've lost any beloved pieces because quite simply i've outgrown them (physically that is) and decided that it would be best to give them away. i'm glad you have a precious blouse that you can still wear till this day if you ever choose to take it out of your cupboard again :)

yumiko said...

head band with little red seahorses on it my dad got me from brasil...ive no clue where it went :[
oh, and ballet shoes i once left in a shopping cart at a supermarket

Elisabeth said...

Sadness for the pretty Rose :-( I hope one day you'll find it!

I once had a beautiful pony skin handbag; one of my first expensive accessories; and I stupidly left it on my chair to go and have a dance at a nightclub. As you can imagine, when I got back it, and all the contents, had vanished.

I guess this might not count, because it was my carelessness that lost it!

Maddy said...

I had a simple white cotton tiered skirt with embroidered roses on it. For some misguided reason, I gave it away last year, thinking I would never wear it again. Now that Spring has come again, I really wish I hadn't done that. Oooh goodness I am an idiot.

Maddy said...

Oh, also, about your rose: I lose things like that all the time that I thought I had put away very carefully, most notably a rather expensive watch. I had given up hope on ever finding said watch more than a year ago, although I remembered placing it quite carefully SOMEPLACE. And, about two weeks ago, I found it in the front pocket of my backpack, miraculously intact. So hold onto hope for finding your little rose, it might pop up someplace someday!

Siru said...

I'm so sorry. I remember how hard it was when I had to stop wearing my favorite shoes just to keep them in two pieces.

juliet xx

mimi said...

I am always misplacing things, or things just disappear in the random swamp of my home. For weeks my favourite button up pencil skirt had gone without a trace - then I finally find it behind the radiator of the spare room... favourite shoes constantly divorced from each other, favourite tees, belts lost in some mysterious vortex... I've learnt now just to swallow the pain and forget.

once though I lost my favourite charm off a handbag - a paisley covered teddy with moveable joints, with a lot of sentimental value... I was utterly, utterly devastated, retracing my steps, to no avail, staring up and down the streets like some madwoman. convinced some nasty little emo brat had snatched it off.

Blue Floppy Hat said...

Thanks for sharing your stories, everyone. I'm really touched...and sadly, I don't think my flower is ever coming back, but it's ok- I reckon I'll be able to wear the blouse again some day.

etoilee8 said...

I've got a beat up jacket from high school that I bought at a thirft store for $2. It's got a mandarin collar and a really unusual pattern of flowers and butterflies (it looks like something that an older lady bought in the 70's and wore through the 80's) and I always got compliments on it (1996, 2003, 2008). Sadly the arms are finally wearing and I know it's days are numbered. Everytime I wear it, I feel like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend. It's amazing the attachment we form to material items.

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