Just finished reading the book by Ilene Beckerman by that title, and realized that I too remember what I was wearing when.
Ilene uses her whimsical illustrations to tell her life story. While I can’t draw, I can remember. And when I start to, I am astonished at how much I do remember about my wardrobe over the years.
I remember:
The little blue plastic dinosaur pin I had when I was 4. The tail waggled on a bitty little spring so it was probably a danger and should have been banned, but this was before America became a nanny state.
My absolute favorite dress when I was 7. It was (I kid you not) orange sateen with black and white flocked stars and a drop waist. I loved it mostly because the label in the neck read Cinderella.
The dress I wore when I met my future in-laws (and future ex-in-laws, same couple.): Lime green foam-backed double knit swing dress, aka A-line, with a cowl neckline, Accessorized, very sharply you must admit, with white tights and black lace-up ghillies.
I could go on (in fact I will, in a moment) but you get the idea:
when we feel like we’re lookin’ GOOD…we are!
Last trip down memory lane, I promise: Showing off my HOT ’69 AMX 390
That's a model, not me. But I DID have a plush coat and over-the-knee boots.
(red with a white stripe, black bucket seats, would do over 130 on I-70 in the snow): Bandanna-print pucker top, bell-bottom hip-huggers (1 inch zippers are nothing new!) and a Guatemalan woven sash for a belt.
But enough about me. WIIFU?
I am going to give away my copy of the book to a randomly-drawn commenter to this post.
UPDATE In honor of International Resale Day (July 18, or the third Saturday in July), a winner has been blindly chosen, and it is Tanya! A gently-used copy of Love, Loss and What I Wore will be winging (okay, plodding, after all we’re talking the Post Office here) its way to her. Thank you all for the memories…and feel free to add yours here even though book’s been given away!
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
As an experiment, I asked MY Kenny if he remembered any particular outfits. Of course not…but he DOES remember every blasted car he’s ever owned…and tells me about it at GREAT length every time we go to a car show. “I had one of those” is now a family joke.
OK, it’s too late for the prize winner, but I asked MY Kenny what outfit he remembers most. Kenny had five siblings, and on every single holiday of his youth, he remembers his siblings, mom and dad all wearing matching shirts and dresses. He says they always looked like a walking picnic.
Obviously your Kenny has never worn a cape with a polkadot lining.
Thank YOU!! Yeah! Jumping up and down in 106 degrees here! whoo HOO! Kiss Kenny for me!
ohhhh… and Happy Birthday and International ReSale Day!
So Happy!
I remember my mother made matching dresses for herself, my older sister, Diane and me. Same fabric, same dress, just different sizes. That was fun.
I also remember the dress my mom made for my grade 9 graduation (!)…it was wonderful blue floral print with a halter style top that I felt accentuated my, uh, you know…funny thing is, if I don’t have them now, what on earth did I think I had then??? Oh well, loved that dress, and wore it again to my Aunties wedding, feeling like a princess.
Being a proud member of the class of 1969, I should be describing something I wore about the time you owned your 1969 AMX 390.
However, the piece of clothing I remember most was something I wore when I was six or seven. Louise, who lived across the street and mostly raised me, made me a navy blue cape with poldadot lining. I used to run so the polkadots would show. Thanks Louise. I still remember the way I felt when I wore that cape. Especially when I ran.
I had a highland tartan blue/green plaid outfit of dress with tie and suspenders and a yellow shirt (a highlight in the plaid) horrendous really but at the time I was a very cool 5 year old (or so I thought). I also had a tank top that showed off.. well my best teen feature or so I thought. I wore that thing till I had to hide it under other shirts and then, too long. My fashion sense thankfully has improved (somewhat) thanks for the trip down memory lane 🙂
Funny! I would say at 7 My favorite dress was Christmas red velveteen, with a lace collar! It had a matching vest :)I loved the feel of the fabric between my fingers, and could get through Sunday School or performance magically in that dress.
Fast Forward to Senior Portraits for High School Graduation! While it was not velveteen, my attraction to victorian looking pieces were still going strong. Black dress with burgandy undertones with YES a lace collar haha! The collar was square and larger… oiy!
I remember when disposable clothes, made of strong paper, were all the latest fad. I was 12 and had an a-line red bandana print paper sleeveless jumper. Course, it only lasted about 4 wearings; then trashed. What fun!
Pre-school years had a green dress with white sea horses on it. The cleaners lost it. I just knew they stole it for their little girl. My favorite store carried the Cinderella brand of dresses and I loved them all. My sister and I had matching Cinderella dresses one of which had three pockets down the front. One Christmas at our Grandma’s our aunt gave us some homemade fudge. I, of course, ate mine in about two minutes. My sister put hers in one of those pockets. The next day our closet was crawling with ants. Another Cinderella dress was one I wore to a swimming lesson during school (we had a pool..it was California). I sat down on a wet bench and when I went back to class everyone thought, well you know. The dress had a green skirt with a green checked top and a green bib thing. I was flat as a board (as they said then) in eight grade so during the summer I got a padded bra so everyone would think I had grown before ninth grade(I hadn’t), but I remember the bra. First time I got drunk was my 17th. birthday. I was wearing a purple checked dress with a full skirt with a ruffled bottom. A person would have to be drunk to wear that now but I thought it was beautiful. My best friend and I were at a friend’s house whose parents were gone for the weekend. We raided the liquor cabinet and threw the bottles into the hedge. We proceeded to get into a big argument and walked to our respective homes on opposite sides of the street yelling insults at each other. It was the end of our friendship.