Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wearing....

Today I am wearing a dress a friend gave me.... I love to wear hand me downs, and I love to wear op shop finds, and I love to wear things made with love by clever people. I have grown to love all these things, it wasn't always the way.
When I was a kid in a small town in New Zealand, op shopping was oh so very embarrassing. I loathed being dragged into an op shop by my mother- what if a friend from school saw me? or worse my teacher! Oh I so wanted to impress Mr Farr.
My Mum has always been super clever and resourceful, I liked being able to draw pictures and then having her make them into applique t-shirts or knitted jerseys (jumpers) but I don't think I really appreciated the wonders of having a mum who would stay up late the night before we went skiing to make us all new ski pants. Or our floral togs! Thanks Mum

Then at some time it changed, I raided Mums wardrobe most mornings and wanted the 'opshop' look and even made some clothes for myself. What I love most is to wear outfits with a story. I love to know who else has worn it, or where I found it and what a bargain it was. In our house one of our games is to add up our outfit - how much did it cost, the reward- looking stylish at a bargain price. I am glad I caught on to Mums great idea and I love to share these adventures with my first born. I reckon even Mr Farr would be impressed. Do you love to op-shop? what do your kids think?

2 comments:

CurlyPops said...

I've been an avid op shopper since I was about 16. I'm always more than happy to tell people that I found my lovely clothes at the oppy. I just think of it as recycling and saving lost treasures.

Gluten Free Store Ltd www.glutenfreestore.co.nz said...

Just came across your blog! I love to op shop. I too used to be embarrassed that my mum would frequent op shops. But when I was in my teens and in my first job, she found me a real kilt (Mum was Scottish) and I loved it. My love of OP shops lay dormant for a while, but now I pop in all the time. And not only that but my kids LOVE them too, which is great, because they are not in the least bit embarrassed, and get a thrill out of paying a couple of bucks for a little treasure.