Getting "all dressed up" has become something of a lost art (at least it is lost on me). Pantyhose being a fate worse than death, I would much rather be kicked back in jeans and a T-shirt. But back in the 1950's, the annual ritual of being "gussied up" for Easter Sunday was a sacred rite not to be violated. My grandmother Clara had a fierce competition running with the other "church ladies" over who had the best dressed grandchildren at the Easter services - she would start planning our outfits for the next year as soon as the current services were over. Sometimes the dresses were purchased, but more often she spent hours making them herself. You really got the full treatment, too...hat, gloves, purse, multiple petticoats and a corsage. I don't think I have ever been
decked out quite like that again, even for proms and weddings! It is even more amazing to see otherwise messy little kids dressed to the nines when those outfits were NOT wrinkle-free or wash-n-wear (and boy did they love to use starch!). From the look on my face it is apparent that I was MUCH happier crawling in the muddy sandbox full of cat poo from the previous blog.....
Getting "all dressed up" has become something of a lost art (at least it is lost on me). Pantyhose being a fate worse than death, I would much rather be kicked back in jeans and a T-shirt. But back in the 1950's, the annual ritual of being "gussied up" for Easter Sunday was a sacred rite not to be violated. My grandmother Clara had a fierce competition running with the other "church ladies" over who had the best dressed grandchildren at the Easter services - she would start planning our outfits for the next year as soon as the current services were over. Sometimes the dresses were purchased, but more often she spent hours making them herself. You really got the full treatment, too...hat, gloves, purse, multiple petticoats and a corsage. I don't think I have ever been 
decked out quite like that again, even for proms and weddings! It is even more amazing to see otherwise messy little kids dressed to the nines when those outfits were NOT wrinkle-free or wash-n-wear (and boy did they love to use starch!). From the look on my face it is apparent that I was MUCH happier crawling in the muddy sandbox full of cat poo from the previous blog.....
These are great pics from the archives - each one has a great story - if you hated starch, you would have appreciated "Unlined" scratchy wool long pants..if you walked like a penguin with a load in his pants - you could actually avoid having the material touch your legs........
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