fashion

I'm the one on the left, obviously.
Wow...Johnny Carson looked great with hair and sideburns. I'm glad that look has come back. (I just saw an old Nixon-era Johnny Carson) The cyclical nature of fashion is starting to unhinge me, though.

I have tenants living above my studio who are in their early 20's. I feel like I'm about their age, but to them, I'm ancient. I snuck back to the studio this evening to turn a kiln on, cover pots and tweak some canister lids. Apparently it was girl's night upstairs. James Brown and Earth Wind & Fire were BLASTING....Flashback to San Francisco 15 years ago and you'd find me with a bunch of women eating lettuce and chocolate, drinking way too much red wine and flailing around to that soundtrack. Has every girl in her early 20's been dancing to that stuff or is it just another trend that hit me and is now hitting Katie? The males who live with her returned appropriately during the song, "Let's Hear it for the Boy." They were talking about the latest Apple technology as they trudged upstairs.

My first spin on the fashion wheel was a ridiculously huge pair of hoops. I wore them in college. 10 years later I was still wearing them, but I wasn't alone; they'd come BACK in style. It was harrowing. Now I assume, if I'm smart I'll just stick to the fashion era that looks best on me and forget about what's in or out. But am I going to humiliate my children wearing white straight-legged pants and long tank tops in 2020? My friend, Helen always wears expensive, thick, dark purple eye shadow and Carly Simon/Farrah hair. She's been wearing that for the 20 years I've known her, and Carly Simon won her first Grammy in 1971, so that's almost 40 years. Who cares? She still looks fabulous.

At least I don't have a tramp stamp. That's that tattoo that girls get on their backs right above their asses. What a nightmare; it's like getting cargo pants put on permanently. Christ! What if I'm still making pottery with swirls on it in 20 years? I doubt that will change. Those swirls have survived through postmodernism to minimalism.

Fashion sense in children is baffling. Jack Peter's was easy until the dresses and skirts started appearing on a regular basis. I could count on his wanting construction vehicles or Lightening McQueen on things. I had to hide the backhoe shirt. It was a sleeveless t-shirt. I was already having trouble with the sleeveless thing, (Philly borders New Jersey) but when it became a crop-top; I had to draw the line. His favorite skirts and dresses have fish on them, so they could be an extension of his passion for Finding Nemo, however....he has quite a few fish-themed male clothes that aren't getting worn. I keep wondering if someone is going to give him a hard time, but he seems to handle it: "Mama, Rex doesn't like dresses on boys; I told him 'I do!'" His teacher gushed, "I love a guy in a dress with a good manicure..." (He often gets manicures from our nanny, Julie.) I can't argue with it; he's got the nicest legs in the family. Why not show them off?

I can't figure out Steel's fashion sense either. I think it's comfort-based, but then she'll wear the too-big ruby slippers on the wrong feet for 4 hours. It's mostly stretch pants and too big shirts. She favors black, but I put a new pair of black stretch pants on her this morning, and she went ballistic. These ones didn't have the cute flair at the bottom, but did she notice that? She'll wear tights, but refuses to wear a skirt or dress over them. I put a skirt on over Toby's leggings today. She was thrilled. She could grab it, pull it up to her face and gnaw on it, the little strumpet...I just noticed a picture of myself at Steel's age. I too insisted on dressing myself. My mom obviously hadn't learned to hide things.
Those sneakers are NEVER going out of style.