A Glance Inside My Clothes Closet

Who am I? What do my clothes say about me? I am an individualist and I don’t give a care if I am fashionably “in” or “out". I do believe it was around 1987 or 1988 while attending the fourth grade that I realized I would be teased by my friends no matter whether I wore the most stylish clothing or clothing that made me look like I had just blasted back from the 1800s. I had been teased for wearing corduroys and for not owning even a single pair of jeans. At the time, being “in” was important to me so everyday I begged my mother to buy me a pair of jeans. Finally one day I came home from school and on my bed was a brand new pair of jeans with faux gemstones on the side pockets. I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to wear them to school the next day. Uh-oh! They weren’t the cool kind of jeans. They weren’t frosted, and worse, my friends pointed out, they had plastic little things stuck to them. I realized kids will tease no matter what. I liked my new jeans. It no longer mattered to me if my clothes were “in”. If I liked them I wore them. If my frenemies don’t like what I wear then they don’t have to look.
My taste in clothes hasn’t changed much over the years other than that I no longer wear certain styles because of my age, size, etc. You won’t catch me in microminis although yes; I admit, I still have one in my closet. Forget leather pants I don’t even own them anymore. I do have sequined crop tops but I will never squeeze myself into those horrid things. I ask you, do they sell jeans that aren’t hip huggers? A couple of years ago I could and did wear them. I have a hard time squeezing into them these days. Unfortunately it’s the only kind I own and the only kind I can find in the store. I have a large number of blazers, scarves and women’s ties. I do not wear these much any more but at one time I did. My closet also contains a large number of dance costumes from my 16 years of performing. Of course I have the large box containing the Cinderella-style wedding gown with all the trimmings. Somewhere in my closet is a grey dress suit dated back to the early 1980s. It belonged to my mother. She wore it and another similar suit to her secretarial job in the very early 1980s before being forced to become a stay-at-home mother. She gave the hideous dress to me in the late 1990s, as if I would ever wear it. I suppose I kept it because it symbolized my mother’s desire to work. I also have a dress which belonged to my grandmother. My mother gave it to me after my grandmother’s passing 3 years ago. Somewhere in the house is a dress which was mine from around the age of 3. It was purchased at a thrift shop where all of our clothes were bought at the time. My mother kept the dress because it had been her favorite of my dresses. This dress was passed down from me, to two nieces and my daughter. I also managed to hang on to my DARE tee from 1992 which I received from the Dover Police Department. I went through the DARE program twice during my childhood. In my opinion, Dover ran a more influential program and it saved my @$$. The shirt itself was totally awesome. The back had awesome detailing.
So what exactly do I have that I like to wear? Well I own some long skirts, sweatpants, tees, and hoodies. I have a separate wardrobe for casual wear, dressier occasions, work involving painting houses, work involving political functions and town meetings.
The most versatile and favored pieces of my wardrobe are my jeans including my denim jackets and my assortment of hoodies.
Historically the hoodie dates back to Middle Ages; the formal wear for Catholic Monks which consisted of a cowl and a tunic or robes. The modern hoodie style was first produced by Champion in the 1930s for laborers in the frozen warehouses of New York Its popularity spread as sportswear designers developed entire collections around the hoodie.
The hoodie became even more popular during the 1970s as several factors added to its success. Hip hop culture developed in New York City around this time and the hoodies element of instant anonymity, given by the accessibility of the hood, appealed to those with criminal tendencies. High fashion also contributed during this era, as high-profile designers embrace and glamorized the new clothing. Most critical to the popularization of the hoodie was its appearance in the blockbuster film Rocky. By 1990, the rise of hoodies sporting university logos began to appear. The hoodie trend began spreading across the western United States among surfers and skateboarders.
Blue jeans were originally nothing more than sturdy trousers worn by factory workers especially during World War II. During this period, men’s jeans had the zipper down the front while women’s jeans had the zipper down the right side. After James Dean popularized the wearing of jeans in the movie, Rebel Without a Cause, wearing blue jeans by teens and young adults became a symbol of teen angst and youth rebellion during the 1950s. Because of this, jeans were sometimes banned from schools, restaurants and theaters. By the 1960s, both men’s and women’s jeans had the zipper down the front. Boot-cut jeans became part of the official working uniform of the US Navy in the 20th century. During the 1960s wearing denim became more acceptable. By the 1970s it had become part of informal general fashion. The mid-1970s introduced stonewashing and denim suddenly became more attractive to people of all ages. Acceptance of jeans continued to grow through the 1980s and 1990s to the point where jeans are now a wardrobe staple for most people.