THE BEAT GOES ON

When I was in the sixth grade I had pictures of Sonny & Cher cut out of the newspaper and taped to my desk lamp.  In particular I remember I had this one:

That was in the era of their hit son "Bang, Bang."  I don't recall seeing anyone else wearing those animal fur vests, although there were some variations of them with embroidery around during the sixties and seventies when everyone was wearing dress-up costumes from thrift stores and army surplus stores.  I could never manage to make that stuff look right on me.  In high school I rocked the  preppy look, though. 

I don't recall wearing bright yellow, but I did wear knee socks and flats with mini skits and ribbed turtlenecks and tees.  By college we were wearing maxi skirts, too.  I had a burgundy maxi-coat which cost most of my clothing allowance.

Anyway, I loved fashion,  I made lots of my own clothes so I could afford to follow the trends.  After I had kids and became an at home mom, I sort of fell out of being fashionable.  It is a cliche,  the "mom clothes."  At first you need things that you can wash and wear because of all the getting spit-up on.  You need to be able to move around easily, too.  So the leggings and big tops that were in style in the late 80's were perfect for a new mom.  From there it is a blur.  I tried to infuse fashion at times, but as age and weight added up, it got harder.

I still enjoy following fashion, but I don't like the extent it is now worshiped.  The heights to which fashion has been elevated is so far above what the average person can manage that it is more like fantasy.  I watch Project Runway and admire the talent, but don't understand the snobbish attitudes.  I watch the Rachel Zoe Project and it is so over the top I can't take it for anything but campy entertainment.  In case you don't know about Rachel Zoe, she is a "Stylist."  She helps movies stars  pick out their clothes and accessories for photo shoots, red carpet events and the like.  She is a tiny little super skinny woman who frequently wears fur vests.  I think she does it to make her look more substantial. 

Last I heard she was supposed to be selling them on one of the home shopping networks - so I guess I should not have been surprised when I saw that one of the Fall 2010 trends is...the fur vest.

So, the adage is that you can only wear the fashion the first time it comes around in your lifetime.  I never did wear the Sonny & Cher fur vest, or the hippy embroidered vest, and  I am not tempted to wear the 2010 version, either.  I hope my daughters won't be wearing it...and they should skip the knee socks, too.  Just in case they try to bring those back.  What were we thinking?