04 Sep Wearing Secondhand Memories…

This morning a very old friend sent me a message to say that her 101 year old Nonna had passed away. It’s always sad news when someone who has formed part of your life and personal history, either in a small or a major way, leaves the world, but it did make me realise how happy I am to have some very simple bits and pieces around which have belonged to people close to me. One of my favourite vintage cardigans, ( the one I’m wearing above ) was given to me by Nonna when I was in my early 20’s and I also have a collection of some of her playing cards. I felt I wanted to wear Nonna’s cardigan today, and I suppose spend a bit of time thinking about her life and the memories I have of her.

However, getting the cardigan out of the wardrobe inadvertently brought back lots of other memories too as I saw all sorts of clothes which have belonged to people I’ve loved. So decided to put together an outfit of secondhand items all of which had some relevance and personal significance to my friends and family. It also ties in with Oxfam GB launching their #secondhandseptember campaign to raise awareness about sustainable fashion, and although I won’t be taking their pledge, ( basically because I’ve been doing mostly secondhand for most of my life ) I do think it’s massively worthwhile raising awareness of how important it is to shop second hand, and actually how creatively satisfying it is.

So here are the specifics of all the elements in today’s outfit: 

HAT – This was my mother’s hat from 1973; I know the year because she wore it for my christening! ( I haven’t got any photos of that event unfortunately ). I loved it when I was younger; the fact that it had stichting all over it and would wear it at home but never had the nerve to wear it out. I’m about 11 or 12 in this photo… I found the ribbon for it years later and have added my Granny’s old NAFAS badge which helps secure it.My dad was massively into electronics and I was always drawn to his spools of brightly coloured wires and circuitry…I made these earrings after he had died with a couple of his 1960’s resistors…This was the first silk pocket square I discovered which I found at my Grandpa’s house in the Lake District soon after he had died in 1990. I wore it almost constantly for years until it became really quite threadbare and delicate. It only comes out on special occasions now but is still one of my favourite neck ties…This is the cardigan which belonged to Nonna…The marquisette brooch I’ve pinned to the cardigan belonged to my late Great Aunt Kay…The belt was given to me in a bag full of silk scarves which had belong to the mother of a teacher at my son’s primary school…This was a gold watch chain which once belonged to my great grandfather…my granny used to wear it and put on the gold heart locket. I’ve added 3 of the name tags of their dogs… This is my Grandpa, below, with ‘SKIP’, and he’s also wearing the watch I have on…

This silver watch chain belonged to my other great grandfather and my mum gave it to me in my late teens…it has a coin from South Africa which he brought home from the Boer War…The dress was given to me after a dear friend Kitty McGeever died a few years ago…we both loved 1950’s style dresses and she always had such a colourful wardrobe so I was really chuffed when her sister asked me to have this…and she would definitely be having a laugh at the irony of the print! The were my Grandpa’s ‘boat socks’…they are basically my Winter socks, and I think the only secondhand pair of socks I own… I’m sitting on his lap here in about 1979…he may well be wearing the socks…I still wear the jumper he has has on…I was given this jacket, ( along with a matching A-line skirt which I made into a mini skirt but which has since disappeared ) in about 1990 by a close friend’s Grandma…I was once asked if my jacket was ‘Chanel ‘ which I was thrilled about, because it was  ‘Crimplene’ AND secondhand!These shoes are the only thing in my outfit which I actually bought, secondhand, about 20 years ago…I was a big Red or Dead fan already and couldn’t believe how well they matched my jacket!

So that’s it…my September secondhand outfit! I may well do another one this month, who knows, but if you want to follow my vintage/secondhand/homemade outfit posts on Instagram, I use the hashtag #5ftinfwearsthings