I can tell you exactly when this velour top is from as I had one just like it in a brighter colourway. 1978!
Unlike so many items in my wardrobe, I didn't purchase this top out of nostalgia or even because I like it (I don't). I bought it because it was practically free, and such a good example of the fashion of the time I knew it deserved a place in my collection. I will be packing this away, and don't expect to wear it again. Perhaps when menopause is well and truly over, but as it stands now, velour+hot flashes=not happy.
I have a funny story about buying this top. The young woman in the thrift store held it to her face as she was ringing me out and murmured, "Oh it is so soft."
I feel it is my role as a mother to step in when people do stupid things like rub clothes at a thrift store on their faces. I'm so allergic to cats, I have to wash everything I purchase several times just to be certain no wayward dander is still clinging to the fabric. Watching someone rub their face on the unlaundered fabric is like watching a two year old running into the street.
"Don't do that!" I shouted at the poor kid. "Who knows where that thing has been?!"
Strangely, she remembers me now when I visit the shop.
Outfit Particulars:
Vintage Sasson skirt-Goodwill
1970's velour top-New Life Thrift
Clarks shoes-Hand-Me-Ups
Vintage bag-Thrift World
Fragrance-Vintage Avon Moonwind (because a 1978 velour top deserves classic 70's Avon)
Excuse me, I just passed some Moonwind.
How fun are the side snaps on the skirt?
Who'd like a cocktail?
Today's drink is a
Florida Special:
1 1/2 oz. light rum
1 teaspoon dry vermouth
1 teaspoon sweet vermouth
1 oz. grapefruit juice
Stir with shaved ice, strain into a glass...or if you're sporting a velour top, leave the ice in as you'll need it to cool down.
I recently had the opportunity to do a bit of trail running at Schramm State Park while Danny was bird banding at the Aksarben Aquarium (two hours of screaming birds isn't my idea of relaxation, so I try to stay nearby without being, "Right there"). I'd never really explored the place beyond the main building even after more than a decade of taking Danny there for bird watching.
As the weather had been unseasonably warm until recently, the water still hasn't frozen over.
I took a look around the outside of the fish hatchery museum, but it was closed for the season.
Some things ought to be obvious but...
...if you don't post a sight specifically prohibiting fishing at a fishery, someone will go ahead and do it!
...a turkey feather. Fun coincidence.
Next time, I'll take you to Chalco Hills where a recent kill of invasive fish has brought out all the birds. Really, all of them-I've never seen anything like it.
12 comments:
I LOVE fungi, and that turkey-feather specimen is splendid! My degree was in earth sciences, so I do burble about rock formations whenever someone else is driving us through Indiana's hills and hollers. (Must bring Danny to view our fabulous Ordovician seas!) Consider yourself fortunate to have access to such a well-maintained park walk and cozy aquarium, Goody. I'd plan on spending some winter afternoons with the fishes and a sketchbook.
Nope, don't do velour tops unless they are bedecked with gold braid, sequins, and Christmas kitsch. Interesting tote, 'tho.
Dammit, you put the "Ooh la la, Sasson" jingle in my head.
Turkey feather fungi? And a turkey feather? I can hear the music from the 'Twilight Zone' in my head...those fish are very weird. The trail looks so interesting and I expect looks completely different in the different seasons.
I remember 'Moonwind' well. When I was a student nurse between 1972 and 1975 it was de rigeur to collect Avon perfume sets in their entirety. Any nurses room you went into would have a collection on the dressing table/desk and often several different sets including those big tubs of talcum powder with the puff. I was an exception. I never had the money to spend on Avon - too busy getting wasted and disco dancing...
You look so demure in your velour top and skirt!
Hope your weekend is going well
Veronica
One lady I used to work with told me that she loves wearing "fresh from the store" clothes. I was horrified - you never know who tried it on, if they were clean or contagious, or if they wear undies. It grossed me out. We live in a "super lice" state, to, so everything must be washed and sprayed.
Your walk was beautiful. I love rock outcroppings and formations, too. Nature is beautiful.
Stay warm!
That top looks like a 1978 specimen alright. It's exactly what all the girls in my class wore, the ones who were into "Grease" which was big back then. All except me and my best friend, as we were punks! Like you, I wouldn't last very long in a velours top right now. I even have a hot flush coming on just thinking about it ... xxx
@Beth
One of these days, I promise we're coming to Indiana (not in winter) and you can show us around. I mean, you're only a couple states away, and Illinois isn't that wide to drive across. The open invitation to visit Nebraska still stands of course.
The bag is by a company called, Real Bags." It is nicely made, has loads of pockets inside and out, and is launderable. They're worth keeping an eye out for, even if the fabrics are a bit plain.
@Propagatrix
And now you put the image of a roller disco in mine!
@Veronica
Paddlenose are freaky fish! The first time I saw one, I did a double-take. We also have a fish called, Crappie. It is pronounced, "croppy" but, well you know!
I think you spent your money better!
@Bobbi
Oh gawd! The moment I read, "Super lice" I started feeling all crawly. *shudder* I had no idea there was such a thing. Where do you live (so I can steer clear)?
@Ann
Can I go on record saying how much I hated Grease at the time? I don't mind it now of course, but back then it made me cringe.
'78 was a big year for velour. Pastels were going to drag over into the early '80's too. Grease was the 1st movie I was allowed to go to without my mom as a 13 yr old. I really hadn't been around other teens outside of school that much and feigned interest in Grease rather than being ostracized. The girls I went with knew every line of that movie by heart. I couldn't even figure out why actors in their 30s were playing high school teens. I did like the 'beauty school dropout' number though.
What a lovely parks system you have in Aksarben! No one even gets excited when I find an ammonite here.
I'll always wash the stuff I buy secondhand for resale but if I find something for me as long as it passes the sniff test it's fine by me.
I'm pretty sure I had a Charlie tracksuit very similar to that velour top, it came free with a bottle of Charlie perfume I had for my 11th birthday and I felt dead sophisticated in it, complete with roller skates and a coke bottle pendant. xxx
Oooh! I love velour! My problem is that I tend to spill bleach on it. You're so fortunate to have an aquarium close by. I love them, but the closest one is about 4 hours away in Minnesota.
You're running! Do tell!!
Happy thrifting ;)
@Bibi
That's kind of cute that it was your first movie alone.
@Vix
Charlie *was* sophisticated. I'll bet eleven year old Vix was the coolest kid on skates.
@Thrifty Parka
Not much to tell-it is the only way I can get peace and quiet!
Goes to show I don't know my 70s - from the colours I guessed the top would be 80s, I always think of the 70s as lots of browns and blues. (Which is stupid, really, no colour is ever completely 'out'.) I bet it is lovely and soft.
@Mim
Pastels had their moment mid-late 70's. I couldn't wear them without looking sick but it didn't stop my mum buying me clothes in pale aqua because it looked good on her! I was so glad when punk happened and I could wear black all the time.
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