In case you have never seen a poodle skirt, this is it. They were the rage back in the mid 50's. I never had one, but that did not keep me from wanting one. I think every girl in school wanted one, so I was not alone in that. There were only a few of the more elite girls that could afford one and it sure wasn't in my momma's budget. Of course if I had gotten the black felt circular skirt with the pink poodle on the leash, I would have needed the black and white saddle oxfords to go with it. And a nice sweater! Sweater would have required a bra and boobs, but I did not have that or those either.
We wore brown or black shoes. Mostly brown. They were lace up and tie shoes and the skirt I wore was wool. Wool was cheap and durable. Wool had to be hand washed in cold water because if it wasn't it shrank. Mother was always careful to not let that happen. Now you should know, there was none of that changing of the clothes every day like goes on around here now. I wore my brown wool skirt to school on Monday and every other day. Sometimes I changed blouses in the middle of the week if there happened to be a clean one laying around some where. When spring arrived we changed to our cotton clothes.
A side note here on the shoes. We each got a new pair in the fall and they were our "school shoes." The fact that they were our only shoes was beside the point. They were polished every Saturday night so we could look really good on Sunday, when we put on our "Sunday clothes." We each got a new pair of shoes when school started in the fall and by the time spring came and the ground was no longer covered with snow, we had grown out of them or they had completely fallen apart, and we went barefooted until it was time to buy new shoes the next fall. Barefeet were more common back when I was growing up. Try going in some where now without your shoes.
Now it goes without saying here that Josephine was the oldest girl and I was next in line for the hand me downs. After I was done with an item it was passed down to Donna, Mary and then Dorothy, in that order. Any time some one showed up on our doorstep with clothes they were getting rid of was a good day. I always prayed someone would grow out of their poodle skirt but that never seemed to happen.
I seem to recall sometime in my growing up years that stiff, lace petticoats that held the skirts out to make them full were also in style. Seems like that was high school and I did not have one of those either. My sister Donna did and I recall it scratching her legs and making them red. Served her right for being so uppity!
You need to know that Saturday was the day we did "the washing." That way we had clean clothes for church on Sunday. We also polished our shoes every Saturday night. Had to have them looking good for church on Sunday. We all wore brown shoes and the shoe polish was in a bottle with a dauber that we smeared the brown liquid on the leather and let it dry. Then we buffed them until they shined. We were each responsible for the care of our shoes and making sure our clothes were laid out for the next day. We wore the same clothes to school 5 days a week. We did change into "play clothes" when we got home.
But, back to the poodle skirts. In my mind, if I could just have a poodle skirt and a nice sweater and black and white oxfords and bobby socks on my feet, I could have ruled the world. There were probably only 3 girls in the whole school who actually wore those things and the fad did not last long. Seems I was not the only girl in the world who did not have those items in my wardrobe and I did survive.
Now years later, after I have raised my kids the best I could, I know what my mother went through. Poverty was a palpable part of our lives. Hand me downs were a way of life. Staring through the window of the Corrington Mercantile at the fabrics and dresses and dishes just made me sadder. It made me want more. My mother patched our clothes with a needle and thread. Today we live in a disposable society.
And who is the winner? Believe it or not, I think it is me! I have money to buy whatever I want, but I still put little pieces of fabric together, but now I call them a quilt!
