Back to School

Bobbie Brooks via Pinterest

 

Public schools resumed classes on Monday here in Reno, Nevada.  It's a little earlier than normal.  Each time I walk into a store and see shelves of notebooks and crayons, it takes me back to when I was a girl.  That's been a few years, so I know it is a strong memory. 

I always loved new notebooks, new crayons with sharp points, and of course, new shoes, but the best thing was new school clothes.

Every summer before school started, my brother and I spent a week with our grandparents.  They lived a couple of hours from where we did and it was an annual event to spend time with Ma and Papaw.  They entertained us as much as they could.  This included lots of our favorite foods: peach cobbler, ice cold watermelon, and plenty of 7-Ups and ghost stories that Papaw would tell us while we sat in the big rockers on the back porch in the dark, with only the eerie glow from his cigar and the lightening bugs to illuminate the blackness.

Before we went home, there was the yearly trip to Belk Department Store for school clothes.  Papaw took my brother to the boys department and they were done in about fifteen minutes.  From there, I think they went to the barber shop for a haircut and a "sody". 

Meanwhile, my grandmother and I took our time and I tried on everything to make sure it fit right.  Fall is, and has always been, my favorite time of the year.  Fall clothes were something to look forward to because of the quality, fabrics, colors, and textures.

We would leave the store with bags loaded down with Bobbie Brooks wool skirts and matching sweaters and blouses, bras and underwear and slips.  In those days girls were required to wear skirts or dresses to school.  That was before skirts got so short and school boards decided that pants would be a better alternative.  Then they allowed pants suits only - no jeans or casual pants and certainly no shorts!

I saved for months to buy a pair of Lady Bostonian Kiltie Loafers like these. 

This is the only picture I could find and they are men's shoes, so imagine them in a little more feminine version.  Apparently, the Lady Bostonian line of shoes is no longer made - only Bostonian men's shoes.  All the girls were wearing Lady Bostonians at the time and they were very good quality shoes with leather insoles and soles and the top leather and finish was beautiful. 

Times change.  Oh how I long for good quality clothes like the ones my grandparents bought me.  Now when I go to the mall and see all the see-through, low cut, unflattering designs and cheap inferior fabrics, I mourn all the beautiful clothes I owned as a child.  Younger girls don't know why a slip was worn and have never been fortunate enough to wear clothes like this. 

Last night, there was a fashion test online.  I took it just for kicks.  They showed outfits and you were supposed to click on the best accessory to go with the outfit.  My conclusion was if it didn't match and made you look shorter or like you'd gotten dressed in the dark, that was they one they believed to be the correct accessory/shoes/bag for the outfit.  If looking pulled together makes me out of style or old, so be it.   I'd rather look like Audrey Hepburn than Lady Gaga any day.

***Please note:  I am not dissing Lady Gaga.  The lady can really sing!