thooooose were the daaaaays

my day 11 outfit for mmm reminded me of just how awesomely intricate RTW pieces were back when our parents walked to school uphill-both-ways-in-the-snow, so i had to get some close ups for you.  like i said, i'm pretty sure this was a mommaballoona maternity dress.  look at the embroidery on this little piece of cotton heaven!  i love all the angles and the little insets and trim... the buttons are from my stash, it used to have small plastic jobs that didn't seem to have the same standards as the rest of this dress.  i topstitched it like crazy in gold, carefully hiding and tucking all the worn places away.  it feels like a faded photograph on, and i always just barely iron it for fear of it disappearing completely.

i found this frock in my parent's magical attic (no longer in existence, sadly for me and probably a source of great relief for parental kalkatroonans).  it didn't matter how many times i'd sneak up there, i would Always. come out with some treasure.  the magnitude of the prize dictated whether i would show it to said parents, or stuff it in my overnight bag.  in my mind this was not stealing; it was a rescue mission.

i like my mind.

this stitched belt was rescued by ruggy from his dad's Oh My God We Are Getting Rid Of EVERYTHING period.  you know that phase, yes?  when you can't stand your closets and shelves and cupboards any more?  and then lament over everything you maniacally tossed?  oh, the wondrosities that were fated to boxes by the side of the road.  and the thing is, i probably wouldn't have known to save any of it even if i'd been there.  i looked at ruggy like he'd been hit on the head with too many sports related flying objects when he brought this belt home.  it came with a joe namath polyester button down (as in, the tag said joe namath menswear, and the shirt had repeating drawings of joe namaths surrounded by women) and a pair of acid purple bell bottom jeans.  i was all into the jeans.  sadly, my ass was NOT.  circa 70s ruggian dad apparently had a booty the size of one of my thighs.

even though papa ruggy was eager to let this stuff go, he made us promise we would never get rid of the shirt & belt.  (the jeans were abandoned shortly after arrival.  it was too depressing.)  i'm glad we made that promise, as i wear the belt constantly now... we'll see if joe namath ever makes it into heavy rotation.  (ba DUM dum.)

i left many, many accessories behind in NY, so the only embellishment for this outfit was a pair of earrings found last christmas with mother ruggy.  they were fifty cents.  THEY WERE FIFTY CENTS.  hand painted!  i lurve them.  

(now... dad du kalkatroona, if only you'd find that lions head gold necklace, i could dub this ensemble the Parental Parade Package.  or was it swallowed by magical attic?)