I grew up in the '50s and '60s, and my father was the sole breadwinner, uninterested in clothes, and ultra frugal. He wore the cheapest flipflops until the heels wore through and the rubber started to crumble. After he passed away, we discovered that he had recycled/reused the elastic on his old Jockey shorts into something in his workshop! He made me feel that I didn't deserve to have more than an outfit to wear plus one in the wash; of course I had a bit more. It also made my mom reluctant to shop. All my clothes were *practical*, and remember longing for years for a pretty Easter dress and patent leather shoes. Alas, our church was quite casual and pretty wasn't in the vocabulary.

After I learned to sew at age 10 or 11, I was allowed to increase my wardrobe, but I am such a perfectionist and painfully slow sewer that it made no practical difference. And off the rack, petite sizes didn't exist so it was extremely difficult to find anything anyway.

My mom got a job after my brother and I were out of the house. I suppose it began in the '80s Dress for Success era because she went wild buying suits and blouses. She's taller and bigger than I, so finding a fit was never a huge problem for her. She also did a ton of shopping for clothing and everything else wearing sales blinders in off-price and low cost stores. She died with dozens of NWT garments and sheets in bed sizes she didn't have, many from Mervyns and Montgomery Ward.

I definitely have difficulty paying full price for stuff, but using Nordstrom's 2X and 3X points days seem to help. I don't go for quantity the way my mom did, but it was almost a sickness with her. My NWT weakness seems to be with housecleaning stuff, like it will inspire me or something, as well as used books. I am also not a clothing minimalist. Now that Petite clothing is more available, I have had to learn not to buy stuff simply because it fits and flatters. What a concept!

This has been interesting to contemplate, including the type of *baggage* that my parents carried with them.

My mother and grandmother were both dressmakers and made sure my both my sister and I learned how to sew, fit and tailor garments at an early age.

My mother worked outside the home in the 50s as a secretary in a professional office. She was a beautiful woman and was an immaculate dresser with a wardrobe of tailored suits she had sewn. I can remember how she stood out from other mothers.

From the time I was little, she and my grandmother made all of my sister's and my clothing. As a teenager in the sixties, I'd pull out a picture of a Mary Quant dress which my mother would draft into a pattern and sew into a dress for me. My mum was also an accomplished knitter, so she'd do the same if I found a sweater I wanted. The few times I bought clothing in a store, it had to meet her rigorous standards for quality, style, and fit.

My rebellion was to wear jeans, which she despised.

I grew up in the 70s & 80s & have always had an interest in fashion and self expression. My grandmother worked in JcPennys for years and was always dressed fabulous with amazing accessories and outfits, when I would visit we would make a special shopping trip. My mother was an incredible seamstress and when I was little she would sew most of my clothing, and as I got older I was able to design pieces and have her make them for me--it felt glamorous to have something custom made.

When I was a teenager my mom and I would have a "saturday out" & we would take the bus downtown to the Nordstrom's flagship store, shop in the original "Rack" which was actually in the basement and overflowing with clothes--I loved to hunt and find great pieces or shoes (& still have some today) and then have lunch in the cafe. It was just us and special.

While growing up we did not have lots of excess money and so buying quality items was important, as well as shopping the sales. Even today I have difficulty paying full price for an item, and do not like to buy low quality clothing. I remember going to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale to buy back to school clothes as a teen was so exciting!

I also have always spent time in thrift stores--I loved finding unique pieces that not everyone would have--and this fit right in with the 80s artsy aesthetic. These days my mom and I still have special times together where we go thrift or spend an afternoon downtown, we talk about fashion and enjoy looking at designer pieces to appreciate them, even if they are not in our budgets.

My mom rebelled against having to look dressed up and the message I got was that clothing was unimportant. I had no idea what looked good on me. Luckily, when I was in college I had my colors done, and that gave some parameters to my shopping. Before that there was no cohesion to my wardrobe. Around that time I also learned about scale and a few other related concepts.

Hmm. When I was very young, we went clothes shopping twice a year for summer and for school (in fall). However, what I remember getting can't have been enough to get me through the week; I'm thinking my mom must also have gotten some things on her own for me.

My mom used to tell me how lucky I was, that she got me nice clothes that fit. My grandma apparently tortured my mom by buying things that she could 'grow into' and then topped it all off with bows and perms, lol. The only thing is... I've never seen any pictorial evidence of this now that I come to think. Ok, well, I have seen the giant bows... That probably did qualify as torture, lol.

Anyways, my dad's mom, she went around in Ferragamo and Gucci - and that for him was the last word.

But here's the thing... Even tho I only remember shopping for clothes twice a year, we actually spent every Saturday looking around little boutiques. Clothes were a whole other matter, I guess. I DID have really nice fancy department store clothes, but the parameters were tight. I did NOT get anything to keep up with the kids at school. My mom didn't believe in trendiness. My dad was trendy, but he had his parameters too - his head was full of Hermès, Fendi, Armani, Scottish cashmere, and the aforementioned Gucci and Ferragamo. So he snuck me some trendy things, but first I had to get pretty darn old. You have to be old to wear that stuff - or people won't sit by you on the school bus. My dad was also on the boarding school model, so my life really involved a lot of blue blazers, plaid 'kilts,' weejuns, and monogram sweaters.

...Basically what I'm saying is, I'm scarred for life... I got my first job at twelve and have been spending all my money on clothes since then... Hahaha!

So fascinating to read of all the different experiences. One of my earliest memories of shopping was going to Libertys in London and buying a pencil pot in the bargain basement. I still have it now. Throughout my teens, life was pretty frugal but once I got a job I was pleased to be able to spend my own money and made some clothes, including a gorgeous pair of checked trousers with Liberty cotton.

I take a different view from my sister and my mum and have been careful when feeling brave to push my style boundaries.

I am also aware of the legacy issues that I pass on to our son. Given he goes to school in uniform, I encourage him to choose a few items every 6 months or so. Most recently we've shopped at the flagship store at Hacket and tried to instill confidence in choosing items as well as speaking to the shop assistants to get their advice.

Really interesting discussion thread.

The little lace-up shoes currently trending put me in mind of a pair of red gillies I had when I was seven.

My mother was in the rag trade and an accomplished seamstress to boot. When I was little, she dressed me like I was her little doll; as a teen. she gave me a good clothing allowance and the benefit of her experience. We poured over Vogue, Elegance, and the Britex catalogs together. We shared the sewing room and shopped until we were hungry and crabby. More pleasure than scars in these memories.

She never paid retail (About 15 years ago she snagged a Burberry for $80), so I am still learning to plan for and pay full price ahead of the season. She was very classic and particular about fit, fabric, and construction, so I am still learning to experiment with trends by using inexpensive placeholders and thinking about wildcards.

And I also had to learn not to inflict the "shop 'til you drop' on my own children.