When I was a teen I didn’t have ever-present and instant social media to dictate how to dress, read, and think.
I had teen peers and I had Seventeen.
Dog-eared and turned-down pages, I clung to each monthly issue like the gospel.
Yes – once/month. Issues weren’t instant 40-50 years ago…
Note the topics noted on the pop-art cover… the first survey about drugs for the high school student! I wonder if I had to hide my copy under my sweater when I brought it home from the store?
And, omg, I walked. I walked six blocks, maybe four, using hard-earned currency to buy the mag!
I seriously doubt if I emulated the dress. The fabric wasn’t likely available in our not-so-local stores, though I’ll bet Butterwick had the pattern. Remember making your own clothes?
Yes, I read this magazine, as well as ‘Teen’, practically licking the pictures of teen idols… ‘Mersey Beat’ also arrived at my door for a frequent fix of the Beatles.
For book length solitary immersion, I read biographies of great women, aspiring beyond the confines of my small town streets. Apart from the ennui inbred by miniature atmosphere. Apart from the drama occurring in-house as well as on the nightly news and Peyton Place –
No Nancy Drew mysteries, however. Inane and perfectly…well, narcissistic. Nancy was all about her. “Everything is Evidence.” Bah, I already had all the evidence I needed… I wanted to escape.
I wanted to be great, relevant, special, and revered. Be-jeweled with splurgy shoes on my feet. Not a goodie-two-shoes sleuth. I didn’t care why the babies were tantruming to claim all my mother’s energy. I wanted escape and proprietary love.
To be an ‘only’, perhaps, which I sort of was while ignored. To be a star in my own life. Independent and self-made, an All-American girl.
Back to the present – Reader’s Digest, a slimmed-down reiteration of one of the other magazines of my teens, wants me back. Sent me a free issue, March 2017. Inside is a pertinent article for the life and times of a Boomer: “Let’s Be Less Stupid” and includes tips on “How to be Brainier”.
Brain tips rather than Beauty tips with Q-tips have risen to the fore… You dig?
I remember making my own clothes. Now the fabric costs more than buying off the rack (at Target).
oh my gosh – another affinity we have, Kitt. Making one’s own clothes! Ha, with no stores nearby and little to do in a small town, it helped to pass the time!
And 4-H was good socialization, too.
I wouldn’t even know where to go to purchase fabric anymore!
I didn’t live in small towns. Lived in Cambridge, RPV, and Valley Forge when I did most of my sewing. Last thing I recall sewing was my wedding dress (hand-rolled hem, handwork to attach lace bodice, French seams on dress and lining because fabric showed EVERYTHING). Quilted while in my twenties (not typical, I know).
Wow – braving sewing the dress of one’s dreams! Wow – beats my grand champion Indiana State Fair, Kitt! Amazing and thanks for sharing –
Grand champion! I’m impressed.
‘Twas a long time ago, something I blogged about when the Jackie movie came out because my dress was a replica of the one in the movie promo ads only mine was vibrant blue
your marriage has lasted and that’s better than a ribbon in a box