Did the clothes you had as a child influence what you have now?

[lipstickwoman]

I grew up in the 60s/70s with parents from the 'make do and mend' era. I had enough clothes to be warm and clean, but mum made them. I had the odd party dress, a new pair of winter shoes every year and a new pair of sandals in the summer. Very little else.

As a teenager I had a lot less than friends. Once I started work and could buy my own I went a bit mad and it's only recently I've deliberately cut back down again.

I'm sure my clothes buying habit stemmed from a childhood where is didn't have much. Just wondered if this is a common trait.

All of my clothes were hand-me-downs from my Grandma’s neighbours (very posh), or my cousin (a boy). What I realised was, I much preferred the soft fabrics and durability of boys’ clothes.

I did go through a phase of spending obscene amounts of money on clothes in my late teens, and probably up to my 30s, but now I’m back to comfortable stuff.

Such interesting responses. I'm wondering now how my children would answer!

As a child I wore jumble sale clothes and the odd hand me down plus home made primary school summer dresses. We did have the odd new clothes plus shoes and school uniform.

When I was 9 we inherited a life changing inheritance from an uncle so things got a lot better but my DM was still quite strict about how I dressed (not overly trendy) and when I left school at 17 I did spend money on clothes (but was still frugal sometimes). Sadly I got into debt when I got a credit card at 25 but luckily sorted that out.

I still tend to buy too many clothes though, I think my life will be better with them. I did get teased for not having the latest clothes etc as a child though teenage years were much better.

You say that but in 1970s where I lived as a child (under 11 years old) the girls dressed fairly trendily especially out of school uniform (Adam Ant outfits with frilly shirts and velvet knickbockers for girls, ra ra dresses and skirts - not for me though!), and even the boys had Farah trousers and Pierre Cardin jumpers, and the right branded coat or trainers were important for boys! So I don’t consider 1970s wardrobes to be limited.

This thread is making me panic about my own children's clothes! They both look like scruffs half the time but it is their own choice. They also only have wellies and school shoes at the moment…..

I had some lovely clothes as a child, but not very many of them as we didn't have a lot of money and there weren't cheap shops like Primark. Clothes were comparatively more expensive than they are today. Luckily my Mum could sew, and made me some very cool clothes, I remember a cherry red cord pinafore and a white leather 60s style pinafore with a big zip down the front. People often commented on my clothes, and I had people asking for my hand-me-downs.
We'd wait for sales and then go to Selfridges or Carnaby Street to get one or 2 new things if we had spare money, that didn't often happen though.
I do love 60's and early 70's things like panne velvet, purple and burgundy, beautiful fabrics.
Obviously when I was a teenager the last I wanted was to be dressed in home made clothes sewed by my Mum, but she was still very supportive in making sure I had nice clothes, and would embroider or alter clothes to make them more individual.

Yep, me too. Youngest in the family and the only time I had anything new was when my mother made clothes. She was very good at dressmaking but what I wanted as a teen was jeans, not a “very pretty “ fabric to make a dress.

Grew up in the 70s, single parent home for the first 9 years of my life and a lot of what you say chimes. New clothes were a HUGE event - mainly wore homemade or from jumble sales. Also had vouchers for school uniform and somehow,I guess because the other kids got to bend the rules more with their choice of a navy skirt but as I was in the regulation hideous nylon A line they knew I was in the "council issued" uniform, so to speak and I was teased mercilessly about this.

At uni in the 90s, it felt much more egalitarian as there were so many interesting different tribes so anything went and I kept this up for a few years but when I was in my first " proper" job I remember being very aware of not having fit for purpose basics - I started to become much more aware that I was what was referred to then as 'working class made good' (through fully funded university grants I was able to enter a graduate profession albeit very poorly paid for the first few year).

Odd, I guess, but I always remember being very conscious of always having to buy from the end of the sale rail etc and never having a decent winter coat or shoes. The class thing wasn't as noticeable at uni as we all lived in crappy student digs, all used our NUS cards for discounts etc - it was really, really unusual for any student to have their own car at uni etc and grunge practically demanded you trawl the charity shop rails.

I love clothes and nice make up/accessories etc and lots of the comments on here echo with me - going overboard at times, then being rather puritanical with wearing things to death or, a habit I have now broken, the dreaded, "keeping things for best" meaning I would save and save to get a really lovely item I wanted and then .... not wear it for ages.

Second hand shopping wasn't cool when I was a little kid and I remember being really embarrassed that all my clothes were either hand me downs (bear in mind I had two older brothers!) or jumble sale finds. My mum really struggled to do her best by us and I can't imagine how hard it must have been. Now I love using eBay, Vinted etc much, much more than high street shopping which just completely overwhelms me. The thought of 'going shopping' as an afternoon activity on the weekend makes me feel a bit sick.

I have twin daughters and SIL had a son 6 months before my DDs arrived. MIL brought 6 bags full of clothes he’d grown out of and said SIL can help you with the girls. She shocked when I said -no thanks, I’ve bought dresses for my daughters.

Ooh what a good thread topic@lipstickwoman I am looking forward to reading everyone’s replies!

My mum always made sure we had good shoes when we were little in terms of Clarks shoes and I think that has translated to me investing in good quality as much as possible. I also had it drummed in to me that M and S was quality which did influence me for a long while, now I am no so convinced as see it like any other shop. I also look at care labels and if it’s too much of a fuss to wash then I don’t tend to bother.

In terms of the clothes that I wear then I think my love of cord stems from childhood and also being coordinated in terms of having a cardigan that match’s an outfit colour wise.

I grew up in the 70s & 80s and my parents weren't well off so we had hardly any clothes outside of our school uniform. Clothes were so much more expensive in those days, weren't they. There were no supermarket ranges, no Primark etc.

Once I left school, I was bought a couple of things for work, then I had to buy my own. Of course, I bought as much as I could, for fear of being laughed at for not having much, like what happened in school. Even now, nearly 40 years on, I buy why too many clothes. I just can't break the habit. I still feel the shame I did as a kid, too.

My school uniform had a massive influence, to the effect that I have a total navy-blue fetish. This also extends to my car, sofas and bed.
I liked being able to wear the same things all the time and was really annoyed when I went into the sixth form as we could wear our own clothes (this was seen as really progressive in the mid 1970s) as I didn't have that many!

Does anyone else remember only getting a new set of clothes at Easter?
It would be a dress or a 1970's trouser suit and a pair of shiny shoes 😁
They would have to last and last..

I don't remember ever having trainers until we needed them for Games at school.
Played out in school shoes or black pumps (plimsolls)
I had a couple of elasticated trousers and jumpers (one for the wash)

Church Walking days provided the only dress I would have for the year (but it was more than enough 😂)

These from Woolies?

@bingbingohandjob
Yes! I think they cost a pound. They probably still do 😂