Friday, October 26, 2012

The Colour Of My Childhood Fawn

As a child of the mid fifties, a baby boomer although that term wasn't around then, born the year rationing ended after WWII, the colour of my childhood was fawn.

Even just using that word I can still hear mum saying I'll take five balls of fawn.  Mum knitted a lot of our jumpers and the pattern of choice was Fair Isle.  So when I ran across this painting it so evoked memories of childhood.


Stanley Cursitor, The Fair Isle Jumper, (1923) The Edinburgh City Arts Centre

I love the little slouch beret mainly fawn with the Fair Isle band and little pom poms, how pretty is that?

We wore brown lace up shoes, fawn socks, quite often a tartan kilt, or a gym slip and very often a Fair Isle jumper with a fawn background, or a cardigan.  

I have a photo of when I was very young at a party.  My mum went out and splurged on a beautiful little party dress for me.  Now remember this is when you went to the one shop in town that specialized in children's outfits, not the racks and racks of clothes you look through today.  In this photo, in black and white I'm in my little party dress, which I think mum said was white and pink, it looks like everyone else must be wearing fawn.  I will look it up and insert it, because it so speaks of that era.

Dad thought mum had spent an awful lot on this dress for me for a company party, but I must have stood out in it as every one said" Who's little girl is that?" "Oh! That's Tubby's daughter."  That was my dad's nick name.

Will insert photo.

I was a vivacious child, very blond, wanting to do my own thing, you can see that in the photo, I am being held back, by the boys either side of me.

The coats of my child hood were a duffel coat and a Harris Tweed.  This was our winter attire.

What memories do you have of colours and clothes of your childhood?

Christy

2 comments:

  1. We were quite poor so most of our clothes were hand-me-downs but happily my friend's mum was a tailoress and always made beautiful matching coats and hats for her two girls then they came down to my sister and me. I remember a pink one with matching muff. Also she made beautiful summer dresses with smocking. Later my sister made my clothes and I remember a blue wool two-piece which itched. Look forward to the photo.

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  2. What a lovely painting that is - agreed that the hat is wonderful! - and I look forward to the photo of your younger self. My mother and granny made most of our clothes as we also received boxes of hand-me-downs from our older cousins. Some of her clothes I just loved (literally) to bits. My granny made us Easter dresses every year, and one year she also made us capes - tartan on the outside and mine had red lining and my sister's blue lining. The one thing I remember not liking was wearing home-made trousers with elasticated waists, when everyone else in school in the 1970s had store-bought jeans. I did eventually win the argument and after that we had more store-bought things, though I was still horribly bullied in school for being noticeably different.

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