Buttons and bows

Wednesday has been the highlight of my week since the start of the writing course , led by my multi-gifted friend D of 60 Going On 16. Sadly, it  is drawing to a close.  I haven't enjoyed anything so much for a very long time and I hope that there will be more to follow.

One of the things that I've learned is that a simple word or phrase can trigger quite unexpected memories and associations, ideal stimuli for writing. One such exercise involved clothes and accessories; head down and no time to think, we rattled off as many as possible in a limited time. Reading them back, I found that I had marked milestones in my life with an item that I was wearing or had noticed on someone else. Everyone in the group was surprised to discover how significant clothes had been for us.

The bows that I remembered were the ribbons that my mother tied in our hair every day before taking us to school. Every day, my sister would come home with her plaits and ribbons intact and I would have lost one ribbon and my hair would be half plaited and half flying in an untidy mane. My poor mother became so frustrated that she cut my hair!

My earliest recollection was of a pair of buttoned leggings. I could not only visualise them but also recall their texture and the warmth and comfort they gave. I'm wearing them in this picture of my mother, sister and me arriving at the church for the wedding of one of my uncles.

I cannot possibly remember this occasion as it was before my second birthday and yet I have a strong sense of this sage green outfit, of having to sit still while the many buttons at the sides of the leggings  were done up and the black elastic straps wrapped around my shoes. Just over a year later, our baby sister was born and I suppose she inherited the little suit. Perhaps my memory is really of her little legs being buttoned into the leggings!

Are your milestones in life marked by the clothes you were wearing? Do share your stories.