Blue Deja-Vu

I’ve been a regular thrifter for around twenty years and while I’ve on occasion seen clothes that remind me of something I may have owned as a youngster, I’ve never until now seen something identical. I spotted this dress in a charity shop and I immediately grabbed it from the rail in instant recognition.

I wore this!

I was around 13 in this photo and seeing that dress brought back a lot of memories. I’m pictured with my mom and we wore very similar clothes, not because I loved dressing like my mother, but because it was damn near impossible to find age appropriate size 16 clothes for young teenagers. Finding casual clothing wasn’t too bad but when it came to dressing for church or weddings (as in this photo) the dress code was definitely “middle aged”. While most teens were shopping in Chelsea Girl, Miss Selfridge and H&M, all my garb came from C&A- and I don’t mean the younger Clockhouse line. At thirteen I had some of the same clothes as my mom and my aunt, which really was a sorry state of affairs.

Maybe that’s why I love 80’s vintage dresses so much now? They weren’t age appropriate at the time but as I’m pretty much middle aged now they actually suit me. Am I really admitting to everyone that I just have not moved on? Yup, I think I am. I may be stagnant and stuck in a style timewarp, but plus size fashion has thankfully come a very long way and now teens can dress like teens- not their aunts. Shame the dress is only a size 16- I would have given it another spin. Dress available here.