Irene Waters has suggested, “Dressing Up” as this month’s theme for Times Past, I certainly won’t have much to contribute from my childhood.
I’m a Baby Boomer and it wasn’t until 1959 that TV came to Adelaide, that was also the year I started Secondary School and any inclination to dress up as a special character was behind me. Halloween wasn’t celebrated but one Christmas when I was about four or five I got a cowgirl suit and was devastated, I wanted a cowBOY suit with chaps like my brothers got. Mum sewed the outfits out of vinyl and put fringing on the edges. Ballet performances meant costumes but they were decided by the teacher and the only one I remember was a green elf costume with little bells along the zigzag hemline.
Halloween has become more popular and I remember my son being a Werewolf and also a Punk Rocker. There is also a photo of him dressed as an explorer which I presume means it was for a school event. I’m sure as adults they’ve dressed up far more often not only for parties but also on one occasion to attend a cricket match. On that occasion my son was the Tin Man and his friends were other characters from The Wizard of Oz.
My grandchildren are very enthusiastic fancy dressers! The costumes have included Easter Bunny, Royal Guardsman, soldier, Princess Elsa from the Frozen movie, pirate and most recently my 17 year old grand-daughter was Maleficent.
Our hall-stand is smothered with hats and our four year old grandson loves to put on a hat and assume the character. His favourite at the moment is a toss up between the Top Hat, which makes him a magician, and a pilot’s cap. The cowboy hat has been ignored recently.
Musings of a Retiring Person 