(Blog dedicated to my aunt, Ann Kahn, who recently died. With a ” Thank You,” to my cousin Geri.)
When you were a child, did your father ever take you shopping for clothes?
If he did, what was it like for you? What do you think it was like for him?
This is the story of the first and only time my father took me shopping for clothes. Maybe it will remind you of a time your father went shopping with you. If you are a parent, there is a suggestion at the end of the post for you.
I was 13 years old and going away to overnight camp for the first time. My mother decided my father should take me shopping for the required camp clothes. She had never been to overnight camp and since my father had worked at overnight camps when he was younger, she felt he should be the one to take me shopping.
My father had never taken me shopping before and knew nothing about girls clothing.
He was a traditional father of the 1950’s and 60’s. He was a business man, a huge sports fan and a golf fanatic. He did not have a clue about clothes, especially clothes for a teenage girl.
For him “comfort was king.”
I just realized while I was writing this that he and I both had “sporty natural,” fashion personalities. One of the few things we had in common.
I love comfort, but I am also concerned about how my clothes look on me.
My father grudgingly took on the chore of going shopping with me.
All I remember about that shopping trip was my father telling me ,“You need room to run.“
He meant my clothing, especially the shorts, should be big enough so I could run.
This seemed strange to me, because I have asthma and running makes my asthma worse.
I thought, “Maybe at overnight camp, I will have to do a lot of running.”
My father told the sales lady at Marshall Fields,”She will need shorts big enough so she has room to run.“
I protested when he choose shorts that were big, baggy and beige. But he was the expert on overnight camp.
I thought to myself, “ Maybe he knows what he is talking about.”
Those shorts were so loose around the legs that when I sat down, you could see up the leg and see my underpants.
“I imagined the boys at camp chanting, “I see London, I see France, I see Nancy’s underpants.”
My father chose an ugly beige color, “Because that color will go with any top.”
I think he also bought me big t-shirts that matched the shorts. At least with the t-shirts, I could roll up the sleeves and knot the hem to make the t-shirts look more like they fit.
I was unhappy about the shorts but I couldn’t argue with my father because he was paying the bill and he was the ” expert,” on camp clothes.
The overnight camp belonged to a cousin of my father’s, Menchy Goldblatt, and was located in the Poconos mountains in Pennsylvania.
We lived in Chicago, Illinois. It was the first time I would be flying on an airplane and I stopped complaining about my camp shorts, because I was focused on the airplane trip.
When my brother and I arrived in Pennsylvania we stayed with my father’s sister, my aunt Ann Kahn, in Philadelphia, for a day before we went to camp.
Once back on the ground, I started obsessing about those ugly, loose shorts.
I broke into tears when I saw my aunt and told her how humiliated I would feel wearing those gigantic shorts.
It was Sunday and no stores were open and I would be leaving for camp in the morning.
Aunt Ann took pity on me and went shopping in her daughter Geri’s closet for some shorts that actually were my size. Aunt Ann gave me 3 or 4 pair of Geri’s old shorts.
At least she said they were Geri’s shorts. Geri’s was thinner than me.
It’s possible that Aunt Ann gave me some of her own old short shorts, but told me they were Geri’s, so I would not feel embarrassed wearing them.
I remember there was a turquoise pair and a bright orange pair of shorts. I liked the turquoise shorts, but orange was not my favorite color. At least the legs on the shorts were tight enough so my underpants didn’t show when I sat down.
I don’t remember if I ever wore those ugly, loose shorts that gave me “room to run.”
I did do a little running in races when the camp had a “Color War.”
I must have looked strange when I ran, because Neal, a boy at camp who liked me, told me,”You look like you are doing a little dance when you run.”
Maybe I was doing an unconscious ‘happy dance,’ because I didn’t have to wear those loose, floppy shorts my father had purchased for me.
I am not sure if I ever told Aunt Ann how grateful I was to her for coming to my rescue. And I never thanked Geri.
” Thank you Aunt Ann and cousin Geri.”
Does my story remind you of a difficult or painful shopping experience when you were younger? Feel free to share by commenting.
Attention parents: Please be sensitive to your children’s, pre-teens and teens needs for clothing that is both comfortable and attractive to them. If they protest and you buy the clothing anyway, they probably won ‘t wear what you buy.
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Nancy Goldblatt, “The Wardrobe Wizard,” is a “Color 1,” Personal Image Consultant who specializes in working with mid-life women whose size and shape has changed and who have too many clothes and “nothing to wear.” After a woman works with “The Wardrobe Wizard,”she will have a wallet of her best colors and styles, and a pared down closet. She will learn how to mix and match her best looks so she can get dressed “lickety split,” and look great everyday.
“The Wardrobe Wizard,” also works with younger women and is available to work with men. She was trained by Joanna Nicholson, founder of Color 1 Associates an International Image & Style Company.
