A Trip in the Wayback Machine

Last week, I flew home for a quick trip.  While I looked forward to the typical things I used to do, like ride the El train and try out the latest restaurants on the scene, I had an unexpected treat in store.  Staying in my parents’ guest bedroom (they've moved a couple of times since my childhood, so I sadly no longer have "my" room), I noticed the closet door was ajar and nosed my way inside.

I’ve got a coworker who likes to quip that we’re going “in the wayback machine” whenever some project or issue from the past comes back to haunt us.  Holy high school!  It’s like I got zapped back to the late eighties and early nineties in a flash.  This, however, was a welcome haunting.  Crammed in with my mom’s old clothes, I was greeted by some great threads from my days of study hall, braces and marching band (yes, I was a band geek).  There were also some fabulous old formal dresses and oversized J. Crew sweaters from college.  Even the white satin dress from my eighth-grade dance – yikes (honestly – it ain’t so different from what I see online these days)!

While I gleefully started sorting through all the treasures, I nearly died with delight when I spied two of my all-time favorites:  my green Esprit sweatshirt and my blue and white Benetton wool sweater.  Here, take a look:

For northwest suburban Chicagoans of a certain age, I’ll bet you remember the local department store called Crawford’s – and that it had a juniors department that I loooved browsing.  That’s where the Esprit sweatshirt came from.  The Benetton sweater came from a decidedly more snazzy place called the Ice House (someone local needs to tell me if it still exists), which proudly housed a Benetton store.

I also stumbled across my boxy, old Gap jean jacket (well, it’s Levi’s but was sold at the Gap back in the day…  can’t you just hear their old jingle?  “Fall into the Gap…”).

OK, the top sweater is from college, when half my wardrobe consisted of J. Crew – as in, men’s J. Crew, size XL.  I still don’t know what the heck we gals were thinking back then!  Fun and cozy, but not flattering.  The bottom is another Benetton sweater.  Hey, I live in the north - no shortage of woolly knits up here!

Other slivers of clothing that peeked out at me from the crowded rack: 

My first thift purchase from high school...  a dark-reddish, plaid men's blazer I found on Newbury Street in Boston.  I can't stress enough how underwhelmed my parents were by my newfound interest in thrift stores - ha!

A beautiful, turquoise blue blazer I bought in Venice, Italy during my college semester living in Germany.

Oh, and that eighth-grade dress…  bought in Scottsdale, Arizona on a family trip.  I’m telling you, Shopbop is selling a slew of dresses like this.  Halston Heritage, anyone?

I intend to dedicate future posts to my insane emotional ties with these clothes, my love for vintage Esprit, and the memories and nostalgia they invoke.  Depending on what I can dig up, more photos, too!  Some of my high school brands (and stores) have long since faded away, others have changed, and a few still endure.

For now, enjoy these images, and if you have a beloved article from high school days, tell me!  Guess jeans?  Z Cavaricci pants?  Extra points if you’re older than Gen X or reading this outside of the USA (I know you’re out there ;)  I’d love to hear what you wore to shreds while snoozing in Spanish class or passing notes in Algebra.

In the meantime, I suddenly feel compelled to queue up some Simple Minds and OMD on my iTunes.

Like a giddy sixteen year-old with her Seventeen magazine,
Maggie