Crunchy Old Photos
When people always ask me when I first discovered I loved fashion, my immediate answer always reels off as 'Ever since I could dress myself...'. I stand by that statement and not to discredit my mum who had the best intentions at heart, because when I couldn't dress myself as a wee child and did have outfits forced on me, I have evidence that some sort of alternative fashion style was imposed upon me that very oddly juxtaposes with what I'd wear now...
Behold.... crunchy old photos where the colours seem to be far more vivid than my digicam ones (alas I couldn't scan them in but had to take blurry photos of the photos....) where the mummy has put me in things that I would never ever think of wearing now...
The Grandpa Collar Shirt - Shirt collars done up all the way to the top in general scare me because of school uniform nightmares that consisted of a stiff shirt collar and tie strangling me mid-class (a reccurent dream that I kept on having aged 8 that I haven't quite deciphered yet...). A grandpa collar shirt, whilst elegant and classic in its own way has me reaching up to my neck in protection...
Heart Shaped Sunglasses - Pre-Katy Perry, I never liked em', post-Katy Perry, they're even more irksome... but on a trip to Switzerland, my sister and I are sporting quite fetching clashing outfits (I'm the one in purple) and yes I have a pair of yellow heart shaped sunglasses perched on me and I also seem to be doing a 'Yo Booyakasha!' pose.... a frightening combo I think you'll agree.
































oooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Carrie (T.D.)from Paris;) | 21 November 2008 at 13:36
That's so cute! You always were stylin', ahaa.
Posted by: Jeanine | 21 November 2008 at 14:11
Hehehe that pose is deadly!
Posted by: SOS! | 21 November 2008 at 14:12
You are tooo cute!
Such a fashion fanatic at a young age, your hair cut in the beach scene is remincsent of the Katie Holmes/Suri Cruise bob..
As for the heart shaped sunglasses, diva! xx
Posted by: Baroque | 21 November 2008 at 14:19
I have a loathing of grandpa collars too and always swore off heart shape glasses. You must have been a nicer child than me as I had my first fashion fit at 18 months in M&S when my mum tried to put me in a patent blue mac and I wanted a red one!
Posted by: Make Do Style | 21 November 2008 at 14:31
Oh my god, I am trying not to laugh too much at that hip-hop pose in the second picture, too too funny. Also, you look so much like you in the first photo. I know that sounds mental, but you know what I mean...
Posted by: EJ | 21 November 2008 at 14:35
aww you are so cute!! urgh grandpa collars... especially on the beach, quite disturbing ;) xo
Posted by: fashionistadiary.co.uk | 21 November 2008 at 14:36
So cute! My mom dressed me in some pretty horrid things too....though looking back on old pics I find myself saying "man, I wish I had those white floral leggings in adult size!"
-Giselle <3<3<3
Posted by: Giselle | 21 November 2008 at 14:47
cutie-pie !!!! :3
Posted by: Katie | 21 November 2008 at 15:08
The second picture is so terrific, it looks like you're having family photos done in front of a mountain backdrop
Posted by: Brooke Alexandra | 21 November 2008 at 15:12
omg adorable.
Posted by: Laia | 21 November 2008 at 15:13
hehe too cute. my parents dressed me in pink and its no surprise that i was making angry faces & had my fist up in every childhood photo.
Posted by: Prêt à Porter P | 21 November 2008 at 15:22
Bowl cut! heh heh.
Posted by: Dressed and Pressed | 21 November 2008 at 15:31
I have 2 sisters: on a holiday to italy my mother once insisted all 3 of us wear identical outfits every day; pink dungarees, yellow shorts and t shirts, and my particular favourite: the day the 3 of us went on a boat trip in matching sailor suits. Shudder.... x
Posted by: Tor | 21 November 2008 at 15:35
Ohhhhh! So cute! I think everyone had a bowl cut at that age, didn't they? I certainly did...oh wait, I have it again, don't I?
Personally I had pretty cute clothes from about birth to age 4/5 (my mom is a sewing genius and made most of them for my sis and I) but at around age 6 a spider crawled up the leg of my jeans, and I refused to wear anything but elastic bottomed sweats for the next 3 years. Very unfortunate.
Posted by: AngieMontreal | 21 November 2008 at 15:58
These pics are absolutely adorable! Yeah you can't blame our mothers for enforcing hideous clothes on us, my mums excuse is always 'It was fashionable at the time!'
Love the little grandpa shirt! very cute!
Rianna Bethany xxxxxx
http://appliquefashion.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Rianna Bethany | 21 November 2008 at 16:23
so cute! you look exactly the same! only older and with long hair.
;)
Posted by: jennine | 21 November 2008 at 16:28
That beach photo is insanely cute.
Posted by: WendyB | 21 November 2008 at 16:28
Ah you were adorable!!
I remember having a major hissy fit at 5 years old because my mum made we wear a pair of grey tartan flares (it was the 70's) and my cream cable knit jumper to go and see Santa. I HATED the trousers with a raging passion, but my mum loved them. I have a photo of me sitting on Santa's knee, in said outfit, looking mightily pissed off.
Angie, I had a bowl cut too, when I about 7 or something. I actually went to the salon with a photo of Joanna Lumley when she was in the Avengers to get myself a 'Purdy'. I also repeated that haircut, in my 20's, but I was going for a whole Joan of Arc thing then.
Posted by: DJM | 21 November 2008 at 16:46
i laughed til i feel out of my chair at the 'Yo Booyakasha!' pose comment
Posted by: nico | 21 November 2008 at 17:17
you're adorable as a kid susie! :)
Posted by: pearleen | 21 November 2008 at 17:19
ha ha, bowl cuts for everyone!
I would have been HAPPY though if I had stuck with the bowl. For some reason I got it in my head that I wanted a PERM, in grade TWO!! I think I just wanted to have Barbie hair. Anyways, for some crazy reason my mom agreed (I think because she had a perm already) and they permed my little 7 year old virgin hair...and cut it into a mullet!! Oh my god, it was horrible. I cried before going to school the next day, and my teacher called me a poodle. Traumatized much? No wonder I eventually went back to the bowl!
Posted by: AngieMontreal | 21 November 2008 at 17:27
Awwww... too cute!!!
Posted by: Fajr | 21 November 2008 at 17:28
You are so adorable in these photos!
Posted by: Alicia/InstantVintage | 21 November 2008 at 17:30
Thank God there are enough years between myself and my sister that we never had matching outfits!
Posted by: floraposte | 21 November 2008 at 17:33
cute!
Posted by: pac | 21 November 2008 at 17:38
You are the most adorable thing ever. And excellent family photo!
Posted by: K-Line | 21 November 2008 at 18:04
oh that photo of your mom (?) with the white glasses is so amazing.
Posted by: danielle | 21 November 2008 at 18:57
i miss my bowl cut! they were so cool! those photos are so cute.
Posted by: mr | 21 November 2008 at 19:06
Ha ha DJM, I also had a Purdey haircut and thought I rocked it so well in my (pre Alexander McQueen) union jack maxi dress celebrating the queen's silver jubilee in '77! Susie, what year was that 2nd pic taken? Looks v Paninaro to me!
Posted by: rollergirl | 21 November 2008 at 19:20
These photos are fabulous! Fabulous really isn't the right adjective because they're cute and lighthearted but also profoundly beautiful. I can't be the only on feeling this.
Posted by: KD | 21 November 2008 at 19:45
You were a cute little rascal, Susie. Your family are gorgeous, too.
Posted by: enc | 21 November 2008 at 20:05
Ahhhh!!! Too cute! I once sported a bowl haircut too, I think it's a given if you were an Asian kid in the 80's :) Your mom seems to be quite stylish in the way she dressed herself & you. Serious! xx
Posted by: brigadeiro | 21 November 2008 at 20:15
omg! this makes me love you even moooooore!
Posted by: Colleen | 21 November 2008 at 20:18
Cutiepie!!
Posted by: Rowena | 21 November 2008 at 20:47
ahhhhhhhh this is so cuite!!!!
Posted by: Fruchtzwerg | 21 November 2008 at 22:28
You look like a little doll in that first photo! Adorable :)
Posted by: The Stiletto Effect | 21 November 2008 at 23:01
awwww! I love the 'Yo Booyakasha!' pose.
Posted by: Market Publique | 22 November 2008 at 01:25
aaaah, Way too cute! Wow you were way ahead of the times with that YSL bowlcut!... Then again I had one too! I think everyone had that haircut at some point
You were so adorable, that first picture is such a nice moment. goreous.
Posted by: NiceAndShiny | 22 November 2008 at 04:13
You are too cute for words. I don't get to read about your sibling. Is that your sis or bro? Younger or older?
Posted by: songy | 22 November 2008 at 05:49
Too, too cute!
Posted by: Annie Spandex | 22 November 2008 at 07:24
I really like looking at old photos - it's all about the clothes available at the time, not what was cool. The colours are always amazing back in the actual eighties, I have similar photos myself. I think everything does affect you overall, perhaps your dislike of high-neck grandpa shirts comes from a bad experience that you've blocked out (not just the dream).
And I love the hiphop stylin' pose. That outfit would not look out of place today.
Posted by: Bouncing Evil Ginner | 22 November 2008 at 11:07
Also, you've inspired me to put up some of my own old photos!!!
http://fashion-by-student.blogspot.com/2008/11/early-years-style.html
Posted by: Bouncing Evil Ginner | 22 November 2008 at 11:52
omg how cute^^
Posted by: coco | 22 November 2008 at 14:40
That's me (correction I WISH that was me) in the white fur trimmed parker..tell ya Ma I HEART her fashion.
Posted by: Imelda Matt | 23 November 2008 at 01:22
that first photo... could you be any cuter?
Posted by: misha | 23 November 2008 at 16:40
SO CUTE! Your family is all extremly chic!
Posted by: Paloma | 23 November 2008 at 20:05
Too cute! You can totally tell it's you in that first photo. I too had heart-shaped glasses as a child, only mine were red. To be truthful I kinda miss those days when I didn't care about looking ridiculous and those glasses were the eptitome of style.
Posted by: MizzJ | 24 November 2008 at 00:48
even if you don't like them, the heart shapes sunnies look the cutest!
Posted by: selina | 24 November 2008 at 01:20
this is cutest!!! you were born to be stylish Miss Bubble also the pose, reminds me of baby.
Posted by: Chic Looks | 24 November 2008 at 11:33