Old Clothes

I love old things. Have I told you that before? It's sometimes weird with blogging, the things we share and the things we don't, and how sometimes we assume that our readers just know things, but we've never actually written about them. Like, my girls (the twins, especially) being terribly shy. From my photos and posts, you were not able to gather that information, and yet everyone that knows us in person knows this, because, in person, it's totally OBVIOUS.

So, anyway, I like old things. Table clothes and aprons I'm especially drawn to. Quilts too. I also love old furniture, but have much less of that due to it costing so much more than a table cloth, ya know?

Recently, David and his siblings decided to finally go through the attic at their childhood home.

David's mom died when he was a baby (he was around 18 months old). He was the youngest of six children. After her death, they did what an good old fashioned MN farm family would do: they packed up her stuff, carried on with their lives, and rarely mentioned her again.

The attic was left nearly completely untouched for the past 35ish years. When David's dad remarried (he was 6), his step-mom packed away a few additional things: mostly clothes and toys that the children had outgrown. She added these things to the attic stash.

Since most of the stuff was not packed in a preservation friendly way, much of it was ruined from the extreme temperatures of the attic, the dust, and even the mice. They were able to salvage some fun things though. David brought home 3 large boxes of his childhood: mostly toys and clothes.

A few things are precious keepsakes that will be gently cared for, but most of it is hardy, well made things from the 70's that we can allow our children to enjoy.

Many of the clothes are fantastic. Our girls have been having a blast dressing up. Several of the pieces will also become part of their daily wardrobe.

Here's Marin in David's old snow suit. I think she'll probably actually wear it for playing outside this winter:

These two outfits seem perfect for playing doctor. In this case, Marin was the doctor, and Joan was the candy stripe:

At first I thought this dress would be for "dress-up only", but once I saw it on Joan, I loved it. So did she:

I DIED when I saw this shirt. Most of this stuff is homemade, and the store-bought stuff is missing tags, so I was so excited that it actually fit Marin:

This one is a great dress-up piece. Raggedy Ann, no?:

Marin wore this orange sundress all day today. It has rick-rack and a sash!:

Oh, my. The pattern on this dress features CHICKENS!! Can you even stand it??:

Do you guys remember wearing slips like these? I totally do, and yet in my 7 years of raising daughters, they've never owned a slip.:

This dress is probably my favorite of them all. It's almost... flapperish (?):

When we moved into this house, we had wallpaper almost exactly like this. Funny, but I like the dress version much better:

This outfit was one of David's all-time favorites. It fits Marin perfectly. It even has his name stenciled on the back!:

Either Grant's mom or his sisters made these kerchiefs. They will get plenty of use around here, seeing as how Little House is making a resurgence.:

Oh, man. Old things are such fun.

(As usual, there's more photos on Flickr.)