Monday 18 January 2016

How time flies

I was laughing at blog comments between Kath, SaRn and myself yesterday about a very 'girlie' Penny Black image Kath had used on a card. It was the style I so wanted when I was trotting out to discos in my late teens/early twenties ... and a lot later if truth be known!

It got me thinking about some of the few scanned photos/slides I have from my (ahem) much younger years. This was taken when I would have been around 19 years young - Dad and I had just finished a lawn mowing session as I recall. At the time I was fairly fresh from boarding school, settling into life back at home in the UK with my parents and just working out how to stretch those wings :)
And then - hold onto your hats girls - a couple of years later I'd found out about really 'dolling up', ready for what I seem to remember as a Christmas dinner dance, probably a 'company do':
By now I was just turned 21 and mini skirts were all the rage. Was also newly engaged (pre-Len, shame we didn't meet earlier and just cut out the 'middle people' and all the angst they brought us both - but that's life isn't it). It was still me underneath all that glamour and glitz and dolling up like 'Miss Congeniality' (as I once described it to Darnell) was an event more than a regular occurrence - and also worth my Dad capturing on film apparently!

I can clearly recall making that dress sitting at the dining room table. Back then I made most of my own clothes and happily spent hours working on them - maybe that's why I now love paper piecing so much :) Of course it was pink (what else!) and made of shimmery and very silky chiffon over a taffeta lining - and, if I may say so, an absolute p*g to work with!

Of the two photos, I'm sure I know which 'look' my Dad would have preferred - Len too for that matter. But, it still was fun to dress up and party now and then :)

Ooops, the reason I wrote this post was really to say that yesterday flew past and so far I haven't knuckled down to commenting on Playground entries - I can see you've been busy and will get to you as soon as possible!

Di 
x

32 comments:

  1. What lovely photos.So fun to see you as a fresh-faced teenager. You still have the same wonderful smile.
    I used to make a lot of my clothes, too. It was fun.

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  2. Thanks for sharing these blasts from the past! I love how your smile lights up a room today, just as it did back in those days gone by! Sweet!

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  3. Aww look at you pretty lady!! And those clothes are absolutely back in fashion right now!! Especially that dress you can get basically identical in the shops now! And you made them wow I'm impressed!!
    Lucy x

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  4. Lovely pics Di, the fashions haven't changed much have they! Cathy x

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  5. Cutie pie Di. These fashions have all come back...lovely pretty lady then and now.x

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  6. Di you look so innocent and beautiful in the first one and ooh la la what can I say about the 2nd one!!

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  7. What a fun blog post! I really enjoyed this!

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  8. What a lovely nostalgia-fest! Look at those shiny lips on the second photo - remember how everything had to be shiny or pearly? I bet you had that shiny highlighter on your cheekbones too! It's no wonder so many of us now love using shiny, pearly things in our crafting, we started out by putting it on our faces then realised it looked better on cardstock.
    Jane

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  9. OMG those are such great photos Di. You rock in the second photo :)

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  10. Thanks for sharing those pics Di ... you haven't changed much since they were taken. :) xx

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  11. What gorgeous fun photos Di....you look stunning and so fresh faced. Great memories for you xx

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  12. Great trip down memory land Di, funnily enough when the children and grandchildren were all here just before Christmas we had a box of old photos out and had a riotous evening.

    And yes I too recall spending hours at the dining table sewing, not least dresses for my bridesmaids. What is scary though is when I look at the grandkids in their teens and think I was married at 17 and a mum at 19 and wonder how on earth I coped. Times change I guess.

    B x

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  13. omg I wish my photos of my teens were fit for exposure but oh my I wouldn't dare show them - my hippie days are best left in the past. Lovely photos Di - thank you for sharing. I know what you mean about meeting earlier - my husband died young which is an even bigger reason to wish we had met earlier. Annie xxx

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  14. You were a very beautiful teenager and now you're a very beautiful woman, still have the same beautiful smile.
    Valerija xx

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  15. Such a lovely story. Beautiful girl on those photo's.Like Valerija say, you have the same lovely smile.

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  16. Gorgeous fotos
    You are amazing woman
    hugs Tamara

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  17. WOW - you totally ROCK that pink shiny outfit and look cool as a cucumber in the comfy garden get up! Lovely smiley photo's too. Great to see these photo's of you.

    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  18. You have the cutest dimples! Great throwback photos, Di!

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  19. Eeeee - how marvelous :-) Great photos Di xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  20. you are and you were such a beautie ... with this smile, wow ...
    it is a real pleasure to read this post :).
    hugs, tina

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  21. So nice of you to share a trip down memory lane complete with photographs. I remember dolling up for a night on the town and making sure everything was just so. Ugh, so much work. Paper crafting is where it's at!

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  22. It's so much fun to look back and remember what we did and how we looked. You made a beautiful dress and it's still in style today! You are a gal of many talents.

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  23. Oooh lovely pics Di and brings back memories of mini skirts and hot pants and changing the colour and length of hair with wigs, and I cringe now when thinking about what I stepped out of the house wearing..lol. The pink dress is beautifully made and you look a million dollars in it and you look so natural and pretty in the first too and can see it is you by that wonderful smile. Thanks for sharing these with us. x

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  24. Oh Di What a stunner in your beautiful pink dress. Looking at the first photo and your profile photo the smile looks exactly the same.

    Now I was wearing very mini skirts and I was 15 - 16 so can give you a few years. My hair is still the same colour although it's now out of a bottle and to think I had it dyed ash blonde/grey at about 20 years old. hehe!

    I still feel young inside it's just have a nasty shock passing mirrors! Barbxx

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  25. Oh I love getting to see these priceless photos, Di! So, so fun! I never mastered the glamorous look, but my mom sure did. Wish there was an easier way to keep track of all those old, old photos never put in albums, of course--haha!

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  26. Look at you pretty lady!! I love the first picture of you and the gardens, so cute you are. The picture of you all glammed up is equally beautiful, love that dress you made and I'm in awe that you were making your own clothes!! And I'm still in awe of you and all that you do. I remember the disco dancing days well, loved them myself. lol Glad you shared these fun and beautiful pictures with us and yay to your dad for taking them. Hugs, Brenda

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  27. Well, so glad that my post made you dig out these photo's, home loving girl to a member of the Three Degree's, what a stunner your were, and are, I hasten to add, where has the time gone eh?
    Did have a giggle as my hair was very similar to your colour in the first post, then when I was about 15 I did a Raven black rinse and all my scalp was red, never went as dark as you but funny how www are both blondish now, those were the days my Friend.

    Kath x

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  28. I'm always late to the party any more, but here I am! I remember the "Miss Congeniality" photo well, Di! Thank you for sharing your fresh-faced young gardener photo with us, too! They are both beautiful! Being women can be a heavy burden at times, but we do have the privilege of dressing either up or down as we see fit and that's awesome, isn't?! I love that once again we seem to be "on the same page" as I've also just reposted some golden oldies!! Hugs, Darnell

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  29. What lovely photos of a beautiful lady - inside and out. xxx

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  30. Great photos Di, you haven't changed a bit! ;-) My Mum was a dressmaker so she made most of my clothes up until my late teens. I remember measuring my skirts to make sure she didn't make them any longer than 14" long! xx

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