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I found myself flipping through a fashion magazine this evening for the first time in a while. My parents had been staying with us for a few days from out of town, and my mom left it behind for me. I used to have two magazine subscriptions, but they have now both gone out of print, and I haven’t replaced the subscription – with two small kids around I hardly find the time.

I realised how much I missed having a physical magazine to flip through. There is lots of fashion content online of course, but I find looking through a paper magazine or book a different, quieter experience.

There was a quote from someone describing some clothing from the 90’s, and it had me thinking about stand out pieces from my childhood. Not mine specifically, but my mother’s. In the early 90’s my mother was an instructor at a fashion college and I have an emotional attachment to a trench coat she used to have (I was a child at the time). It was black vinyl with a large lapel, belted at the waist. Once in a while I will see a similar coat and think of my mother at this time with fondness. I hadn’t thought about this item for years, but I came across a picture of one at work a few years ago, and couldn’t stop thinking about my mothers’. She looked great in it (plus as a working mom of small kids, it looked great AND was waterproof, so it was good for work, taking us to school, running to the subway).

When I was in university, I had made a dress for a classmate as a project for a pattern drafting class. It was a shirtdress from navy fabric with white polka dots. One of our other classmates seemed to be somewhat drawn to this dress – he said that the fabric was almost identical to a dress his mother used to have, and he remembered sitting next to her as a small child and touching the fabric and staring at the dots.

I wonder what my children will associate with me, when they are older. Will a textile in the store suddenly give them a vivid childhood memory?

Likewise, there are some articles of clothing I just can’t get rid of, because I think of them as my “trademark look” from a certain era in my life, like my double breasted purple wool pea coat I wore in university and for a few years after, until the fabric started to be just a bit too worn. I remember an employee at a cafe I frequented told me she would always recognise me in my purple coat and beret.

I’d love to hear about your childhood clothing memories, or your own clothing that takes you to a certian time and place in your mind. Sometimes people might think that fashion is frivolous, but I am always interested to talk about how it relates to our lives, our memories, how we express ourselves, and our emotions. How we present ourselves to the world through dress is a part of the human experience, and I want to explore this more.

What piece of clothing takes you back to a certain time in your life – either your own clothing or someone else’s? Let me know in the comments or reach out to me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

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