The Shirred Dress

Oh, how I chuckle over this photo of me as a little girl. I am not sure how old I am – maybe five or six. I look so sweet: resigned but patient of dad’s mission to fill the family album. He was always taking photos, and was fond of posing his four daughters in front of foliage. We must be on some family outing, for this is certainly not our garden.

I often wore these shirred, spaghetti-strapped dresses as a child. Mum must have made me wear the t-shirt to prevent sunburn. I really liked that style of dress, but I loathed the necessity of wearing a t-shirt – it totally ruined the line. It gave me an ugly tan line too.

Those Roman sandals I am wearing were extremely ubiquitous then too. I’m not sure that I can call them fashionable, as they were plain and sturdy brown leather, and all little girls wore them. Worn with socks, they were part of our school uniform. Even some little boys wore them during the summer – and hence spring a generation of sock-and-sandal-wearing granpas! School principals have a lot to answer for …