Childhood

I grew up in Burlington, Vermont during the late 1970s and 80s. We have long, cold winters and often oppressively humid summers.

Clothes

I wore shorts in the summer and long pants in the winter, as did every other kid I knew and most adults when they weren't at a job with a dress code. In summer, when I was very young I often wore a "muscle" shirt and very short shorts made of a terrycloth material, with stripes sewn on the side of each leg. I can remember one pair being lime green with yellow stripes. This would've been in 1979-81 or thereabouts.

School

I may have dressed like that for kindergarten (public school) in the very early fall or spring. In first grade (1980-81) I started at a Catholic school which at first only obliged boys to wear shirts with some sort of collar, and long pants (but not jeans). Corduroys stick out in my mind. This would've been only slightly dressier than fall/winter/spring "regular" clothes). In about third grade, the school adopted a uniform for boys. There had always been one for girls. We wore white shirts, gray pants (any material; again shorts were banned), optional maroon sweater, theoretically optional plaid tie matching the girls' skirts (note NOBODY ever wore one! Ever!). About once a month there'd be either a "dress up" or "dress down" day. The latter were mostly in spring and the only time shorts were allowed. I considered it quite a treat to be in school on a warm spring day, without stuffy, sweaty legs.

I can only wonder about why my school did (and still does!) have such an aversion to the notion of boys in anything resembling dress-up shorts. Maybe shorts weren't allowed because "school-only" ones wouldn't get much wear in the 6 weeks or so of nice weather on either side of summer vacation. My pet theory is that it was a Catholic school run by a traditionally very Irish parish; most of the school board and all the remaining nuns were at least second-generation Irish-Americans. They would have the Americans' image of Britain, including schoolboys in short trousers, and an Irish disdain of anything that smacks remotely of English influence. [HBC note: Perhaps, but shorts were widely worn in Ireland as well as England. I noticed the same rule in some southern schools. HBC thinks that it may be an assumption that short pants were inherently casual clothes. HBC notes that the general pattern in American primary schools with school uniforms is to allow boys the option of wearing either shorts or longs.]

After School

Outside of school I usually wore what was described above, or a sweatshirt and sweatpants. For dressing up I'd basically wore my school uniform with a non-regulation sweater. About age 10 or so, I became self-conscious. T-shirts replaced muscle shirts and my shorts got a bit longer in summer, the rest of the year jeans replaced the sweatpants and I insisted on plain, solid-color tops.

Mom's Preferences

My mom had mixed emotions about my clothing choices. On the one hand, she'd have loved to dress me up in snowflake-patterned sweaters if I'd have it; on the other, I didn't like printed T-shirts either.)

My Suit

I only owned one suit as a kid. It was a navy blue polyester, long pants, red clip-on tie included. I was 8 years old and I got it in 1982.

Moon Boots

About those moon boots; they weren't the most practical footwear. Wonderfully warm and dry when new, but the outer material (polyurethane, I think) was so thin that it ripped from the rubber sole too easily. When that happened no amount of duct tape would hold them together- wearing out two or even three pairs in one winter was common (they must've been cheap).

Other Topics

Other '80s shoes.

Grandfather

I have a formal portrait of my grandfather as a boy. The old picture; it looks like an old, formal photo but is actually a very intricate line drawing; it shows my grandfather with slicked-back short hair and a very fancy white lace collar over a dark...something. Jacket? Shirt? It's a "head shot" so all that can be really seen of his clothes is that collar. Kind of Eddie Munster-ish, as long as I've mentioned TV.

Tony

Created: October 12, 2000
Last updated: October 13, 2000