Wardrobe Malfunction

Inspired from this: 

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/embarassing-clothes-we-wore-as-children-and-cant-bear-to-look-at-now/449086-79.html

If you were born in the eighties, you sure could link so much with each picture in the above mentioned article. Well, I could! I was nodding to almost all the pictures and wondering what was wrong with our parents’ fashion sense.  However we were spared from a great deal of embarrassment because almost all our friends were also wearing funny looking dresses and we can blame it on the entire parents’ fraternity! Phew!

So let me just add some of the wardrobe malfunction experiences in my childhood.  Mind you, we never had the luxury to choose from a variety of Gini & Jony, UCB or Mee Mee collection. All our cloths were ‘cherry-picked’ by our parents from a famous shop called ‘Styles’ (Yeah, cool isn't it?) and also some were custom made by our very own tailor uncle.

The Bharathnatyam skirt

If you ever had any relatives in the Gulf (which obviously I had because I am a malayalee) you must have surely received this skirt as a gift. It was such a fad in those times. The skirt had lots of pleats which resemble the Japanese fan in the front. This looked way similar to the skirt worn by classical dancers. It came in all colors with white tops embellished with sequins and mirror works. I had one in red!

Salwar Kameez with attached Dupatta

My parents never liked me wearing salwar kameez when I was young. They would never buy me one. But some of my relatives were generous enough to get me salwar- kameez which had a single pleat of cloth attached to left shoulder as dupatta. This was only on the front and came in colorful designs and patterns.

Three layered Frock

When we wore this three layered pleated frock, our parents thought we resembled angels. But in real, we looked like a big white icing cake ready to be cut and served. It’s true some kids could carry this outfit finely with their cuteness and all; but unfortunately I couldn't.

Pattupavadas 

This is the quintessential South Indian attire seen in almost all Malayalee households. This dress is reserved for special occasions and festivals. My pattupavadas were custom made by a tailor uncle who would make the sleeves long, puffy or short according to his mood. I never had any say and my mom was happy as long as it was perfectly stitched. 

Baggy jeans with tees tucked in (my personal favorite)

I had a few baggy jeans in a variety of colors. A brown and black striped one was the weirdest of all. To make it more hilarious, my dad insisted on wearing it with a white tee tucked in neatly. The tee was tightly wrapped in with a belt which almost reached my ribs and made me look like a hunchback. Accessories include multi colored plastic bangles, big red bindi and fountain braid hair in a love-in-tokyo (I don’t know the real name; its a kind of hair band with big beads at both ends).

Rompers

This is basically suspenders but we used to call it rompers. I had just one in red and white combo. But my brother had some many in different colors. They were kind of cool but somehow I looked funny in that.

The list goes on and on…. I can write a whole thesis on this topic. I don’t want anyone, not even John, to see the photos hidden well inside my cabinet.  Now when I make fun of my parent’s poor dress selection, I know time is not very far when our kids would start doing the same. They will make fun of our choices and would probably thrash me out in a post like this. 

Only time can tell !!!!!

- Jane Doe