A Ghost Story

Tomorrow is the Vintage Garage Chicago, and I'm signed up to sell.  I love sharing all of my vintage discoveries with others who appreciate and enjoy symbols of times past.  Still functional, usable and wearable, it amazes me to sit here on my bed surrounded by dresses that are 40+ years old.  Not only are they retro cool, they are stylish by today's standards.  The cut, the color, the impact!  I have a couple of dresses--one a vibrant Hawaiian print and another lace wedding dress--that I can't wait to display.  They are truly spectacular.

As much as these styles have stood the test of time, I can't say the same for the sizes.  I'm looking at a size 12 that my size 10 daughter can't even get over her hips.  So why have sizes changed?  (You do know that they have, right?)  Take a look at this:

No wonder celebrities, like Ricki Lake, (who has lost a lot of weight for sure), can claim to be a size 4!  C'mon now girl, you are not that small!  But that size 4 was a 10 in the 80's.  Now THAT I can believe.  I remember when being an 8, 10 or even a 12 was perfectly acceptable, and considered average.  When I was a teenager, I'd never even heard of a zero.  How can you not be any size?  And what on earth is a double zero? I guess a 0 is a skeleton and a 00 is a ghost.  

Work it, Girl!

In my teen years, I stayed a size 13 forever.  I was always dieting, trying to reach that elusive size 10.  I never got there, but of course if I had held on, I'd be a six by now.  Given my current size, if I'd been born 40 years earlier, I'd be relegated to wearing a car cover. 

The stripes are slimming, don't you think??

Well, I guess I'll get back to work, washing, ironing, mending and packing my dresses.  Here's hoping that I get a visit from a naked, but fashionable ghost.  One with money to spend.  I'd love to see a couple of skeletons as well.