The great day dawned and I was bathed and my hair washed in some special shampoo to make it lighter and shinier. I was made up with rouge and a touch of lipstick and the exciting costume was carefully put on! Everyone said I looked pretty good and the newspaper described me as “an adorable […]

Karen bundled her son of to the changing room and told him to remove his shoes and pants. He did as he was told and no sooner he had his pants off, his mother opened the curtain and held out the bizarre pair of shorts for him to step into. They had full-length knife pleats […]

Peter gulped and shook his head. “Not make-up.” he said. “Not yet anyway.” he added before confessing to ‘occasionally’ wearing a slide or a couple of clips in his hair. “I’d rather not but we’re encouraged to try to look nice and Mum & Kate are both quite encouraging.” he said before hesitantly informing her […]

We reluctantly pulled on our nappies, followed by the rubber knickers, then our cotton over knickers and finally, we pulled our nighties over our heads. Mum made us say thank you to Mrs Brown for helping, and she left. We watched girlie TV until 8pm. Peter said he didn’t need a clean nappy. I did. […]

The ball was scheduled for the night of 16 August 1939 at which time I would be nearly six years old. In due course my page outfit was designed by a Mrs Green, a local dressmaker, and I was taken for the first fitting. Mrs Green’s son Bernard was unfortunately present, which worried me as […]

Michael soon found himself being measured; height, chest, waist, and hips. Once she had his sizes, she began routing through the shelves. She took a bundle of Cellophane wrapped items under her arm and stepped over to the counter. “These are the Ashford ones.” She said as she placed the bundle down and worked through […]

I was a second child with an elder brother five years older than me, so when I was due to be born my dear mother was very keen to have a little girl and thus make a “pigeon pair”. She had bought lots of pink clothes and had even decided that the baby would be […]

The loud ding ding of the bell alerted the assistant to their presence. “Hello there, can I help?” She smiled as she greeted Karen and Michael. “Hello,” Karen said. “My son is starting secondary school in September and needs a uniform.” “Are you really?” The kind-looking lady asked the nervous-looking boy, “…and which school are you going […]

“Hiya!” she grinned as she dragged him inside. She looked him up and down and said “You could have worn those shoes for me!” “I’m enjoying a whole week wearing nothing but flat shoes.” Peter replied. “Ooh.” she cooed. “We’d have been about the same height.” she grinned as he looked up into her eyes […]

Mum made a point of checking my dress for splashes when I returned. When we ate supper, she made us each wear a white apron. Alice’s in Wonderland… she called us. I could see where she was coming from. After supper, mother had us wash and dry the dishes… then the doorbell rang, and since […]