Can you remember the clothes that you wore when you were young?

Oh absolutely.
As a child, my mum would make me a summer dress each year and in winter it was usually a pinafore dress with a hand knitted jumper underneath .
Some of the summer dresses were really quite inventive and pretty, mum isn’t always use a pattern either - a favourite I remember well was in pink gingham with a row of broderie anglaise peeping out beneath the hem
Loved that dress!

I had a lot of hand me down clothes from a girl who lived in our street. She was an only child and went to a posh school, her clothes were beautiful so I felt very lucky to receive them.

"darning" the hole.

I remember some of my clothes. My mom made a felt circular skirt for me when I was in fifth grade. It was like a poodle skirt, but had a prancing pony instead. I wore saddle shoes. A couple years later, I had a pair of woolen blue pants that I loved. I fell down and tore a hole in the knee. I was so disappointed, but my mom did a pretty good job of earning the hole. I haven't thought of those clothing items in years!

I was the only girl, with 3 older brothers, so never had hand-me-downs. My mum didn't make any clothes, but my eldest brother's wife did, and she made me several nice dresses. I was actually really trendy. In the early 70s, I had a Crombie coat - anyone else have one?, Levi's Stay-Prest 2-tone skirt, and then when I was about 16, I had platform shoes and was always "falling off them" and twisting my ankle.

My dad was the sewer in our house. He made us reversible bikinis one year, and capes to wear instead of coats another year.
I loved to sit and pin or tack for him, and that’s how my sewing began. We were 4 daughters, and mum and dad gave each of us a sewing machine for our 21st birthdays.

I was the youngest of the 4 and often inherited my next sister’s clothes from her. Mum also had a friend who donated clothes for me too. I remember a tweed coat with a fur collar which I loved, even though it’s lining was worn out!

My sister is two years older than me and we were dressed the same. I think we must have been wearing the same size, as in photos the dresses were too long for me and too tight as she was slimmer than me.

I wonder how many of the members reading this were rationed with clothing coupons to purchase their clothes with.
Each garment had to have the CC41 tag sewn in it before being sold.
It was a make do and mend time and having to unravel old woolen garments to re-use for children's knitted swimsuits, vests and knickers plus other small garments but we survived.

My family didn’t sew, but they did knit, my gran made some very complicated patterns, when we grew out of them, she would unpick them, and put a contrast stripe in the sleeves and hem, so that they would fit again.

I never had shorts or trousers, two skirts worn alternate weeks, and a dress for Sunday school, always layers of net, and prettily embroidered, but hot and scratchy.

I remember being the only girl at guide camp without shorts, I don’t know why they were banned.

I remember with great affection a wine coloured winter coat with a white fur collar, a matching hat and a muff

Also had a couple of dresses from a club book once which were lovely.
I can remember lots of things, some a source of joy, but many a source of horror!

My Gran did wonderful smocking on all my doll's clothes. But she never made clothes to fit me.
She was a great upholstery seamstress and even made cinema curtains.
I am afraid I haven't inherited any of her talents in the sewing department

One of my Great Aunts was a nanny to a landed family and for the first few years of my life, boxes of cast offs were sent to my mum, so photographs of me were of beautifully smocked dresses, however, this stopped and from then on my mum made a lot of my clothes right into my teens, so one day I was in home made another in Biba. I think she must have got used to the hand me downs as she loved second hand clothes shops and I do remember a pale yellow coat for church and a heavy tweed coat for school. Nowadays I still have a rather split personality over clothes as it's charity shops one minute and John Lewis the next.

I spent my first 10 years in NZ which really was the back of beyond in those days in the nicest possible way
Everyone's clothes were homemade and some families would get a bolt of khaki cloth and everyone would get shorts, boys or girls.
The first excitement about clothes was when a present arrived from the USA with a set of polka dot shirt and red shorts, with polka dot trim! my sister and I had one set each.

I had the dreaded mustard sweater too Dinahmo you reminded me, with a knitted hat in the same wool!

My mother made most of my clothes when I was a child and I remember a lot of them. I had a best dress made from material called Peaches and Cream. I have a photo of a younger friend wearing it. Clothes tended to be handed on in those days. I also have a photo of my Royal Stewart kilt. Twin sets were also knitted by my mother and later I helped her knit my DB's school jumpers.
By the time I was at secondary school I was desperate for shop bought clothes.
My mother also made the wedding and bridesmaids dresses for my friend when I was bridesmaid and then only a few months later did the same again for me as bride.

As the second child, I had a lot of hand me downs from my sister, so anything made or bought just for me made me happy.
I particularly remember a beautiful plaid coat with a brown velvet collar, and a 'peasant' style dress with puffy sleeves and purple mixed prints. This was in the 70's

Oh, and we went from Canada to Jersey in 1974 we all had new outfits, mine included bell bottomed jeans and a red vinyl biker-style jacket. I felt like I was very cool. Oh, and my first bikini! It was orange, and I was just barely 12 with no breasts to fill it!

Oh I had one of those too Dinahmo. I'd forgotten about it but now remember my cousin was very jealous as she had a woollen swimsuit that reached her knees when she came out of the sea!

Thank you all for a lovely response. Our mothers were truly amazing since I suspect that they were making clothes for more than one child.

I don't remember wearing a woolen swim suit but did have one of those ruched ones.

lovebeigecardigans1955 As twins I had to wear identical clothes to my non-identical sister 'as it was easier' but hated this. We are very different characters. Few people would suspect us of being twins now. I just had to comment on this, you'd obviously approve of my son and DIL. Identical twin girls due later this year, they are adamant they will not be dressed alike. Many people telling them twins are 'meant' to be dressed exactly the same to look cute. Some family are miffed because they've already bought matching outfits. The girls will each wear them just not at the same time

My mother would sew me 3 or 4 new summer dresses each year and I can remember lots of them, but especially the one that had carousel horses dancing around the bottom of the skirt. I actually cried when it no longer fitted and she couldn't get the fabric again. She also knitted beautiful summer cardigans and boleros, which I especially loved. Once I was a teenager I made many of my own clothes. Loved making a new dress or skirt for Saturday night dancing.

All my clothes were either home made or second hand. We were quite poor. Mum knitted a lot, with mixed results. The jumpers were usually nice but the vests were so itchy! The knitted bathing suit was deeply embarrassing. Affording the school uniform was really difficult. I can remember certain individual items, like a pink angora jumper, so fluffy and pretty. In my teens I had a Saturday morning job and started to buy some new clothes, - heaven!

My mother did all the knitting and a lady at the end of the street did the sewing. Mum went to her sewing classes and came back modelling a pinafore dress she had made. My dad told her it looked like a barrage balloon and that was the end of her sewing. She had an old treadle machine and made curtains for all the family and when I was about 12 got an electric machine.
We got knitted jumpers or cardigans from Gran for Christmas which we had seen her knitting so no surprise there unless Santa sent her orders.
The school uniform was from the expensive uniform shop or the Co op which you got laughed at because it was considered downmarket. My one claim to fame was my school PE knickers which were from the same shop as the late Margaret Forster the authoress.

I can remember many of my clothes; my mother made most of them until I was a teenager. Most of my summer dresses were green so that I could 'wear them out' at primary school, but as a treat I was allowed one shop bought dress a year. Secondary school was very strict and most of the uniform items had to be bought. I loved my machine knitted navy blue pullover, my blazer and the school shirts, a very fine blue striped cotton.

My sister and I had a ‘costume’ for best, I think that was what it was called. A tweedy pleated skirt with a matching jacket with a velvet collar. We wore it for a wedding and Sunday School Anniversary days, things like that.

We must have looked a bit like the Queen and Princess Margaret as children when we were together!

Yes, I remember wearing hand-knitted jumpers and cardigans and some home-made summer dresses, a blue checked pinafore and pleated skirts.

In the last year of junior school we made dirndl skirts, mine had a white background with red daisies - I can see it now, in fact I might have a very small scrap of the fabric somewhere. We had to hand sew the hem with tiny stitches which only went through one or two threads and it wasn't easy to do this to the teacher's satisfaction.

At infant/junior school there was a fashion in girls' head wear - a machine knitted hat with an Alice band arrangement and a hole at the back through which you were meant to pull your pony tail. As mum wouldn't let us have long hair it would have been pointless anyway but how we longed for them. I think it also had a tassel at the back.

As twins I had to wear identical clothes to my non-identical sister 'as it was easier' but hated this. We are very different characters. Few people would suspect us of being twins now.

My mother made all my dresses and knitted cardigans and jumpers too. Quite often she made my sister and I the same style of dress but in different colours. I longed for a ‘bought’ dress. My best friend at Primary School always wore bought dresses.

I think I was cool. Huh!