Create a Fashion Treasure Chest

I have always loved to dress up. I love going out to a nice dinner or going to a wedding just because I love to dress up. I think it all started with the "dress up chest" I had as a little girl. Little did my Mom know, she was creating a monster. Whenever she was ready to get rid of some clothing or accessories she would put them in my dress up chest. I spent hours putting together outfits and playing "guess who I am" with my little playmates.

In high school we would dress up for Pep Rallies and I always loved putting together a costume. I specifically remember my senior year 70's theme pep rally. A friend's Mom had saved all these dresses from her days as a flower child and I got to wear one. A real, authentic red and white mini dress with bell sleeves. I was in heaven. Having descended from a family of OCD neat freaks (a gene of which I only kind of inherited) my mom really had nothing left over from her days as a Mustang-driving, free spirited teen. (My Dad on the other hand has hung onto several rainbow embroidered tunics and jean jackets from his younger years. They still hang in the closest reminding him of his glory days when he drove a full size van and wore a Fu Manchu mustache.)

For several years now I have been putting away some of my old favorite clothing items in hopes that one day I will have a little girl to give it all to. Wrapped in acid free tissue and stored in a vintage trunk that my parents gave me they are waiting to be rediscovered by future fashion obsessed generations. As an avid EBAYer it is hard to save some things and not sell them but how neat will it be to pull out a Juicy Couture sweatskirt and the BCBG dress I wore to my rehearsal dinner 40 years from now when all of it is "vintage." And if I don't have a daughter, maybe my sons will marry some cute little girl I can share it all with. Then one day I can be the Grandma with a closet full of vintage Gucci bags that her granddaughters can't wait to steal.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, first off, I think every little girl needs a dress up chest. So if you have a little one, or are planning on it soon, start saving those old dresses and scarves. And start saving those important and memorable clothing items, you never know when they will come back into fashion.