THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9607310042
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 129 lines
LOOPED OVER the hook on the closet door it doesn't look like much. It's brown and long and hangs there beside a couple of Susan Hughes' nightgowns. It even has a hole where the dog chewed it.
But in its heyday 18 years ago, this was The Dress.
``I got it right after we were married. I conned my mother into buying it for me because it was, at that time, more than I could afford. It was a Norma Kamali, my first. I thought it was really neat,'' Hughes says, sounding more than a little wistful.
Over the years, the dress has lived several lives.
``It had this big hip belt that went out of style. I don't even wear a belt with it anymore,'' says the Virginia Beach resident. ``It's kind of faded out some now. When I first got it, I wore it out at night for dressy. Then it turned into a put-on-flat-shoes-and-go-to-the-grocery-store dress. Now it goes to the neighbors' houses with no shoes.''
The first grade teacher laughs. Pauses. Thinks.
The skirt of the dress flows. Fitted to the waist and tea length, there's just something about it.
``It's that sort of Isadora Duncan-type dress,'' she says finally.
And that's it. Favorite clothes make their owners feel good. Over the years, they grow into more than fabric, buttons and buckles. They turn into good friends that stick around through thick and thin. And they each have a history.
Take Kevin Gest's favorite Polo shirt. Please. ``Oh, it's really ugly,'' says his wife, Lori. ``I've tried to get rid of it. But he thinks it's really wonderful.''
Obviously, she does not know the story of The Shirt.
Kevin Gest is 34. He got this Polo shirt, a khaki and blue striped number with a red collar, 11 years ago when he was still single.
``It was back in '85 and I was in Hawaii at the time, stationed on an old submarine. It was a real stressful time,'' recalls the Navy diver. ``The sub was small. I had a bed I couldn't roll over in. I had to climb out and slip myself back in like a piece of toast. And at the time I had to hot rack - I shared the bed with two other guys who worked other shifts.
So that Christmas we were off for standdown and they put us up in barracks. I had two roommates whom I didn't know very well and on Christmas they surprised me with this shirt. It was just completely unexpected and such a surprise.''
Over the years, the shirt Gest's wife hates, the one she says is too small, has become a happy reminder of that miserable Christmas and a present from two nice guys who became his friends.
``It made me feel good then and it still makes me feel good to put it on,'' he says. ``Sometimes I get a little heavy and it hangs there waiting for me to get thinner.''
Cheryl Vasiloff's housecoat has done some time, too.
It's a seersucker, snap down the front housecoat. The kind everybody's mother wore.
``I wore it when I was pregnant. It's pink and and white striped. It was a good coat to wear in the hospital and easy to wear when I nursed. I kept it only because it's comfortable,'' says the 37-year-old Virginia Beach resident. But she admits that between that prim little collar, patch pockets, useless short sleeves and unflattering knee-length hemline are yards of good baby memories.
And in Vasiloff's closet is another treasure - a flannel nightgown she wore as a college student. When she digs it out of her cedar hope chest every fall, her husband just rolls his eyes.
``It's got to be 18 years old,'' she says. Mid-calf length and trimmed in eyelet lace, it gathers across the chest and would really not win any beauty contests. The fabric, once dotted with tiny flowers, is so faded that they're invisible.
``It's so warm. But it's embarrassing - it's so thin already that parts of it are actually transparent,'' she says.
She won't get rid of it. Fate will have to step in.
``It'll probably fall off of me,'' Vasiloff says.
Debra Shortt's kids wish fate would snatch away her favorite T-shirt.
``My kids truly hate it,'' says the Norfolk Public School secretary.
She, on the other hand, loves it. It's big, it's baggy and it was her mom's.
``I like wearing her clothes. When I visit her I always wear them. As a matter of fact, when I get there and walk into her house, she says, `You're not leaving with anything,' '' says Shortt, 35.
The shirt is ten years old and beginning to show a little wear.
``It's fuchsia,'' says Shortt. Then reconsiders, ``It was fuchsia. It's kind of dingy now. The kids keep saying, `When are you going to throw it away?' and I keep saying I can't throw it away because it's not mine.''
If anything happens to Carter Sinclair's expensive, imported hiking boots, it's because he wasn't looking.
``They're about 22, 23 years old,'' says the engineer. ``They still fit and still have the original soles. I'm very particular not to wear them in the street or anything like that because they're only for hiking.''
More than their value, Sinclair cherishes them for their history. He and his wife, Ellen, were dating when she bought him the boots.
``I talked her into buying them. Right then she knew I wanted nothing but the best,'' he says.
And not a lot of it. Sinclair, who is 41, jokes that his clothing budget is about $200 a year.
Could that be why a short-sleeved sweatshirt he traded for his own during a sailboat race 14 year ago is another favored piece of clothing.
``I traded some of my clothes to an Australian team. It was their team sweatshirt,'' he says. ``I do guard that.''
Just like Tina Congdon guards her panda shirt. It's not that old, but it reminds her of how she pulled herself out of a mental and physical slump a few years ago after she had surgery.
``It left my face black and blue and I had two black eyes. Somebody said I looked like a panda,'' recalls the Norfolk resident.
Now, wearing the shirt still means, ``relax.''
``I work full-time and I always have to be dressed up - high heels, panty hose, suit and scarf and belt, and there's always something to bind you up,'' says Congdon, who is 45. ``So when I want to be comfortable with the kids, this is what I wear. Off comes the heavy jewelry and I wear the panda shirt.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot
CHARLIE MEADSThe Virginian-Pilot
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
It seems everyone has got some threads that they just feel good in
and never want to part with, for whatever reason. Above, Susan
Hughes of Virginia Beach sports a dress she has had for 18 years.
Below left, Carter Sinclair shows off the boots his wife gave him 22
years ago, and a 14-year-old sweatshirt. Kevin Gest, below right,
refuses to part with his favorite shirt, which was a Christmas gift
during a tough holiday. ``It made me feel good then and it still
makes me feel good to put iton,'' Gest says.
Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOT/The Virginian-Pilot
Susan Hughes likes the way her dress keeps her legs warm at night,
even if it is over 18 years old. Rusty, the dog, agrees. by CNB