Recession?

1985 I think I saw this film, and I thought that hideous dress was fantastic. My friend Faith and I went to Midcity (when it was cool and everything was mirrors and stuff) and we came home and faffed on about how cute Jon Cryer And Andrew McCarthy looked (not anymore). My introduction to paisley, the smiths, underground, Molly, and opshopping.

In real time my own mother had been making my clothes on some industrial machine in the spare room she got when I was 4, shes still got it. Home made stuff was normal, one year we even homemade every single Xmas present and tree decoration.

You couldn't buy no shit at the shops back then.

I talked to my nana yesterday about how there was no shops back in the day, no giant malls of crap to buy. To be honest I cannot even recall where the hell I even got my clothes in the first place. Nana says thats coz there was nowhere. She said some names like 'Underground fashion' WOAH I forgot that, or we'd go to George Courts or Smith and Caughey. About 1986 this shop called Traffico opened, it was on the corner of Victoria and Queen where Whitcoulls is now. That place was fluro heaven, white tshirts and the beginning of my love affair with dead guys like James Dean.

1987 I started High school, bit of a nitemare in my home made shit. Actually now I recall we used to go to the swish new Viccy Markets, and buy chinese crap. Some friend of my mums bought me a fake pair of chucks, you couldn't get real ones in NZ, imgaine that? And they were about 100 bucks or something gay like that. I think the only thing that made a difference is that EVERYONE ELSE had crappy clothes as well, so we all fit in.

And then my first taste of economic downturn. I remember my best friend Celestes mum saying what a treat it was to buy steak. There was 5 of them at home, 3 teens and 2 professional parents and they couldn't afford steak.

And so.... ( I always have a point).....

This is the second time in my life I've seen a downturn. For some of you it will be a first. And this lends to my anti-crap buying mantra for 2009, that its totally ok to not participate in the money machine, in the malls, in the capitalist treadmill of buying loads of stuff. Having said that I did buy Xmas presents, but I have spent less than half what I did last year. my list consisted of about 12 people, against one year I found I had bought and I kid you not nearly 60 gifts.

The parents get photos, and so do the siblings. My inlaws got kraftbomb gifts and the kids got shoes and money for our holiday to Sydney.

PHOTOS

BAKING

CRAFTS

Thats where I'd put my dollars this year.