New Clothes Practices - Childhood And Now

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Rihana, Mar 28, 2020.

  1. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    I was sorting clothes today and came across one top that is new with tags. I had bought it late last year so no possibility of it having coronavirus on it. Still, I felt like putting it for a wash.

    I was recalling how we got new clothes in childhood. Got the fabric from a "textile" store, soaked it overnight, dried and then took it to the tailor. When the stitched garment came home, we had to wait for the right and auspicious day to wear it, and after a bath.

    For a long time in the U.S., I used to always wash clothes and bed-sheets before using. Stopped for a few years, and now will always wash after coronavirus is gone. : )

    Share your memories of new clothes from childhood. And, how different is it now. Do you always wash new clothes and bed-sheets, towels etc before using them?
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  2. Anusha2917

    Anusha2917 IL Hall of Fame

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    Wow i would love such day and I know I can never see that day. As I buy clothes from shop and bring them home it's used for me because I immediately wear next day. ( well almost) never keep them with tags in cupboard.
    I never wash them because they lose that new fabric Smell and the crispiness goes. It's no more new once washed !

    But it is making me think(after reading this thread) now with so many people using that cloth in trial room should I wash them and use ?? I don't know. Their sweat etc..

    Childhood new clothes :hearteyes::hearteyes: Every small festival had a new dress. Thanks to my mom. She always kept buying us a lot of clothes.
    Best is sister ke birthday pe I got new dress (I'm the younger one you see) but mere birthday pe she never got :laughing: She still envies me for that part.
    I still follow that ritual. Husband birthday I purchase at least a t shirt so that photo mein with his new dress mine also will look new. :grinning::grinning:
    New dress are always worn after keeping them in pooja room, applying a haldhi in a corner in the dress . I'm so sentimental about this because I feel I get more clothes if I do this small ritual.. :grinning:
     
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  3. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

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    I always wash clothes and sheets here in the US before wearing. I’m paranoid that the clothes were tried on by someone. And many of the garments and sheets say to launder before using.
    Buying new clothes in childhood was such an occasion that I can actually remember most of my outfits. We would get one for Diwali and birthday, and maybe if there was a family wedding or other big occasion. I remember being so careful about choosing the perfect dress because we would have to wait a long time before the next one. Then we would have to put kumkum on the dress and wait for an auspicious day before wearing.
    I still marvel how I can now just buy whatever catches my eye whenever I want.
     
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  4. Vaikuntha

    Vaikuntha Platinum IL'ite

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    Back then, there was a big debate about stitched verses readymade.
    New clothes were bought for special occasion, birthdays, Diwali, shaadi etc. Always offered to god before wearing. We didn't wash it before wearing it.

    My aunt used to send me latest frocks as rakhi gift and that used to be my favorite. She lived in a metro and seemed that she spent a lot on each. She had to make the parcel herself, including the red-lakh for seal on package. I would usually to go main office to collect my parcel, and then carefully open it. The frock that will come out of the parcel, was the one of the greatest joys of my childhood.

    As I outgrew the frock stage, I went to the local darji to get clothes stitched. I used again offer the new cloths to god, before wearing it. The day was still a festival or birthday.
     
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  5. nuss

    nuss Platinum IL'ite

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    I always wash every single thing (for all of us- kids, husband, and I) from undergarment to clothes, sheets, towels etc. Even for silk and cashmere, I take to the dry cleaner first and then wear.
    My mom used to wash everything before wearing and I guess the good habit just stuck with all of us.
    Oh and I do have clothes with tags still on in my closet. Online shopping has its downside, something I like online doesn’t just feel/ fit right and then I forget to return.
    I am impressed to read all the replies reminiscing childhood memories of new outfits. My parents just bought us new outfits as needed or sometimes to surprise us. We always got new outfits for weddings in the family but not for Diwali or birthday. Once we started college (my sister and I), we got new fabric for a salwar kameez pretty much every other month.
     
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  6. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Bedsheets and towels are washed before use. These things have the faint odor of machine oils used in the weaving machinery, and those smells have to be removed. When young, and much poorer, I used to iron those myself also.... now I send them to a laundry.

    Blue jeans from long ago.... Once upon a time, it was not washed for weeks, and I wore it most of the time, against occasional parental advice. And then, very recently, someone had published a study of bacterial count:
    ......In 2017, a student in the University of Alberta wore jeans for 15 months straight, and they contained the same bacteria levels as they did when he wore them for less than two weeks.​
    Never mind the science. I am happy that my parents aren't alive to see this data. I am doubly happy that I didn't pass on my practices to the next gen.

    Now we wash all new things before it is worn.... however it doesn't seem to bother the boys to wear a new shirt right out of the plastic wrap. Now and then I would find a once-worn "new" shirt in the laundry hamper, and it would still have its plastic stiffener within the collar fold :rolleyes::facepalm:.
     
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  7. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Us older people, once we see a good fitting top or jeans, buy them in multiple colors. And then are not brave to wear the boldest color. : )

    Clothes that I have bought from Fab India, Neeru's, Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle (?) stores, I don't wash at all. : ) I wear them only two or three times for 2-3 hours, and they go out of fashion.

    Actually, some comfortable tops from Fab India I have washed in washer/dryer and they stood the test of time.
     
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  8. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    I too am amazed and sometimes guilty at that ease of buying! Felt a twinge of guilt each time I gave away bags filled with clothes worn just 1-3 times. Thankfully, it has gone down now.

    I was telling my kid how we got the fabric and got the clothes stitched.. the looks I got were as if I wove the cloth sitting at a loom from sunrise to sunset. :rolleyes:
     
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  9. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Oh yes that debate! We didn't buy readymade as those didn't have enough "folding" to open up as we grew in height.

    Oh my.. the mention of red-lakh seal makes me remember so many packages sent and received in teal/aqua colored envelops with that seal.
     
  10. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Those were the best days! Apart from the liberation from school uniform, starting college gave us the freedom and knowledge about salwar kameez material "sets" that the shops started selling - salwar, kameez and dupatta as a set. Mom's suggestion that we mix and match to save money fell on deaf ears. LOL ... life came full circle when mix-n-match became the trend later.
     

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