As a child of the 70’s and 80’s, I had the misfortune of being subject to many embarrassing photographs. Somehow polyester, flared pants, the poly blend shirt with pointed collar and the infamous bowl cut found its way into my life and I’m not afraid to blame my parents for this profound fashion injustice.

My fashion timeline is vast and full of tragedy. The event that stands out in my mind occurred in 1984, at my 10th birthday party.

As Filipino culture dictates, my parents invited every relative to the party, even those whose names I could barely remember or pronounce. I did have the luxury of inviting a few friends, but that proved to be fatal since their laughter from that day has lived in my memory for all these years. A few days before my party, my mom took me shopping at the now defunct Frederick & Nelson. What a wonderful store! I was determined to buy the newest Esprit jumper, but my will was not enough (nor were my tears). My mom had other ideas as to what a 10 year-old should wear and she didn’t see it at Frederick & Nelson.

Instead she took me to Sears and found this poly-blend purple top with a Victorian collar and a white and purple skirt (I think it was floral). As I dressed on the day of the party, I quietly cried in my room. The ruffled collar on my blouse was itchy and too tight around my neck. The skirt hiked up in odd areas whenever I moved. As if the blouse and skirt combination was not enough, I was wearing cotton-ribbed white tights (in June!) with green Capezio loafers with a mini-stacked heel. When I finally emerged from my room to greet all my guests, my parents’ godson stared at me for a minute and burst out into laughter. Somehow finding the inner-strength to keep his laughter muffled, he blurted out, “Hey, you look like a teacher from Little House on the Prairie!”

The term “scarred for life” comes to mind when I think back to that day.

I’ve worked hard to find my fashion sense.

As a mother of two who works from home, running a household of five people including myself, two dogs, and a house that constantly needs cleaning, I struggle daily to find the perfect balance between home and work. Do I spend a few hours making a fantastic gourmet meal that will be gobbled down within seconds or do I skimp on the gourmet and do something easy and fast like pizza or hot dogs? I am constantly plagued by trying to provide a nutritious meal for everyone including myself.

I struggle daily not to fall into a daily routine where I pull my hair back in some indistinguishable ponytail and throw on anything that is clean and comfortable. If you can relate to staring at the clothes hamper and wondering where all the clothes came from and how you’re going to possibly wash everything, trying to squeeze out the last drops of conditioner into your hands because you can’t remember to buy more, balancing out your weekly budget and discovering that you’re barely going to make it and getting eight hours of sleep and still feeling tired, then welcome to my world. It’s not perfect, but miraculously the family and I are quite happy, and isn’t that what’s important?