Potato Sack Dress

My local town in Idaho has a little museum and this dress was on display with a fun story. The story is that high school freshman girls had to wear a potato sack dress for a full day as part of their initiation in the 1950's. Back then potatoes were bagged in burlap sacks. I couldn't imagine wearing this dress for a full day. One girl felt sorry for a freshman and sewed ruffles on one of the dresses to pretty it up.

The tradition has long since disappeared as potatoes are now packed in paper sacks. Some local resident donated this to the town museum along with a picture of the girls in the dress.

The color purple for children's clothes

For years I have heard rumors about the color purple and children's clothing, and more specifically girls dresses. Specifically the rumors suggested that purple was associated with death. That children who pass away are buried in purple in certain countries. Sales of purple dresses seemed to lag behind other colors, and some retailers refused to carry the color. If you shop the market you will probably not see much purple in the infant/toddler range.

Purple is an odd fashion color. It seems to run through the fashion cycle rather quickly. Either you love it or hate it. Of course a designer must consider the shade and intensity and other such things. And yet one hot color combo for girls is orange and purple. I haven't figured it out.

Read more about the color purple at Wikipedia and Sensational Color.