Blast from the Past ... Chelsea Pomeroy

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 hours ago, KnittingOwl said:

Looks like she deleted that account. I’m getting a “user not found error” which isn’t what I get if I don’t have permission to see. Unless she blocked me?

 

ETA: I think she just blocked me. I probably liked something as I was browsing through. I bump things all the time on accident. 

She blocked me a very long time ago. I was following her and I never liked anything or commented. But she blocked me when she went private.

[WiseGirl]

Well this is certainly a fashion choice...the control over the children to get them to dress this way is concerning. I feel for the older girls they seem to be at the ages where they should be allowed to pick their own clothes and find out what clothing style they like, you know taking those baby steps to independence.  Nope, not liking the control. 

[danvillebelle]

Rest assured, for all their religiosity, the children have duly internalized the message of "appearances are EVERYTHING."  

If it was special occasions, or holidays, or even Sundays, I wouldn't bat an eye.  It's the 24/7 accessorized down to the socks and shoes that is just bizarro planet IMO.

[anachronistic]

I think it’s whenever they leave the house or whenever they’re taking pictures. If they’re just hanging around I suspect they wear more ‘normal’ clothes. Chelsea quoted one kid who wanted to just wear her comfortable flannel nightgown all the time and how Chelsea explained that wasn’t possible - why the heck not? Outside of school uniforms, you can get kids clothing that is really, really comfortable for all occasions, and looks cute. Hanna Andersson is a great example of this, Lands End and LL Bean and Mini Boden too.

Occasions which Chelsea dresses up her kids for include doctor appointments, going to the coffee shop, sledding, church services, (twice on Sundays, once midweek) going to the church for any reason, any trip, any picture. Christmas morning? Can’t open gifts until your hair is done and you have a 2.5 lb bow pinned to your head. Beach pictures? Wear this and smile before you’re allowed to change and play. (Because no way they’re playing in those lace monstrosities they took pictures in.) Going to pick up your older sisters from school? Here’s a lovely ensemble that complements their uniforms nicely. Oh! No time to do hair - here’s a gigantic hat and yet another monogrammed bonnet.

Forget reselling the stuff online, she should be reselling it to costume shops, community theaters or television shows. A lot of it would be great for productions of, um, I don’t know, musicals with little girls in big dresses. As a kid I would’ve *loved* to wear a costume like that for one night on stage. The plain black and white chorus shirts we had were so boring. (One, maybe two nights. More than that - yech.)

My favorite place for special occasion dresses as a woman now is eshakti. I just ordered a dress for a September wedding (which may or may not happen and which I may or may not go to, but as of now it is and I am) and I was ridiculously excited that it has a matching face mask. Oddly you never see the Pomeroys with any masks - indeed, they didn’t really seem to do much social distancing at all, had play dates during lockdown, etc. In everyone else’s Instagram the pandemic made definite changes in the past 18 months, but not her picture-perfect-Pentecostal-pastel world.

[postscript]

47 minutes ago, anachronistic said:

 

Occasions which Chelsea dresses up her kids for include doctor appointments, going to the coffee shop, sledding, church services, (twice on Sundays, once midweek) going to the church for any reason, any trip, any picture. Christmas morning? Can’t open gifts until your hair is done and you have a 2.5 lb bow pinned to your head. Beach pictures? Wear this and smile before you’re allowed to change and play. (Because no way they’re playing in those lace monstrosities they took pictures in.) Going to pick up your older sisters from school? Here’s a lovely ensemble that complements their uniforms nicely. Oh! No time to do hair - here’s a gigantic hat and yet another monogrammed bonnet.

Forget reselling the stuff online, she should be reselling it to costume shops, community theaters or television shows. A lot of it would be great for productions of, um, I don’t know, musicals with little girls in big dresses. As a kid I would’ve *loved* to wear a costume like that for one night on stage. The plain black and white chorus shirts we had were so boring. (One, maybe two nights. More than that - yech.)

 

Don’t forget visiting the pumpkin patch (in pumpkin-themed dresses), going to a lobster restaurant (in lobster-themed dresses), and posing for pictures, er, running a lemonade stand (in lemon-themed dresses, complete with lemon-shaped purses). Chelsea can turn any occasion into an appropriately accessorized photo shoot. She missed her calling as a fashion stylist. 

I agree these are very stagy outfits. Any production of Annie or The Secret Garden (really, any historical play involving children) would be glad to get these dresses. They look well-made, and I doubt any of them are worn more than a handful of times before they’re outgrown. 

i, too, would have adored wearing these as a kid, but once or twice would have cured me of any desire for foofiness. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I hope all of her kids grow up to hate dressing up. And purposely wear comfortable casual clothing all the time. 

[usmcmom]

I was scrolling through her account recently and saw a post from last summer. One of the girls had been hurt while riding her bike. Chelsea wrote that the other girls helped her get her favorite outfit on to wear to the walk-in clinic. 

So….a child is hurt badly enough that the parents want x-rays and they take time to change her clothes? 

[mango_fandango]

I also wouldn’t have minded dressing up in those kinds of outfits once in a while as a kid. But not all the time. I was neither particularly girly nor really a tomboy, I was happy wearing all sorts. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I was crazy picky about clothing when I was a kid. I hated dresses and I wanted my clothing to always be comfortable. That meant I wore mostly soft materials and elastic waists. My kids are exactly the same. They refuse to wear jeans or nice clothing on a regular basis. They are active children and want comfortable clothing to play in. I was an active child and the clothing Chelsea puts on her kids would have been hell for me. Along with the hair. I had a sensitive scalp as a kid so curling my hair was a no go. Thankfully my parents allowed me to wear what I wanted. I can’t imagine being so controlling. 

[anachronistic]

The weird thing about the Pomeroys is, compared to most of the families we snark into here, just how not-weird they are. Aside from the clothes they really could be any other Southern,  Pentecostal Christian family. They love Trump: so do many, many other people. They go on real vacations, the kids get real birthdays, see doctors, are fed well, have friends outside the family - when compared to someone like Jill Rodrigues they are absolutely wonderful. Part of me wonders why I’m so judgemental about a silly thing like clothes. Sure, the kids don’t all like them, but I don’t think the clothes alone will scar them for life. None of the girls has enough for a tell-all book like the Duggar’s or Maxwells do. I don’t know. Maybe my standards are too low?

Also I can just imagine an ER staff or a doctors office staff gushing over the clothes and how cute the kids are then when the door closes behind them:

”Did you….?”

”see that? Yeah.”

”Like. Wow.”

”Yeah……”

[mango_fandango]

It’s interesting how two of the girls are always referred to as Mary Grace and Jane Claire, whilst the other two are Abigail and Charlotte (ie two names/one name). 
Charlotte reminds me a little of Mary Grace looks-wise. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

The controlling nature of the clothing is just like the Rods. I would say almost exactly. It’s all about appearance for Chelsea and Jill. Neither give a single fuck if their kids look ridiculous to their peers. Neither give a fuck if they are comfortable. Neither give a fuck if the clothing is practical. Chelsea’s controlling superficial nature tells me all I need to know. 

[Hane]

Is anyone else here old enough to remember Kate Greenaway dresses? They were inspired by her Victorian-era children’s book illustrations and we’re popular in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. My little sister and I had matching ones with bell sleeves and a big floofy skirt and I freaking *loved* them.

[quiversR4hunting]

22 minutes ago, Hane said:

Is anyone else here old enough to remember Kate Greenaway dresses? They were inspired by her Victorian-era children’s book illustrations and we’re popular in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. My little sister and I had matching ones with bell sleeves and a big floofy skirt and I freaking *loved* them.

I don't but I remember the Laura Ashley store- you could look like drapery or wallpaper! 

[postscript]

11 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

I don't but I remember the Laura Ashley store- you could look like drapery or wallpaper! 

I went through an unfortunate Laura Ashley period in my early 20s. I couldn’t afford anything from the store but there was a line of Laura Ashley sewing patterns and I made my own dresses, jumpers and petticoats. In retrospect, it was probably a delayed rebellion against my mother’s determinedly non-foofy aesthetic, which kept me in very plain, practical outfits throughout my childhood. 

I hadn’t compared them with the Rods, but I agree there are a lot of parallels. Different flavor of Christianity, different aesthetic, and different socio-economic level. However, both mothers exercise iron control over appearance, demand dozens of smiling photos at every opportunity, and generally use the kids as props for their own vision of an ideal Christian life. The ironic thing is that Chelsea and Jill would likely despise each other even though they have many attitudes in common. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

When I had band concerts, we were made to wear dresses or skirts. So my mom would buy Laura Ashley looking dresses from Kmart. As you can imagine, they weren’t very cute. Some Laura Ashley dresses from the early 90s weren’t that bad. The ones with those huge collars that looked like an apron over your shoulders were ugly. But the floral dresses without collars were ok. 

Edited August 17, 2021 by JermajestyDuggar

[Coconut Flan]

We had three or four dresses that were very similar to this that my older daughter absolutely loved.  She was too small for the store so I had to adjust patterns and make them.

[0 kids n not countin]

When I was in my late teens I loved the Gunne Sax dresses.  Fortunately we couldn't afford them so I only had one which my parents bought me for my high school graduation.   I still have it in storage somewhere. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

13 hours ago, anachronistic said:

The weird thing about the Pomeroys is, compared to most of the families we snark into here, just how not-weird they are. Aside from the clothes they really could be any other Southern,  Pentecostal Christian family. They love Trump: so do many, many other people. They go on real vacations, the kids get real birthdays, see doctors, are fed well, have friends outside the family - when compared to someone like Jill Rodrigues they are absolutely wonderful. Part of me wonders why I’m so judgemental about a silly thing like clothes. Sure, the kids don’t all like them, but I don’t think the clothes alone will scar them for life. None of the girls has enough for a tell-all book like the Duggar’s or Maxwells do. I don’t know. Maybe my standards are too low?

Also I can just imagine an ER staff or a doctors office staff gushing over the clothes and how cute the kids are then when the door closes behind them:

”Did you….?”

”see that? Yeah.”

”Like. Wow.”

”Yeah……”

I think the Rods, and a few others are the bottom of the barrel, but yes I agree with you that in many ways these people are mainstream conservative Christian. It shows how close Mainstream conservative Christian, fundie-lite and fundie are.

[PennySycamore]

@Caroline, the movie with Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brian you saw the other day is Meet Me in St Louis.  It's one of my favorite movies.  I love everything about it!  The actors, the story, the songs, the costumes and that house!  That might just be my dream house.  (Or maybe the house in the real, original Parent Trap.) I was going to go to see Willie Wonka with a couple of my granddaughters, but one of them was sneezing. Meet Me in St Louis was the perfect compensation.  

[KnittingOwl]

She’s monogramming a lot of the dresses now, which is going to make it a lot harder to resell. And you know she couldn’t possibly make a girl wear a dress with her big sister’s initials on it! The horror!

I just have to wonder about their finances. She must spend so much on clothes to have all the matching monogrammed outfits 

[JermajestyDuggar]

9 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@Caroline, the movie with Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brian you saw the other day is Meet Me in St Louis.  It's one of my favorite movies.  I love everything about it!  The actors, the story, the songs, the costumes and that house!  That might just be my dream house.  (Or maybe the house in the real, original Parent Trap.) I was going to go to see Willie Wonka with a couple of my granddaughters, but one of them was sneezing. Meet Me in St Louis was the perfect compensation.  

That’s one of my favorites too. I like to watch it at Christmas time.

[danvillebelle]

I remember drooling over the Gunne Sax/Jessica McClintock prom dresses in Seventeen magazine in the early/mid 80's.

My wedding dress was Jessica McClintock (1992).  I have no regrets.  I was very into Victorian/antique EVERYTHING at the time and adored my dress.

[Hane]

18 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

We had three or four dresses that were very similar to this that my older daughter absolutely loved.  She was too small for the store so I had to adjust patterns and make them.

OMG—we wore something like this in my baby sister’s wedding party in 1991, with shorter sleeves, tea length, and a pastel print.  I made my daughter’s junior bridesmaid dress, and another from the same pattern in an ivy botanical print.

[Alisamer]

2 hours ago, danvillebelle said:

I remember drooling over the Gunne Sax/Jessica McClintock prom dresses in Seventeen magazine in the early/mid 80's.

My wedding dress was Jessica McClintock (1992).  I have no regrets.  I was very into Victorian/antique EVERYTHING at the time and adored my dress.

One of my favorite things was drooling over prom dresses and such in magazines back in the day. And I loved the Laura Ashley and Jessica McClintock looks, which is strange because that was not my personality at all. 

My aunt had a Jessica McClintock wedding dress in the mid-80's. Very lacy and ruffly! 

I ended up with a Laura Ashley comforter during college and I loved it. It was pink and white striped on one side and had big pink roses all over the other side. It totally fit my otherwise "lazy goth" aesthetic. Mmmmhmm.

I have to say I still love anything Betsey Johnson though. Especially her jewelry.