Guest Blogger - Holly Firfer
Posted by Melissa Carter at 11/2/2009 2:32 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: CNN HLN Melissa Bert Show beauty Holly Firfer vintage tshirts Bert Show Q100 vintage shirts Jonas Brothers
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: CNN HLN Melissa Bert Show beauty Holly Firfer vintage tshirts Bert Show Q100 vintage shirts Jonas Brothers
Who are the Jonas Brothers???
Why on earth do we have mirrors? I mean, just when you feel good about yourself, reality sets in - in the form of a reflection.
We all relish those moments. Ya make it up the stairs without passing out... the produce guy actually does a double-take as you waltz past the bananas for a graceful entrance into the citrus section... or those jeans that used to cut off the circulation to your brain now aren't quite as tight, and you actually get in the car without getting light-headed. OK, maybe a few things are not exactly where they used to be, and perhaps where there was nothing there is now something. But doesn't beauty come from the inside out?
Tell that to my cousin, Jamie. There is quite a bit of an age difference between us. And thanks to her loose tongue, Stephen Tyler, and the latest college trends, I realize that no matter how good I think I look there is no getting away from Father Time.
Jamie grew up just like I did in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago, slave to the latest fashion trends and hip to the music of our parents. Only my parents were listening to the Temptations, Neil Diamond, and Lulu while her parents were jamming along to the likes of the Rolling Stones and The Police.
Jamie came to visit and decided we needed to go shopping. You don't have to twist my arm for that, but she decided she needed a vintage rock t-shirt. Despite the fact that every Target or Wal-Mart has a very authentic looking t-shirt, it wasn't good enough. Ok, girl, I dig it...you are playing my song...let's shop!
So, we head down to Little 5 Points and the Junkman's Daughter where you can not only get vintage T's but French maid outfits, Superman capes, rings that fit areas of the body I wasn't even aware I owned, and platform boots straight from a Rick James video.
Perusing the racks, I was heartened at the fact that this would be an easy task. I thought the hardest part would be deciding which fabulous memory would be the best buy.
Pulling Jamie away from various incarnations of Family Guy lunch boxes I held up the first T - a 1989 slightly ragged, slightly torn Cult shirt from their tour after perhaps once of my favorite albums ever, "Sonic Temple." I remember being at that concert and will swear to this day that Ian Astbury sang "Edie (Ciao Baby)" JUST FOR ME.
A quick roll of the eyes told me my young and musically-confused cousin gave it the heave-ho.
Next up, a 1973 gem which had seen the better part of a washing machine and a cup of bleach, but considering it was "The Who's" last album with John Entwistle, I considered the "It's Hard" tour t-shirt Smithsonian eligible. I was given the brow furrow and shake off. Never had I related to an album title so much. So, on to the next.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Leavell, and Tom Petty all went the way of platinum before them. Until FINALLY! I thought I had found what Indiana Jones searched for - for all those years - the Lost Ark of musical fashion. Hidden in the years of memories, sandwiched between The Police and The Knack, was a 1971 blue and faded yellow "Faces" t-shirt - from which I swear I could smell Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, and Ronnie Lane sweat from all those wild nights and wilder weekends.
I was just about to give up hope, and was rehearsing a Diesel jeans distraction technique, when the cry of a 17-year-old was heard among the Knight Rider and Greatest American Hero mugs. She had found it! The precious piece of cotton that would now call her dorm room home. A 1987 Aerosmith "Permanent Vacation" tour t-shirt that looked brand new.
"Fabulous!" I thought as I realized my stamina just wasn't what it used to be. And I asked her why on earth this - of all the shirts we had seen that long day - was the Holy Grail? Because they are the best-selling American hard rock band of all time? Because they hold the record for the most gold and multi-platinum albums by an American group? Nope.
"Because Stephen Tyler's hot."
Sigh.
But with weary arms and a backache I realized I was smiling. I was happy despite our apparent age gap. I now knew, all of those wrinkles and sags that joined me somewhere in the last decade or so hopped on board because they know a good thing when they see it. They know a woman who has played and danced and sung along with some of the best. They know that this - older than you - bottle-enhanced blonde may be huffing and puffing for the wrong reasons now, but she will never give up that rock n' roll spirit.
That night when I got home - after enjoying Jamie's look-what-I-just-bought fashion show - I went online and bought tickets to see Pat Benatar, David Byrne, and the Allman Brothers.
Who cares about the produce guy? And maybe I was wearing my jeans too tiny all along. All I can say to Jamie and her college roommates: "Don't worry, you'll get it someday, when your grandkids as you...Who are the Jonas Brothers?"
Comments