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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-09-01, Page 71 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 School outfitting not the major rush of yesteryear Peep pr•ssure According to local mer- chants, the one-time mad rush in late August to outfit young people . with new clothes for the reopening of school no longer occurs. It has passed into history, along with the steel-edged ruler, the scribbler with the math tables on the back, and the military haircut for boys which left vast expanses of white skin between ear and temple to contrast starkly with summer -tanned faces. When the school doors swing open again. on September 7, the students will saunter back to the classrooms in the same uniform they worn when they bounded out in June - the universally popular jeans and joggers. Pat Cottrell at The Junc- tion, looking back eight years to her first personal, pro- prietary interest in retail trends, recalls a definite last- minute shopping spree the week before school reopened. Now, she says, the summer wardrobe is not replaced, but refurbished, "freshened up with some little accessory". Jeans, and joggers (and cords for the cooler weather) have become an unofficial school uniform for everyone from kindergarteners timidly entering the classroom for the first time to seniors inhabiting the lofty heights of grade 13. The ubiquitous jeans have come a long way since Levi Strauss stitched and riveted the first pairs together for the riders of the range. "They are no longer just a piece of denim," Pat said. "They are well -styled items of clothing, and some brands are more popular than others. The kids know exactly what they want." "Jeans are by far the most popular item in our store", Zorin Gerrard concurred.. During nine years with his family's business, he has noticed that boys are becom- ing much more conscious of style. The constant barrage of advertising, and peer pressure, are the two most important influences on buy - Ing habits. Designer jeans for boys went over very well last year, Gerrard said. Gerrard finds that young people are much more con- scious now of cost and value, and although there is a flurry of last minute preschool shop- ping, many have already taken advantage of the sum- mer sales, or will wait until January to buy their winter clothing. "Kids no longer buy what mother used to buy for them", Gerrard noted. By about age 12, peer influence is at least as strong as parental. John Wuerth agrees with that assessment. "When my grandfather started this shoe store in Ex- eter in 1937, it wasn't a ques- tion of likes or dislikes; children had the choice of tak- ing what their parents picked out or going barefoot", he said, adding that now the four to nine years olds have more definite ideas than anybody. "Every little girls in town has to have strawberry short- cake shoes. It used to be Sesame Street." Preschool purchases in August are primarily joggers, Wuerth said, but shoe sales are ' brisk until mid-September, Over the past few years, he has seen a trend back to dressier shoes for girls. "I think girls go to school, see what the fashion setters are wearing, then buy that style. Out of about 15 patterns in dressy casuals, we'll have three winners", Wuerth dlctat.s fashlons, more than parents remarked. "Boys are not fashion'conscious about footwear. They buy the jog- gers, and maybe have a se- cond pair of leather casuals for dress." That corresponds with Jim Glasgow's experience. After 22 years as manager of Smyths, he sees casual shoes "used for every occasion, par- ticularly since the price of shoes went up". The same popular brand name joggers are purchased by both male and female customers, and Glasgow said some lines of winter boots have the male and corresponding female sizes listed on the boxes. An annual sale in late August brings a rush of preschooling shoppers to the store, and Glasgow has con- cluded that 75 percent of the time, the child decides the final purchase. "Even tiny tots have a name instilled in their mind," he said. Janet Coward and Sandra Rowe have been catering to Little People for three years, and to the seven to fourteen crowd for the last 13 months. They, too, find that mothers are still choosing the outfits for .children from kindergarten to about grade three or four. After that, girls. switch to pants and knickers, and only buy a dress because they have to. "You can't do much with boys except get them into a decent pair of pants. They figure if they are wearing cords they are all dressed up", Janet smiled. Only the children entering kindergarten are bing outfit- ted with complete new war- drobes, ' she said. Older children just get needed replacements. Many items purchased from the sales rack are being bought one ALL SET FOR SCHOOL - Eugene, Sharon and Raymond Boersma may not be anx- ious to return to school, but they have new school supplies. Trevor, 3, will have to wait for a year or two. Outfitting the family of six or twins can be expensive With jeans for young people ed up items on sale she knew ranging in price from $20 to would be needed. $40 and brand name joggers "There are a lot of things, priced in the same general like boys' underwear and area, outfitting one's children socks, that are common pro - to return to school can be an perty", Audrey said with a expensive proposition. smile. In a large family there are also lots of hand-me-downs, but "boys are pretty hard on their clothes." Everyone now has two new pairs of jeans, a new pair of joggers, and the boys have new T-shirts. (Audrey knows from experience the boys wily wear a pair of handed down, mended, patched and repat- Audrey and Pete Boersma, RR 1 Exeter, will be sending six children off to school next week, three to public and three to high school. Throughout the summer, the thought of the coming school term has been in the back of Audrey's mind whenever she went shopping, and she pick- Unsliced JadffI- T/u Labour Day Specials French Bread........79 4 loaf Nutritious BRAN MUFFINS 6/99 Fresh off the block! Colored or white OLD MBAR CN11S1... lb. $3.09 Bright COLBY CIIIISI lb. $2.69 We have. "bulk" snacks baking supplies 7ai4i-flu gaber aeeieamjcioctie Exeter Zurich 235-0332 236-4912 Seaforth 327-1803 ched jeans, Out no way will they wear an old pair of dress pants to school: - Dianne, Donald, Ted and Sharon have earned money for new school clothes. Thirteen -year-old Sharon is all set for September 7. She bought herself a pair of black dress pants and a prairie - style blouse with part of the money she earned picking cucumbers. She will spend the rest of her cash after older sister Dianne returns from nine weeks employment at a summer camp, and the two can go shopping together. "We're very fortunate the older children worked this summer", Audrey said. Mary and Doug Ellison are discovering that twins mean double the fun and double the expense. Shopping for identical -twin daughters means buying two of everything. Adding up her expenditures after a recent shopping trip, Mary found she had spent $130, and brought home two same -size jogging suits, two same -size denim skirts with matching blouses, and a knicker outfit for baby sister Jenny to wear to kindergarten in September. "I have never dressed the older girls in identical out- fits," Mary said. Marcie' chose a traditionally styled jogging suit, Michelle an avant )tarde model with tight ribbing from ankle to knee and wrist to elbow. The twins celebrated their eleventh birthdays last week, and many of the gaily wrap- ped presents contained gifts of clothing. "1 have to multiply the cost of everything by two. You can splurge for one, but it's out of the question for two," Mary remarked. Still to come are two pairs of same -sized good leather shoes. However, the Ellisons wouldn't trade their twin daughters for all the world. "They are very special". Mary's last word on the subject. size larger, to be given as Christmas gifts and worn next year. While the older students are still cramming for Easter ex- ams, and younger ones are dreaming of chocolate eggs, the retailers are ordering stock in preparation for the reopening of school the follow- ing September. Partners (and sisters) Coward and Rowe, with very different tastes, hope between there to cover the whole range when ordering for the coming year. "1 have a hard time zeroing in on what students want", Gerrard admitted. "Take trendy T-shirts, for example. Cartoons come in, univer- sitles go out; athletic teams are in, slogans out. We are testing the waters all the time." Both Gerrard and Cottrell believe jeans will retain their number one position, but foresee increasing popularity for action -wear fleece. Pdt also predicts a growing trend among the girls towards dressier pants in corduroy or drill. The clothing and footwear merchants will soon be plan- ning for the next school • season, keeping their fingers crossed that they guess cor- rectly what students will be wearing back to school in 1983. And if not? "We go talk to our banker", Janet Coward laughed, ad- ding "nothing has really bombed out so far". BEGINNING DAY =Alpha Pi chapter of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority began the fall season with a dinner at the home of president Sharon McNeilly. The new executive (from left) are Joan Morgan, treasurer, Sharon McNeilly; director Lillian Campbell; Sharon Lynn, vice president; Susan Moore, past president and secretary Joan Westerhout. (Sponsor Helen Frayne was absent.) Cromarty lady marks 90th event By MRS. ROBERT LAING Cromarty Congratulations to Mrs. Russell Scott, a former resi- dent of Cromarty, who celebrated her ninetiethbirth- day at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Russell of Seaforth. Throughout the afternoon many friends mid relatives called to extend their congratulations. Among the guests was Wes Russell's mother, Mrs. Bert Russell, of •Mitchell, who celebrated her ninetieth birthday last year. -Previous to the open house, members of Grace's family took her out to dinner in Clin- ton, and they were joined by her brother and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Dan McKellar of Buffalo, and Mr. and Mrs. Thos. L. Scott of Cromarty. Two sisters, Jean Miller of Mitchell. and Mary Weitzman of Niagara Falls, U.S.A. were unable to attend. Mrs. Scott was the former Grace McKellar and she has a family of three daughters, Marian Wallace, Mitchell, Agnes Russell, Seaforth, Margaret Cadick, Chatham and one son, Donald, of d Seaforth, also 12 grand- children and several great- grandchildren. Her husband, Russell Scott, was killed by lightning in 1939. Grace was always very ac- tive in the wok of Cromarty Presbyterian Church and the W.M.S. when she lived just east of the village and later in Cromarty. Although she now has an apartment in Seaforth, she still has a keen interest in the happenings in her home town area. The sympathy of the com- munity is extended to the Carlyle Meikle.family follow- ing the death of his father, James Meikle, Exeter. Before retiring to Exeter, Mr. and Mrs. Meikle farmed on the Hibbert-Usborne boun- dary and attended the Cromarty Church. Cayley and Tara Dow of Listowel spent the weekend with their grandparents, Mer vin and Betty Dow. Alex and Marilyn Zimmer; and Erin, Stratford, visited Monday with Bob and Ruth Laing and their son, Scott, returned home with them after spending a few 'days with his grandparents. FOR BACHOICHOIRERS Discount on all Fa 1 I, Merchandise Exeter Hours Mon.- Sat. 9-5:30 Fri. 9-9 420 Main St. Centre Mall Exeter, Ontario 235-1412 1362 Lambton Mall Rd. Sarnia,' Ont. 342-2873 Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle Meikle returned home Thurs- day from a trip to the east coast. Although the ground was white with frost Sunday mor- ning, and windshields had to be scraped before driving, there seems to have been lit- Sunshine Kids Co-operative Preschool Inc. tle damage from Saturday night's frost except for a few leaves on garden vines such as cucumber and pumpkin. Jim and Dorothy Miller spent the last two weeks at their cottage on • or hern Lake Huron. FALL .REGISTRATI LOCATION: 42 James St. Exeter TIME: 9-11:30 Tues. -Friday mornings CLASSES START September 14th STAFF: Ruth Mercer - ECE teacher Leslie Viner - A.P.P.S.L.D. Resource Teacher Parent Assistant OPEN HOUSE - Sat. Sept. 11, at 10-11:30 very Reasonable Membership rate Experience Learning together WITH your child Phone for Registration 235-1368 or 235-2961 ( • Times -Advocate, September 1,1982 IIIIIIIcuyo & OAR an ii....-sommem Impress that back to school crowd with a Pogo 7 HAIR STYLE from COUNTRY CLIPPERS • Mt. Carmel Your advanced hair care centre with the latest in hair fashions. Q.11237-3778 Open Tues, Wed. Fri. 9-6 Thurs 9 to 9 - Sat. 9-3 ac4toiwSQ SIIVINLIS ST4,4,),N 4frff4EV‘W BISOUSES ONE LOW PRICE s16w9 • New fall arrivals the junction EWER S LARGEST DIPARTMEYT MAIN ST., EXETER 234-0270 i MUNICIPAL ENUMERATION Starting September 7, 1982, an enumerator, carrying a proper identification card, will call at your residence for a few minutes to check basic information required in determining: • your eligibility to vote in the municipal and school board elections to be held on November 8 this year; • the .allocation of education property taxes between the public and separate school systems; • the distribution of provincial grants to local governments to help reduce tax bills; • the preparation of jurors' lists; and • population information needed for other municipal programs. The enumerator must record such information as the name, age. property status (e.g. owner or tenant), school support and residency of all members of the household. This year in certain areas the enumerator will also ask if you would like your name included on a list of electors for French -language schools. When the enumerator visits, please check that the information on the Enumeration Notice is correct.' if it is not, revise it and verify the changes. If you are not home, a Notice will be left for you. If changes are necessary, please make them and mail the Enumeration Notice, as soon as possible, in the pre -addressed postage prepaid envelope accompanying the Notice. For any additional information. please contact the local assessment office. Specialty jailtioni £'.L 16-20, 16'/2-24'/2, 38-44 Ontario Ministry of Revenue Elgin -Middlesex -Oxford Regional Office Reg'l Comm - M.C. Quinn (519)681-0050 Zenith 63310 Huron -Perth Regional Office Reg'I Comm - J. Garrett (519) 5247326 Zenith 66500 I .4 jY • .Y