Barbara J. Hamby

High Fashion Sloppy Joes

Many moons ago, when I was in high school, baggy sweaters called “Sloppy Joes” were the rage among the “in” crowd. Either nubby knit or cashmere, but decidedly oversized. I never had a cashmere sweater—too expensive—not to mention that wool makes me itch. But I bought myself nubby and other knits. I still could not be “in” because the largest sweater size available was 40, which was not sloppily loose on me. Most of my peers were about size 32, so size 40 hung on them. We wore sweaters three days a week, sometimes with Peter Pan dickies, sometimes with a single strand of pearls.

At my high school, in Seattle, on Tuesdays and Thursdays many of us wore “regulation outfits”—a navy blue pleated skirt, navy blue cardigan and white blouse or middy top. During my sophomore year, when I worked Monday nights and Saturdays, I sometimes wore the regulation outfit on Monday because it met the Bon Marche department store’s dress code for sales clerks. (Navy blue or black skirts, dresses or suits).

Anyway, all these years later, almost every sweater I own is a Sloppy Joe, now that I’m losing some weight. I probably won’t start replacing them until I get to my final goal weight. Then my Sloppy Joes will go.