Traditions: Texan Homecoming Mums

When I read a blog, I usually read for the long term. Jezebel is a prime example, as I've been a faithful reader going on seven years. It's an interesting mix of political posts, women's issues, along with fashion and other pop culture tidbits. The past year or so the quality has been going downhill but many of the stories featured are still well worth the read. Today I was reading about a tradition native to Texas: the Homecoming Mum.

What started off as a simple corsage to wear to your school's Homecoming dance, mums as they're known are made of either fresh or fake flowers and are personalized. Ribbons cascade to the floor in your school's colors, while various paraphernalia of your activities (megaphones for cheerleaders, music notes for the choir members, etc.) are affixed in various ways. 

Different schools have different rules and traditions surrounding their mums. The large decorative mums may only be worn to the pep rally and Homecoming game while smaller ones are worn to the dance. Some schools limit the colors that certain classes may wear, i.e. freshman are only limited to the school colors while seniors can use whatever shade they choose.

Even the gentlemen wear mums, usually as garters on their arms. 

Mums date back several decades, and many people still have theirs from the high school days. 

Texas and other parts of the South have introduced a number of trends, and I think the Homecoming Mum would do well here. Other interesting trends introduced from the South? May I present to you the painted cooler:

 

Beautiful Plaid Skirts from Tuckernuck

Plaid Silk Floor Length Skirt, $198  |  Social Ball Skirt, $378 

I'm still thinking about the plaid skirts I posted not too long ago. While I love the fullness of the skirt on the right, I adore the colors of the tartan on the Just Madras skirt on the left.While the skirt lives on the dressier side of your closet, the right shirt or sweater with appropriate accessories will look wonderful to even a more casual affair.

If you're like me and are tall enough to play center for the Cleveland Cavaliers, I recommend wearing flats with either of these skirts. A floor length skirt should reach your instep if you're wearing heels or otherwise your look won't pull together.

Ashland, KY: Paramount Festival of Trees

Thanksgiving with my family is a wondrously simple affair. We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and then the Purina Dog Show. By the time the dog show is over, dinner is ready. We barely take half an hour to eat, and are usually in our PJs. We nap, and then we head over to Ashland, Kentucky's Paramount Theater for their annual Festival of Trees.

Please excuse the quality of the pictures, I took them on my iPhone because I can't remember to charge the battery in my camera.

 A tree inspired by the movie Miracle on 34th Street.

 The Paramount Theatre is nationally known for the murals in the building.
This is a close-up of some detailing around an exit.

 One of the murals on the walls. I've been enchanted by them ever since I was a child.

 A recent but very welcomed newcomer to the Festival is the massive and elaborate model train exhibit. You can see more of the murals on the wall in the background.

 The coal industry is always kept in mind. Even the ceiling has a mural.

 A close-up of the school in the train display. The swing set to the right of the school was actually moving, a nice touch.

 It was hard to get a good shot of the trees due to amount of people walking around.

 My mother's favorite tree. She's been collecting nutcrackers for over 40 years.

 Trees in all shapes, sizes, colors, and themes.

 There are wreathes and other decorative displays in the entrance to the theatre.
I really loved this idea as a wreath!

Unfortunately, the event has already ended for this year and I'm just now getting around to posting because I only had it saved as a draft. Oops.  However, Ashland, KY, has always had myriad of Christmas events, with the most notable being the light display in downtown's Central Park. I consider Ashland to be one of the prettiest towns in Appalachia, with a beautiful and active downtown area that's well worth the visit. The Kentucky Highlands Museum is hardly two blocks from the Paramount, and right across the street is the Pendleton Arts Center with a wide array of artisans.

A Look at Tattersall, 1974

I came across (and shamelessly stole) this photo on The Wide Wale. This is what a true prep wears:

Then again, I lived in and remember the '80s.

There are a few details that do date the outfit, such as the wide lapel on the button down, the acrylic jewelry, and the high-waisted pant. The camera equipment can obviously date this picture, but for all we know she could be a hipster sitting in Brooklyn somewhere. 

But she's too well-dressed for that. 

I also now miss my days in the darkroom during college. 

John says this ad is from 1974. What makes this an actual honest-to-goodness preppy outfit is because this outfit would have worked in 1984, 1994, 2004, and would still look great in 2014. 

Here's an idea of what this outfit would look like today:

A tattersall shirt, bright blue shirt underneath. A good midrise pant, braided leather belt, and classic tortoiseshell frames. The chunky cutout heels add some fun to an otherwise somewhat serious outfit.

I didn't add a turtleneck because the neckline on the button down is too narrow to accommodate a turtleneck and no one likes to feel like their being choked. The pant could have been khaki but I love the style in the picture too much and I find the brownish-grey color elegant. 

Another aspect that adds preppiness to this outfit is that it would appropriate for so many occasions. Going to a PTA meeting, grabbing a casual lunch with a friend, browsing the farmer's market on the weekend.

A good casual outfit, both 40 years ago and today.

Finally Made It: King Tunnel

In a previous post, I discussed some of the abandoned tunnels in the general-ish Athens, OH, area. I've been to Moonville --along with everyone else in the area-- and the Haydenville clay tunnel.  I knew there were other tunnels in the area, one being off limits due to a strict property owner but the other(s) I simply had no information on. I figure this is mostly due to the fact they're not known as being haunted, like the previously mentioned tunnels. My little sister was able to get some information on finding King's Tunnel and so we set off to find it yesterday.

My sister had directions from a website called Hidden Hocking but I had the coordinates from a geocaching website. Seeing as I'm from Ohio and am therefore a bad driver, I chose to plug the coordinates into my GPS so I could focus on driving and not reading street signs. When I did that, getting to the tunnel was pretty easy. I took 33 West from Nelsonville to 56 South and then took a sharp turn onto 356. If you use a GPS it will yell "recalculating!" as you turn onto 356 but just ignore it. While on 356 the GPS suddenly announced that we were at our location. At the time, our location was somewhere deep in the Southeastern Ohio woods so my sister and I were a bit confused by this. The GPS was correct, we were at our location, on top of it actually. 356 is on the side of a hollow and if you look down you'll see what appears to be an ATV trail. That's the trail you take to get to the tunnel.  Keep going down the road and you'll see Rock Creek Road to your left.  There's some parking space around the intersection and when you turn back to face 356 there's an old concrete bridge that is the start of the trail.

My little sister threatened to hack into this blog and post unflattering pictures of me if I put her picture up so I boxed her out. I was standing on the concrete bridge when I took this. 

The trail to the tunnel isn't long at all, less than ten minutes. 

Welcome to King's Tunnel, also known as King's Hollow Tunnel or the Mineral Tunnel.  This tunnel and the Moonville tunnel both belonged to the Marietta-Cincinnati railroad and are thought to have been built around the same time. No one seems to know why this tunnel was built with timbers instead of concrete or rock (maybe because it's already in a giant rock?).

A better view of the boulder/hill/rock the tunnel where the tunnel is set.  The tunnel was much longer than I thought, it's roughly 355 feet long.

Each of these timbers were huge and while I didn't measure I'd estimate they were at least 12x12.

I'm pretty sure it says 1955 but I could be wrong.

Refreshingly there was little graffiti. If you look up above the nose of the dog, you can see where the boards are starting to warp and buckle.

The beams at the top of the tunnel.

A  few of the seams were starting to split.

It's always nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel was originally built in the mid-1850s but with only a timber skeleton.  The walls were added at some later point. The tunnel was taken out of service in the 1980s and CSX took the rails out. There are rumors of joining the Moonville and King's Tunnels with a bike/riding path which would be a great attraction for the area. As always, if you plan on going let someone know because there is no cell phone reception at the tunnel and it may be days before someone finds you.

King's Tunnel is located in Lake Hope State Park, lovely but little known. The Moonville tunnel isn't too far, add a picnic and a spot of hiking and you have a nice way of spending a late fall day in Ohio.

"In Huntington, West Virginia, there is a river..."

On November 14th, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed on a hill just short of the runway at Huntington Tri-State Airport in Huntington, WV.  On board were 75 members of the Marshall Thundering Herd football team, coaches, staff, and fans.  The team had just lost 17-14 against the Pirates of Eastern Carolina University.  After the crash, the president of Marshall University, Donald Dedmon, almost shut down the football program until students and fans rallied to keep it alive. Dedmon hired Jack Lengyel as the new head coach and the rest of the story has gone into cinematic history as the movie We Are Marshall. 

My family has several friends that lost loved ones to that hillside on Flight 932. Most of them won't talk about the crash, or the surrounding time. People just seem to think that 42 years later, enough time has passed and it's time to move on. People in these parts, Appalachians, just don't up and forget their folk no matter how long ago they passed over. Ever year, on November 14th at noon, there's a ceremony on Marshall's campus behind the student center where Memorial Fountain stands (as seen in the picture above). There's a brief ceremony and the fountain is turned off. Many students make it a point to be there, it's part of the Marshall experience. You can see them stop and say a quick prayer on their way to class. Most 20 year olds don't give much thought to the past, but there's something powerful in seeing them remember their fellow schoolmates who never got to finish their journey between the East End and Downtown Huntington.

For more information, I can't recommend enough the documentary Marshall University: From Ashes to Glory. 






*It should be noted the Ohio River doesn't flow through the middle of Huntington. If it did, Southern Ohio would wake up to find itself annexed which I doubt they'd enjoy.

Plaid Skirts

Source: Classy Girls Wear Pearls

I can't say how much I adore this look. Beautiful plaid skirts with a simple OCBD or a sweater. It's very easy to recreate this look and said look is perfect for any number of occasions throughout winter.

Kohl's, $50

Land's End, $24 in a variety of sizes

 

 

Brooks Brothers, $165

 

Zappos, $71

 

Limited, $35