​I was born in a misplaced persons camp in a village named Trofaiach in Austria.  The camp held approximately 11 thousand refugees from all over Europe.  The camp had a school, a shop and was guarded by British soldiers. 

My mother was from Slovenia and dressed in the national dress of Slovenia.  We kids wore embroidered white shirts and lederhosen.  The pants were made from cow hide and were very thick.  The braces to keep up the pants were also embroidered.  White long socks and stout leather boots completed the outfit.  The embroidery was stitched by my mother in the winter months as the snow was very deep and no travel was possible. 

We kids, there were four of us, were normal kids as we often got into trouble, as kids do.

Once when we came home late from school – it gets dark early in the mountains – Mum found us playing in the village pond, which had geese and ducks swimming in it.  She came skiing down the hill carrying a big stick.  We knew we were in trouble.  She beat us and made us go home.  
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That night my older brother asked if Mum’s whack with the big stick hurt.  We all said that we cried out when she hit us, but the lederhosen took all the punishment.  We all just giggled and did not tell Mum we could not feel any pain.  We went to sleep happy.

Lou Sigmunde
August 2023

*Image found on web...

When I was almost five, my oldest cousin was to be married and I was to have a new dress for the occasion. My mother was a seamstress and made most of our clothes, although there were more hand-me-downs than new ones. My dilemma was I that because I was nearly as tall as my older sister I often missed out and the items went straight to my younger sister – frequently I won my older brothers hand-me-downs, so a new dress was pretty special.

The chosen fabric was a tightly woven, shiny, satin material, smooth and cool to the touch. Red and pink spots scattered on a white background. The circles were paired together, one slightly overlapping its partner. It seemed to have the right ratio of repetition and randomness. The dress had short, puffed sleeves and gathering at the waist. I remember having to stand on the table and slowly turn as Mum pinned the hem at the correct length. Looking back, I think mum’s decision to dress me in white was very brave or quite optimistic – I was not a neat and tidy child.

At some point there was a scarlet velvet cummerbund added – I don’t think it was in the original design but probably attached to hide the letting out of the dress needed to accommodate my growth. Although I can only remember wearing the dress once, it is possible it came out on again before I grew out of it.
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I don’t remember Sue and Graeme’s wedding ceremony and its possible I didn’t attend; my younger sister would have been only three, so we were probably considered too young to behave in church. I do recall the tall red brick exterior and the wide steps leading down to green lawn area and the wedding party appearing at the top of the steps amongst huge smiles and ringing of bells. I was given a box of confetti, most likely half a box as we would have had to share, and it was quite a novelty to be allowed to throw something at grown-ups. Afterwards, we kids gathered fallen confetti from the steps and path and threw it at each other. The confetti was mostly white, but also pink, yellow, pale blue and green circles. On closer inspection some of the circles were incomplete – moon shaped. They were just like the spots on my dress!

​Phiona Rhodes
​August 2023

​Barry O’Connor.
August 2023.

My item of clothing that symbolises a time in my life is a Hat I bought in Austria many years ago.  I wanted a traditional Austrian Hat. You know, the sort they all wear. They are normally Green and have a feather on the side, maybe a couple of badges.

I was on three months holiday with my wife travelling round Europe. Obviously on such a holiday, I wanted to collect a few mementos, souvenirs and so on. But what could I collect that wouldn’t take up too much room in our suitcases and not be too heavy? Things such as Brochures, Spoons, Fridge Magnets, Post cards, Drink Coasters. Badges. Yes Badges, attached to a hat. Problem solved.

I purchased a hat, in Austria, then pinned badges to it as I acquired them. Some badges I bought at gift shops. Some were given to me by people that liked my hat.

We were at a place called “Dunrovin” Castle, in Scotland. It also had a museum where they had a large area of stuffed wild animals. Every animal from the African jungles that you could think of. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos of these specimens. I think probably because they should not have had most of them.  Anyway, a staff member approached me, and she said, “I love your hat, would you like another badge to go on it?”. I said, “that would be nice, I would like to see it”. She showed me a very different sort of badge; no-one seems to know what it is or where it came from exactly. It looked like it might have been a Hammer and Sickle type badge.

Whilst we were at a Slate mine in Wales, a guy was making badges and ornamental stuff from off cuts of slate. We looked at his badges but couldn’t find one that was suitable for my hat. He told me to come back in an hour and he would have something for me. When we got back, he had placed a small Welsh Guard onto a piece of slate with a pin underneath it. It sat perfectly on the ridge on the front of my hat. Finished the hat off nicely.
One of my uncles gave me a Warwickshire Army Regiment Badge and Plume for my hat. It looked quite impressive. (He also gave me a walking stick that had been covered with badges).

I never thought I would gather so many badges, they came from everywhere we went. All shapes and sizes.

I only wore the hat when I had to, which was normally between places where we had to take our luggage. So on public transport and airport terminals whilst boarding mainly. The hat had so many badges it had become quite heavy.
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When we arrived back at Tullamarine, we were met by our family. As soon as they saw us, they turned away in embarrassment. They didn’t want to know this bloke in the strangest hat (and with a walking stick) they had ever seen. Talk about embarrassing.

 
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Tom Barnaby
August 2023