To Monogram or Not To Monogram

I grew up wearing hand-me-downs.  I loved it when my cousins and others shared their clothes with me.  I couldn’t wait to go through the bags and see what I’d be wearing for the next few months.  It was like Christmas about twice a year–so much fun.

Maybe that’s why I love shopping at the GW Boutique so much.  Great clothes can be found, and it’s the next best thing to getting my cousin’s hand-me-downs.

I’ve had my mind pondering on something for a while, but yesterday all those thoughts came to a head, insisting on being written.

The littles and I were at the GW looking for an “Indiana Jones” style jacket for Cooter.  Yes, they’ve had their costumes for over a month.  Yes, we had a great time shopping for them and all was set.  And yes, he changed his mind.  As did his sister.  *sigh*  Remind me next year not to take them costume shopping until one week out–at the earliest.

I could have told him no, but he’s been so cute reading “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and asking me what big words mean.  I thought I’d give it one shot, and if we didn’t find a jacket, then it was back to Game Plan A.

I love the GW, have I mentioned that before?

There, in the little boys’ section, hanging in the middle of the rack was a little boy’s leather Gap jacket.  The size looked small but the jacket didn’t.  I tried it on him.  Perfect!  And for less than $5, my boy has a new winter jacket and a costume accessory to boot.  He doesn’t even mind that it has someone else’s name written inside.  It’s a cool name, and Cooter says it’s his secret agent undercover name.  Win, win, win.

I wandered around just a little bit, and I saw a monogrammed coat.  It was really cute–apple green with hot pink monogramming.  LOVE.  Our Princess looked at it for a few minutes and asked, “What are those letters, Mama?”

And you know what?

With the scrolling font, it took me a minute to figure it out myself.

And I got to wondering–how often do I actually read the letters of a monogram on someone’s jacket/purse/boots/glasses/necklace etc?  I don’t know that I consciously do sit and read the letters that often.

Which brings me to my next thought.

To monogram or not to monogram?

I mean, if my cousins had been into all that (or I suppose, if my aunt had), I would have been dressed very differently all those years growing up.  I am thankful they didn’t monogram things.

My oldest is into monogramming.  And I’m okay with that.  She’s the size she’s going to be, so she will likely keep these things until they wear out.  If and when she marries, she can even wear them then, whether she changes her last name or not.  Those three letters are hers forever.

I haven’t really had anything monogrammed for our Princess.  She’s very nearly ten, and she’s still very much growing.  All indications are that she will be tall like the Fella, so she outgrows things faster than GW can put new stuff out on the racks it seems.  It would feel very wasteful to me to put her initials on any clothing items at this point.  Then I’d be stuck with all of these things with three letters that only a very select few could appreciate.  (Can you imagine what planets would have to align for one’s taste, size, color preferences, and initials to be the same as my girl’s?)   I have, in recent years, had a couple of bags embroidered with her name or initials.  One bag we even had “Queen Elsa” embroidered on.  She uses it when we go off–she knows it’s hers, but no one around us knows her name.  It’s a safety thing.  I’m kind of obsessed.

I recently had a shirt monogrammed, as it was free with the shirt, and I thought, okay, why not?  I hope that I will either wear it to shreds or one of my girls will want it out of sentimentality.  Seriously, I struggled long and hard before I had those initials put on there.  I mean, no one else can really use it now, can they?

So that made me wonder how old is too old to be putting your initials on things?  I mean, can I really get the wear out of it before I leave it here for someone else to deal with?

We just can’t know that, I guess, can we?

So this apple green coat.  I did a crazy thing.

I bought it.

Here’s why.

First, it was cute, it was cheap, and the money goes to help folks.

Win, win, win.

But then there is the matter of those three letters.

NONE of which are mine.

So here’s what I hope to do.

I want to get up enough nerve to wear it.

Out.

In public.

And see if anyone notices, comments, or even glances sidewise at the monogram on the coat.

It’s my own little experiment to see if folks do, in fact, read monograms.  Or if they even care that the monogram is not my own.

The coat is washed and cleaned and dry and waiting for a cold enough day for me to don it and see what ensues.

This could get entertaining, and goodness knows there isn’t enough of that in this world.  At least not quality entertainment.

And, if anyone notices, I can always take a cue from Cooter and say it’s my undercover secret agent name’s…..monogram.  (The monogram is S.H.P.  Suggestions for code names welcome.)

This is just too much fun.

But seriously, please take the surveys below and let me know your thoughts on monogramming.  I’m really curious to see where y’all stand.

Wishes for quality entertainment and love to all.