When I was a kid, I absolutely loved wearing Garanimals clothing. Made by Garan, Inc., the Garanimals line was just for kids, and each article of clothing had a hang tag with a particular animal and color attached to it. The purpose was for kids to be able to pick out their own clothes by matching the tags. If you picked out a shirt with a red monkey tag, all you had to do was find pants with a red monkey tag, and you knew you were good to go.
There was a store called Van Leunen's near my parents' house when I was growing up, and this was the type of old-fashioned department store that sold everything but the kitchen sink. Or maybe they did sell sinks, it wouldn't surprise me. At any rate, I loved their children's clothing department, as they always had a great selection of Garanimals.
Being able to match the tags and pick out my own clothes made me feel like a big kid and, since I am the youngest of five, that feeling didn't come along very often. As I've always been an animal lover, the animal tags were the icing on the cake for me.
My mom has a photo of me wearing one of Garanimals' finest, a bright orange "only in the 70s" ensemble that I know I thought was all that at the time. I can't help but laugh at it though, as I am very fair-skinned, and if I wear that color now I look like I should be laid out in a coffin. It makes me think that having kids pick out their own clothes might not have been that great of an idea after all.
I tried finding Garanimals pictures online, and was surprised to see that the company is making children's clothing again, with a whole new array of animal tags. I was disappointed that I didn't have any luck finding photos of the old tags though. I guess those are consigned to memory.
I am the world's worst shopper, and always hate trying to match outfits together. I can't help but wish sometimes that I still had the animal tags to help me out. As long as I made sure to stay away from the orange, of course.
A wonderful G word and so good to read.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
I have so many tops that don't go with any trousers and visa versa. I could really do with some Garanimal clothes too... although I have to admit I'd never heard of them before I read this blog.
ReplyDeleteI loved Garanimals. They were my favorite line of clothing as a kid too.
ReplyDeleteMy girls had these. One only wore the correct match. For the other one all I can say is "oh lordy!"
ReplyDeleteI love this POST! I totally remember that, except I was either too old or we just didn't bother. I'm a 70's/80's kid...and my mom always chose "Terry-cloth" everything. Do you remember that fabric? We would go to Gemco or Fedco which later became Zody's that became Taret?...I don't know...but they had every short and matching top color yellow/pink/blue/green and my mom made me get them all to match. They were horrible pastel colors that didn't go w/my pale skin.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I recall. I was allowed 1 pair of crazy red,courdoroy pants with a doggie on the back pocket and wore them w/everything! I only had 1 matching shirt. I wonder if my mom has pics.
Sandi
http://www.ahhsome.wordpress.com
Very cool post. I should remember Garanimals, but I don't. I'm going to have to ask my mom about this, perhaps I was deprived. Wish we could see that orange outfit.
ReplyDeleteI never wore Garanimals but my husband speaks fondly of them, and found some for my boys when they were small! :)
ReplyDeleteWell, since that orange outfit was in the 70s, it must've been pretty Groovy :)
ReplyDeleteHow did I not hear about Garanimals?! Sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I never knew that clothing line was around. What a great idea to help kids dress themselves. Wish I them when my daughter was younger. The outfits that child would pick out were horrifying at times, lol!
ReplyDeleteThey need a clothing line for women. Maybe instead of animals, we could match shoes on the tags. ;)
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Garanimals would be good for lots of things. I can't believe they still make them. Gotta go look.
ReplyDeleteThis is time first I've heard about Garanimals. Sounds neat!
ReplyDelete@Yvonne, thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDelete@Rosalind, that's how I am, it seems my closet is full of things that don't match. I either need Garanimals, or a personal stylist, which I don't think is going to happen. ;)
@Carrie, I'm glad I'm not the only one who loved wearing these.
@Gigglesandguns, how funny! I never thought about how the outfits might look if you didn't match the tags, your daughter must have had her own style. :)
@ahhsome, thanks, I'm glad you liked the post! Oh my gosh, yes, I remember the pastel terry cloth too. Kind of scary to even think of it LOL. I'm almost certain I had red courdoroy pants too, such a funny time period for clothing!
@Tim, you should check with your mom, I think you were deprived if you missed out on these gems. ;)
@Nicole, oh, how cute you found some for your boys. I'm glad your husband has fond memories of the clothes as well. :)
@Joanne, groovy indeed. :D Honestly it kind of looked like something Cindy Brady would have worn LOL.
@Michelle, they really were fun. :)
@Donna, that's funny about your daughter, how cute. I can only imagine what I would have picked out if I hadn't had the animal tags as a guide.
@Catherine, that sounds like a great idea, I wish! :D
@Carol, I couldn't believe they still made them either!
@Samantha, they really were neat, very fun to pick out the clothes. :)
What a fabulous Garanimals memory. We are honored to be featured in this post. For all of you that have fond memories of the brand, we'd love to hear all your stories. You can post them on our facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/garanimals or comment over on our blog http://blog.garanimals.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the shout out. We really appreciate the love.
@Amy, thanks so much for coming by! I'm really glad you liked the post. Thank you for the links as well!
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