The Skirt My Mama Made
My mom has stories.
You don’t get to be her age and not have a few stories to tell…
This isn’t even one of her best stories; but this story is relevant to my story.
My mom used to make her own clothes when she was younger, she claims she was very good.
As a matter of fact, she maintains that all the women in my family are talented dressmakers.
My mom has this story she’s told over and over, and it goes like this;
While visiting her Aunt Felicia and Uncle Dan, they invited her to a dinner being held for a few diplomat friends.
They’d just introduced my mom to the man who’d become my father, and this would unofficially be their first date.
My mom panicked, she hadn’t packed anything appropriate for a dinner party.
She bought some fabric that morning and borrowed her aunt’s sewing machine; she sewed a simple dark-blue shift dress, with a cream ribbon band at the waist and piped seam with the same contrasting ribbon.
That night at the party; their host, the French Ambassador’s wife complimented her on her beautiful dress and asked where she got it from.
One of her proudest moments she said was being able to say she made it herself.
Everyone loved her dress!
The man who would become my father… the shy young military attaché couldn’t take his eyes off her – they were married months later when he returned home from his posting.
We got a sewing machine for my mom for Christmas; she loved it but complained that she hadn’t sewn anything in years, those days were behind her.
The machine sat there untouched for almost a month, and then I went to the fabric store and asked her if she’d make me a skirt.
This is the skirt my mom made for me, a full gathered skirt with a lace trim at the hem.
It turned out quite well considering my mom was convinced she was so out of practice she was going to ruin it.
My mom has gone on to make me a dress and another skirt, both very pretty and inspiring.
I’m trying to get her to make me some cute summer dresses.
I’m going to take a dressmaking class next month.
I want to recreate my mom’s dress from the sixties.
Wearing:
Skirt: Made by my mom
Brown Shirt: Uniqlo
Vest: RW & Co
Tights: The Bay
Boots: Deena & Ozzy
Jacket: The Gap
Watch: Nixon Pirouette
