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Wedding Day. My mom Shirley and her mom, Emeline.
Happy Mother’s Day. I hope everyone has a wonderful one. Last week I wrote about the feelings of loss when your mom passes away, but time moves on, grief diminishes and we acknowledge a new generation of moms. In fact, just last night, Kate’s brother and his wife became proud parents of a early arrival baby girl (I don’t have clearance to put up pix yet, lol).
When I go through photos of my mom, particularly ones before I was born (her wedding album captures 1950s Brookyn finery on MacDonough Street in Bed-Stuy). But as adults, my mom and her sisters were fashionistas in their day.
I try to see myself in my mom; there’s some resemblance. I definitely share the same body shape with my grandmother; I guess my mom was a more like a petite, graceful version of me; I’m more of a hobbit. But that’s OK. I have no idea, however, how my grandmother produced 14 kids with her body. And quite a few of those kids were born during the Great Depression.
Anyway, I’m sure all of you have Mom stories to share!
Above: Photos on the left and right were taken at some resort in the 50s; the center photo shows my aunt Sandra with my mom. I’m not certain but I believe this was from a trip to Europe.
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Speaking of finery and fashion, on Saturday I was out and about, and we went into a store and the sales woman told me I looked like someone “out of the 60s”. I didn’t really think about it, but what I had on represented the usual “Blogmistress Bargain Basement” find. It was a Macy’s Alfani Tunic from the clearance rack (why pay more!), originally ~$60; I snared it for $19.97:
Of course fashionistas robbed blind by copytrolls like Righthaven have to pinch pennies, but of course I’ve already been doing that for a long time. Hearing those Depression-era stories from my mom make it easy to have thrifty notions.
I have a little feature on Facebook, “What is the fashion today?”, just making fun of myself; I upload pix of me and my eccentric wardrobe from time to time. I’m certainly not a glamour gal like my mom was, of course. Back in the day (1950s) they didn’t leave the house to go to work unless it was in a dress and heels. Oy. I obviously know I’ll never be a size 4 model, but geez, one can look decent on the cheap, even if you’re “abundantly endowed,” lol. As I said, I’m hobbit-sized (5’3″), so most tunics like the one above become short dresses on me. NOTE: I’m also bringing knee socks back into style! 
9 Comments
Actually I do see the resemblance.You even have the same exact smile!
As for the dress, the clerk probably thought that it looks like it was tie dyed. It’s obviously not and it is cute, but you may want to take that with a grain of salt since I’m not exactly known for caring about fashion. I have black pants and shoes which I wear with different color tops since usually I can’t be bothered to worry if the colors would match. Yes, I’m that bad.
For Mother’s DayHere’s the finale from George Steven’s very great film whose screenplay was written by by Dewitt Bodeen — a teriffic underappreciated gay scriptwriter (whose other credits include Cat People )
Psssst…About those knee sox…Nothing. Nothing is gonna make them “stylish” again. Trust me on this.
That was a joke about the knee highs…I have to try, though. I mostly wear socks because of the neuropathy in my feet, so it’s my one concession to fashion (as in “f*ck it”). I break out thigh-high hose for real occasions, but for just tooling around I have oodles of knee highs and cotton footies.
With fibro and neuropathy, you’ll see zero “What is the fashion today?” featuring uncomfortable footware and a sparing few with pantyhose, lol. Most Blenders will know why.
And I hope you know…my comment about knee-highs was also a joke. Sorta. Kinda.
Loss of a parentMy mom’s still with me. My dad passed away at the end of December. He would have been 75 on May 31. He was very ill for a very long time. I was expecting his death so it doesn’t tend to hit as overt grief but as depression. He didn’t see me finally graduate from nursing school yesterday, and today I’m very depressed.
It looks and sounds like your mother was a wonderful person who had a wonderful daughter. Happy mother’s day in her memory.
FibroI have fibromyalgia too–luckily no neuropathy. My late dad suffered with that. I wear support socks when I’m working because I’m on my feet so much.
I tend to be in the “fuck it” corner with fashion anyway. My harried, broke ass wears what’s comfortable! However with shoes I can’t take monetary shortcuts because of my lousy feet. I wear comfortable shoes that aren’t particularly fashionable but are expensive. Cute little “strappy sandals” are right out for this old hoss!
You have her smileNot only do you have her smile, you also have her eyes. The dress looks like a Pucci, very sixties chic. I thought the knee socks were boots until you pointed them out. Such a shame you can’t go with a chunky 3 inch heel.
Anything less than 4 inches is a flat!
FAAAABULOUS!!!Lookin’ good! The tunic rocks!
And I’m happy to see you with such a bright smile, given that your recent challenges with Righthaven and health.