If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?
I would probably wear a dress that my Mimi bought me when I was in 6th grade. I don’t ever remember having a dress, purse and shoes that matched. It was 1965 and I wanted a brightly colored mini skirt with matching Mary Janes. Every girl I knew had an outfit like this and I wanted to be like “everyone”.
My Mimi had a flare for fashion, which I think I inherited from her. I still love to dress up and need very little encouragement to do so.
My mom, on the other hand was hopeless when it came to fashion. The way she dressed always embarrassed me. It was all pull on polyester pants with an elastic waistbands. And she always wore a chiffon scarf tied around her neck. When she and I would go shopping together, we were attracted to different outfits. I never like anything she picked, and she didn’t like what I picked. I just wanted to fit in, and she didn’t.
One time, in my late 20’s, I was working in a boujee downtown bank in Houston, and my mom sent me an ugly long black dress with a hideous rhinestone medallion on the belly. All my friends were standing around watching me open presents and I was so embarrassed by that ugly black dress that I threw it in the trash!
Unbeknownst to me, one of my girlfriends later dug that dress out of the trash, saved it, and wrapped it up for my birthday, 6 months later. Needless to say, we all had a good laugh. That dress just would not die!
Fast forward about 20 years and my daughter Abee was born. I loved having a little girl and dressing her up in cute clothes. Even though she was born when I was 38, she and I have always been attracted to the same sort of classic style with a penance for flair. It is so so fun to go shopping with her. We usually end up buying the same clothes, only in different colors. And we wear the exact same shoe size. So fun!
Abee now has a daughter of her own. I love buying clothes for my granddaughter and just can’t help myself when I see something adorable. So, my hope is that she and her mom, my daughter, will continue the legacy of following in each other’s footsteps!
And maybe one day, little Gemma will have a favorite outfit her YaYa bought for her, just like my Mimi bought for me!
Bringinthesheaves 