My Mother's Style

I've heard it said that vintage lovers tend to love the decade best that their mothers wore. My mother was a teenager in the 1950s and a young woman during the 1960s, when my sisters and I were born. I certainly have always loved the small-waisted, big-skirted styles that bridged that period and the make-up (before eye shadow grew bright) and hair styles that spoke to a casual elegance that has, for the most part, gone missing.

When I was a little girl, I remember my mother visiting my school. It was usually to deliver cupcakes for a special event. Through the years, I became used to my classmates commenting on how pretty my mother was. And she was. My mother was actually beautiful; something I didn't, of course, fully realize until much later. At the time she was just my mom. What I knew then was that she had three daughters in less than five years and yet always looked lovely and put together. She would breeze in with hair pinned up, deep lipstick and a lovely dress. She was my first style influence.

In the 1960s and 1970s, my parents dressed to go out. Whether they were headed to their favorite restaurant, the Spanish Tavern, or to a house party, my mother paid careful attention to her outfit. I would sit on her bed and spread her jewelry out around me. I remember bold, beautiful brooches, delicate necklaces and clip-on earrings. I thought she was the most beautiful and the most stylish woman I'd ever seen and I could not wait to grow up and dress as she did.

Alas, by the time I became a young woman and wife, the 1980s had arrived. Maybe it's because of my complete disappointment that I never had the chance to dress for dinner and house parties, I detest most of the extreme fashions that dominated my 20s.

I do not think I was born too late; having the life I have had would have been extremely difficult had I been born in my mother's time. Yet, when I dress for a benefit next week, I will pull a silk dress with a tight waist and full skirt from my closet. I can only wonder who wore it in the late 1950s; I can only be glad I can wear it now.

On Mother's Day, I have many more important reasons to acknowledge my mother than her fashion influence on me. But this is, after all, a vintage fashion blog--so what better time to acknowledge just that.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom--you're still my biggest influence.