I wouldn’t say my Mom was a fashionista. She wouldn’t have said it either, even if that word had existed back then. She was a conservative dresser in the time I knew her, that is, growing up my whole life. When I was a child, she wore simple clothes for the most part – straight skirts, (now known as pencil skirts), quasi-fitted short sleeve sweaters or printed or solid blouses, shorts in the summer. I remember her in wedgies in the warmer weather and medium high heels the rest of the time. Always on the simple side. In her daily dress, my Mom was not an adventurous soul.
And then … she had her evening/party clothes. An entirely different woman appeared. My Mom had the most fabulous skirts, tops and dresses for when she went out, and they were almost exclusively black. She wore black taffeta flared skirts, black silk tops and she had a gorgeous pair of black (real) velvet pumps. She positively glowed. To this day I can vividly remember one of her shirts … it was black crepe with cap sleeves, solid in the back, and in the front, there were chevron stripes of sequins, about 1/2″ apart, in alternating pale colors – gold, silver, aqua, pale rose and green. Even as a child, I wanted that shirt.
I believe those fabulous evening clothes – and possibly how happy and confident my Mom seemed in them – inspired my own love of black clothing. I’m typing this blog in a favorite combination – black jeans and a black sweatshirt over a black long-sleeved polo-type shirt. Garnet earrings are the only color at the moment, but then … I’m home. I love wearing black and honestly, I could wear it all the time, but it somehow seems a good idea to vary my wardrobe colors. Still, it’s a lifelong attraction.
Pan back in time when I was 6 or 7 years old. In school we were given these horizontal booklets each year; we filled them out with photos of ourselves, “My Best Friend”, “My Pet” and some of our favorite things. I may still have that book; my Mom saved a lot of our school stuff. On one of the pages, they asked you to fill in your favorite color. Undoubtedly inspired by my Mom’s fabulous evening clothes, I happily wrote “black.”
And that’s when they called home.
Still A Dreamer 
Sweet, sweet post Jeanne. I adore black and wear it daily in some way. The more the better with me. I believe confident women wear black…
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Thanks so much, Diane. There is something about black … maybe a bit mysterious a well.
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It’s amazing how much our mothers shape us! Oh you sound so chic all dressed up in black and even garnet earrings at home! I’m right now sitting here in my jogging pants, and a brown fleece jacket and oh red Hello Kitty socks. 😀 It’s a pity these days little girls have only one favourite colour – pink. And they all want to be princesses when they grow up. I would have given you a star for loving black in first grade! Lovely memories Jeanne. Tell us more. Sharon
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Now I don’t know about chic, Sharon, (but thanks!), but albeit at home, I am at work, so I do dress decently – though in jeans most of the year. But a dear friend of mine used to always find it very funny that I wear different jewelry every day to coordinate with whatever I have on. 🙂 As for pink and princesses – yup- at Halloween here, the kids really do dress up – and more little girl princesses that we could count. I think they’ve all been Disneyfied. But also a new trend … many girls costumed as ghouls!! What a transition! LOL
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