When I look at my mom’s high school graduation photo, I see someone totally different than the lady who raised me. This girl is beautiful, dressed smartly with dark, chestnut brown hair. The mom I knew was slightly chubby, tan with curly, grey hair. She certainly wasn’t concerned with style, skin care or her clothes!
But, I did learn over the years, that she was a city girl at heart and loved clothes! I knew it…she was fancy inside (just like me!). Mom was a young woman during a romantic time as well–the 1940s, when ladies wore pretty tailored suits, hats and Mary Jane shoes. There was one outfit in particular Mom described to me–a tailored, camel-hair suit which she loved. “That outfit was made by a tailor and fit me perfectly,” she said.
When she married my dad after he returned home from WW II, in 1923, she wore a white eyelet dress with today’s version of a peplum waist, with a cute hat perched on her head and patent leather white shoes.
I loved that era, with fashions that emphasized women’s most beautiful features. That is what I love about jackets…the right one does so much for your figure.
If you were a fan of the TV show, What Not to Wear, you probably grew tired of Stacy and Clinton talking about the “structured jacket.” I, too, agree: it is the ultimate fashion staple for all women.
Here’s why: There are so many versions of it. The right one can do so much…emphasize your waist or give you a waist, make full-figured ladies look slim or those with boyish figures more curvy, hide your tummy and the list goes on.
I also think the jackets adds an air of professionalism to a work outfit or completes an everyday look, even if it’s a knit jacket with yoga pants.
Have I convinced you? I hope so…If not, take a walk down memory lane and watch a movie from the 30s and 40s when the beautiful silhouette of a suit was seen on nearly every actress: Think Casablanca!
Just to remember my mom and her “hidden” fancy ways, I am going to a tailor and having a special suit made just for me. I will wear it for years to come and remember Mom…who loved to look nice for her handsome beau.
Happy shopping!
B. Divine
