Day 211

Mad for Plaid

Red & black silk plaid evening blouse, with black lace pants.

Ok, it's about time we got back to some clothing, and what better to come back than with a classic Mom holiday ensemble.  This was her style all the way; silk taffeta, plaid evening blouse with black lace trousers, and a big ol' pearl chocker with a rhinestone and "onyx" clasp.  I actually think this top would look great with jeans and a kitten heel right?!

 While writing this, I fell into my usual research wormhole, and felt the burning need to find out just what the difference between 'Plaid' and 'Tartan' is.  So for those of you who may have ever wondered, here you go:

 In "House Beautiful," designer Scot Meacham Wood describes it simply: "All tartans are plaid, but, not all plaids are tartan." Plaids are patterns of stripes that meet at right angles. With tartans, the horizontal and vertical patterns match, creating a perfect grid. This blending of design and overlap of color can create thousands of potential patterns.”

 So there you have it.  And if you really want to know more, dive into this website.  This will tell you more than you ever imagined.  Isn’t procrastination fun?!

 http://www.scottishtartans.org/tartan.html

Day 200

The things we've handed down

Vintage organza blouse

"in·her·it : receive or be left with (a situation, object, etc.) from a predecessor or former owner"

That is a pretty spot on definition, and when I inherited the contents of my mothers closets, it was not only her clothing, but also the clothing of my grandmother, great grandmother, and great aunt.  My mother was not just the only one that the clothes fit, but also the one that loved these clothes more than anyone in the family, and so over the years, as the inheritance made it's way through the generations, my mother's closet became the final receptacle.  The closets have an almost archaeological element to them, with clothing organized by era, and style (evening gowns, furs, day dresses) I am always so happy when I can find a picture to post of my mom wearing an item I have inherited, but this particular item has an even more interesting picture; The photo I am holding is of a pastel portrait of my great Aunt Margery (who was the original owner of this blouse) made by my uncle Herbert.  Sadly, The pastel has been lost, but the photo of it still remains.  So now in a truly meta moment, I present a photo of an inherited blouse, while holding a photo of a portrait of an ancestor wearing said blouse, wait...am I going to open up a hole in the time-space continuum?  

let us hope not.

---