Fashionista

Strike A Pose

Mom was the prettiest girl in all the bay and, unsurprisingly, she was pretty fashionable too — when she could be. She had so many children that, for many years, she didn’t bother with a handbag; instead, she toted a diaper everywhere, along with the baby it was needed for. It was surprisingly difficult to find clear photos of her dressed up because there’s always at least one kid in her arms or in front of her, obstructing the view.

I think mom got her fashion sense from her big sister, Bernadette. Bernadette was a talented seamstress and I’m pretty sure she made the dresses you see in these black and white photos. Bernadette was also excellent at styling hair and it’s a good bet that she was the one who did Mary’s hair for those black and white shots; mama wasn’t exactly skilled in that department, much less did she have the time.

Like Bernadette, mom was more than a little handy with a sewing machine. Sometimes she made her clothes, sometimes she made ours. They all lasted longer than the garbage put out by “fast fashion”. I learned to sew too, from mom and at school. I also learned how to remake clothing I got at a second-hand store or something inexpensive I bought new and that needed a little work to make it work.

Mom had this 1970s Singer Genie sewing machine and she loved it, it was a reliable workhorse. The secret, I learned, was that the 70s models of sewing machines were still made with metal parts, metal gears. In the 80s manufacturing was moved, first to Mexico and then to China — and, at the same time, the companies decided to shorten the lifespan of the machines by switching to plastic gears, which eventually become brittle and their teeth brake, rendering the machines useless and unrepairable.

Mom understood quality, whether that was the quality of a bolt of fabric or store-bought clothing — or a second-hand item, be it a hand-me-down or something she picked up at the Sally Anne. That woman knew how to pick items that would not fall apart or wear out quickly. If she had chosen a corporate career she would have done very well as a retail buyer, both for the quality and the fashionable style. Though I expect the customers would have appreciated her abilities more than a corporation would.