Grandma's Dress

 (photo taken August 13, 2013)

I am in love with this gorgeous vintage dress!

I've mentioned trying it on in the past, and Grandma said, "Oh no you won't!"  But this time she gave her blessing and allowed me to try it on.

My Grandma wore it on her first date with my Grandpa on May 11th, 1946.  She said it was a blind date.  She had known who he was, since she knew his sister, but he had never met her before.  After picking her up, Grandpa later said, "I thought you were the cutest little doll I'd ever seen!"  And Grandma's kept this dress ever since.  I asked Grandma if she had any pictures of her in it, but she thinks this one went unphotographed.  I would have loved to see her in it.  She has agreed to let me have it, but not until she dies.  She wants to know she kept it her whole life.

 I love the detailing of the metal accents and the button closure really dates it to that era.  From what I can tell zippers weren't widely used in clothing until the 50's.

 While Grandma was out-of-town at the wedding, I tried on some of her old clothes from the 50's and 60's. 

Left: An original Leslie Pomer navy polyester dress, with matching jacket.  Love it!

Middle: A dress that Grandma made in her stretch sewing class.

Right: A silk "R&K Original" labeled "For the girl who knows clothes" 

Grandma has some of the coolest vintage clothes!

She laughed seeing me trying on all her old clothes, because she said, "In the past when I wanted to pick out clothes for you or your sister, your Mom would say she wouldn't dare pick out clothes for you girls...and then here you are all these years later, wanting all my old clothes.  This Grandma did have good taste!"

And the one thing I tried on, that I do have a photo of Grandma in, is her wedding dress.  Although, it was a tad bit too snug to actually zip up. Her dress was made from some old parachute material that she was given by the brother of a young man she had been dating who had been killed when he went off to war. The brother said he thought that she could use it to make a wedding dress one day.  Which, of course, she did.

Dall and Joy Black were married September 13th, 1946 on Friday the 13th, just 4 months and 2 days after their first date.  (A fact, I only just learned.)

Their wedding date was 3 days after Joy's 21st birthday; Dall was 24.

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I hope someday I can find photos of my Grandma in some of her other old clothes.  It would be so fun to see her wearing them.  Thanks Grandma for indulging me in my mini fashion show of your clothes.  I love you!  So glad I could come visit!