Uncategorized

Sunshine On Her Shoulders…

…makes model/actress Shelley Hack happy in her vibrant floral jacket.  I also love the rays of sun that illuminate her hair and pretty face in this picture, which I recently found in one of my vintage Seventeen magazines.  
Trotting out bright floral-fresh new clothes was always a rite of spring passage.  It began with the Easter outfit which included black patent Marjane’s, white lace-trimmed socks, a smocked dress, pastel spring coat, white gloves, and a beribboned straw hat with a too-tight under-the-chin elastic strap. But Easter sometimes came with frigid temperatures and it was back to ski jackets and knit hats the next day. 
April is a changeable month in the Northeast.  A co-worker once vowed that on May 1st, no matter what the forecast, she would begin wearing her spring clothes (turnip!).  I know that longing and since I’ve never been good at transitional dressing, selecting things to wear in early spring is always a challenge.  I wish dressing now were as easy as pulling on a tropic-colored summer dress over my head.
My daughter and I went shopping yesterday and she couldn’t decide if a tangerine sweater was “too bright”.  I explained that once the sun shows itself again in earnest, the tangerine will feel just right. She bought the sweater.  I bought nude pumps to lighten up my work pants and sweaters.  
As I yearn for lovely sunshine on my own shoulders, I look back at some of my most memorable and favorite spring clothes:
mint-green “baseball jacket” with rainbow cuffs my grandmother made me
red, white and green striped dirndl skirt my mother bought me when I was in Jr. High School
white piqué dress trimmed with daisy rick-rack for 6th grade dance
shiny vinyl egg yolk-yellow raincoat with “fireman” hardware closures worn over bell bottoms on rainy school days
double-knit rose-colored date dress with short sleeves, Peter Pan collar, and three matching pearl buttons 
red dotted-swiss dress with white lace trim and back tie worn under graduation gown
(Graduation Day)

6 Comments

  • Kay

    I grew up in Maryland, where tulips and daffodils were rampant by late March! Our Easter dresses were cotton pastel too–minus the parkas and mittens that my northern-raised daughters had to endure. I saw a pretty white sateen dress strewn with abstract daffodils at the store this weekend and wished I had a little girl to put it on! Oh, there's nothing cuter than a little miss in her Easter finery!! Sweet memories, Donna!

  • Pondside

    You are so right about the power of sunshine to make a bright colour 'just right'.
    You and I had the very same Easter outfits as children – but we lived in the snow belt and the shiny shoes were hidden inside galoshes and the pretty dress was bundled under a heavy coat most years. Easter egg hunts outdoors? That was the stuff of fairy tales!

  • Amy

    I have been absolutely obsessing over "yellow" the past week and treated myself to a bright yellow sweater, and 2 yellow shirts. Planning on wearing a bright yellow blazer to work today.

    I was also telling my husband last night that I remembered Easters growing up in the Upper Midwest which always included wearing a snow parka over my pretty Easter dress 🙂

  • DebbyMc

    I had a white pique dress with daisy trim for my 6th grade promotion in 1966. It was my very first "grown-up" dress, purchased from a ladies shop at the community shopping center. I felt so special going with my mom to buy it, and then when I wore it to the ceremony. I don't ever remember wearing it again, but I do have a couple of photos of the day. We took so many fewer photographs back then. Thanks for the memories! PS: I loved Shelly Hack and all the models in my Seventeen magazines 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© A Lovely Inconsequence | Designed & Maintained by Rena L. McDaniel