Summer – The Art of Gingham
My eyes fell on the garment as soon as I stepped into the shop. Suddenly, it was 1974 and the moon was silvery and high and I was young and pretty, wearing a bright gingham top that flirted around my hips with a wide ruffle crafted from a deep hem
As if in a trance, I found myself shamelessly overpaying for a bright gingham top, this one with tiers and a silk chord at the neckline. The moment I saw it I was a gonner and heard myself say, “That’s coming home with me”. It was the sudden appearance before me of that long-ago moon that did it.
At my current age and for better or worse, gingham was going to be part of my summer again. My new fluttery top with alternating colorful tiers of an old-fashioned fabric was going on my back sooner rather than later. Now I know there is nothing more darling than a little girl in a pretty gingham sundress but at my age, to wear gingham again requires a dose of courage and so I hung my new top on my bedroom door to study it for a few days first. I noticed it never failed to make me smile when I stole a glance at it and also every time I told a friend about it on the phone. So reminiscent of a sweet and lovely night I had years ago under a magical moonlit sky that illuminated my red gingham blouse which tied around my waist with a crisp bow in back. It was a truly childish top on my nearly-grown 17 year old frame but I just KNEW it wrapped around my body in a becoming and fetching way.
It wasn’t just my 1970’s outfit that evening but you no doubt surmised that already. It was the end of a very hot day, it was the fluttering night breezes that I could feel loosening the curls about my face, it was the strawberry body oil I swept up and down my arms and on my neck, it was that teasing moon…and of course, it was HIM and the bittersweet goodbye we would make in a few hours as college parted us for what turned out to be forever. The poignancy of that night, the foretelling end to youth, and the knowing moon now rest within the fabric and threads of my new top and I know it still.
And as I did on the night of the last summer party in 1974, I donned gingham again in 2021.
So be it, Moon…
9 Comments
Marie Lutzow
I have always loved gingham! But your story was so wonderfully told, I felt the crispness of the collar around my neck. Thank you for that small transport back in time. Marie
Christine McCann
Another beautifully evocative post. Thank you! My wish is for a lavender gingham dress…..
Margaret Powling
Your gingham would be my blue & white hounds’ tooth check. I loved my shirtwaister dress in this in 1959 and used it for several years. I had it from when I was 14 until I was about 21 or 22, and it always looked great. I loved gingham, though, too, and my school summer uniform was a gingham check dress, at my first school brown & white, and at my grammar school, green & white, but that was more simple cotton striped material than gingham. I also loved seersucker. This is a lovely post, Donna, but it shows how clothes capture a moment, or a moment is captured in the clothes we wore.
Christine McCann
So I went to April Cornell’s store in Burlington today, and while the lavender gingham dress I saw didn’t suit me after all, I did bring home a smocked pink gingham sundress that does!
LA CONTESSA
LOVE GINGHAM!
IN FACT WANT TO HAVE A CAFTAN MADE FROM IT!
BUT which COLOR?
XX
Sam
You write so well – this piece transported me in time and place and emotion. And I am not even that wild about gingham!
Amy
Lovely post, Donna!
By chance I’m wearing a pink gingham 3/4 sleeve shirt today (it’s chilly) – I have one in blue, too. I always check Lands End, Draper James and LL Bean for pastel gingham items – they fit my personality and color palette.
Dana
I just love your writing. I can actually “feel” your descriptions. So many of my memories are wrapped up in clothes as well. There are a few items I will never part with because the memory is too precious. I look forward to each post from you as it always takes me back to a comforting time.
Karen
Ooooooo, I cannot tell you how much I love this post! It embodies everything that a beautiful garment can do to whisk us back in time! I can practically smell that strawberry body oil and see your curls wafting around your face, and I’ll bet you had a heck of a tan too!
This must be the summer of love again, because I bought a maxi sundress a few weeks ago that beckoned to me in a way very few garments have lately. Its rusty red color and gypsy-ish small paisley print remind me of a 1970s favorite bandana cloth maxi apron I loved (sewn for me by my best friend)–I wore it to shreds! I know when I wear this lofty-softy dress, I’ll feel lithe and lovely and about 17 again.
This post made me smile soooo big!!! Loved it!