Vintage Dress

    My grandmother was a working mother at a time when most mothers didn't work.  She worked long hours at a piano factory and when she retired they gave her a piano music box with a marble top and gilded claw feet.  I had a hard time as a child imagining her driving a long commute and working the 9 to 5.  To me she was such a farm girl always making biscuits and gravy for breakfast, wearing her hair in a kerchief when she went out to feed her chickens, and keeping the largest and most lovely flower garden I have yet seen, and always the first blossoms she brought in a bouquet to me.  But the simple fact remains that she was once a working girl and it is such a privilege to have one of her work dresses to remember her by.
    It's even more special to me as I have recently rejoined the working world and what a difficult struggle it has been since I have treasured my years at home with my children.These have been the best years of my life so far and now it's all changing.  I think of her often and all the sacrifices she made to hold her family together.  She inspires me and this dress is so like her in so many ways.  The color is understated, a wallflower gem, with oodles of details to fall in love with if one cares to take a moment and look: like the pleated top, the lace trim, and the girl scout style collar with the tiny bow pinned on is my absolute favorite.  I love her so, and I hope I have grown to be like her and I hope that one day I'll pass this dress or maybe one of my own to my daughters and granddaughters.
    I took these photos several months ago when I was missing her one day and wanting to do something to feel close to her.  I don't know that I've done this dress justice--she looked a thousand time better in it.  But it's a part of her and she's a part of me and for now this is the best that I can do.