My Mother's Dress is a series of six illustrations that had been percolating in my mind for a few years and they took almost as long to complete. I enjoyed working on the illustrations partly because I love studying vintage fashion and partly because I was reminded of my own fashionable Mother. She was a talented seamstress who could take a swath of fabric and turn it into a ravishing outfit in record time. Over the years she passed on the intricacies of her craft to many students whom she taught and mentored. Needless to say, I was a happy beneficiary of her talent in more ways than one.
It seems to me, many people - men and women - have an old cherished photograph of their mother and will proudly point out how stylish she looked in her day. Our mothers were young once – they were the trend-setters – the groovy girls of their time! They listened to popular music, went to see the latest movies and used idioms like "raining cats and dogs"!
As a series, My Mother's Dress is not finished - I have many more eras I'm looking forward to illustrating but I'm finally letting go of the the six you see below. As a matter of fact, I'm giving them away!
I've donated the postcards to benefit the BC Society for the Museum of Original Costume (SMOC), a volunteer-run non-profit fashion collective operating in Vancouver. The cards will be available for purchase during their fashion events when it's safe to resume their regular schedule. For now, SMOC is following COVID-19 restrictions and all events have been suspended.
SMOC was Founded in 1992 by curator, Ivan Sayers. Their goal is to collect historic fashion, traditional costume, and textiles to create a museum of historic fashion and fabric arts. I feel privileged to help support their fundraising efforts. Click HERE To learn how you can support SMOC or learn more about their collections, fashion events and when they will resume.
If you have a suggestion for additional fashions let me know! But for now, click on any image below to open the gallery and enjoy a look back in time celebrating the cool moms of yesteryear and some of their pop culture. And weren't they just the "cats meow"?