Liz sent me this NYTimes article this morning. Funny because I just mentioned the TRB sample sale, but also because I had planned on writing about my favorite design*sponge scholarship winner Talia Bromstad and her project titled Mum's Closet. Dominomag.com describes it as "...a drum-leaf bound book containing a collection of photographs of Thalia's mother from 1970-1977. Each photo in the book has a description of what Talia's mom is wearing and a commentary by her mother about what she remembers from each photo. "It is an exploration of my relationship with her and how she has influenced my own style and outlook." The cover is based on a vintage wallpaper sample, meant to conjure 1970's fabric design, and the text inside is typed on her mom's old typewriter."
I thought this was such a creative and wonderful way to explore one's heritage, one's parental generation and what that culture meant, and the nostalgia and memory of one's childhood and their family. I certainly have pictures where I can't help but fall in love with my mother's hair or outfit. I don't think this is on a superficial level either--we all hold on to the fairy tale image of our mothers dressing up for a night out on the town - smelling her perfume, or watching her put on her lipstick. I can even think of two pictures in particular. In one my mother and father are sitting side by side with my older sister - smock dressed and tired - on their laps. It is nighttime and my mother is wearing a very simple column blue slate, silk dress with spaghetti straps. her blond hair is drawn off her face with two barrettes that has a childlike innocence. In another I am sitting on her lap on my grandparent's porch in Jamestown Rhode Island. She is wearing a Kelly green turtleneck and crisp white shorts. her hair is long and blond, her skin sun kissed. Both are seventies-ish preppy that you could certainly catch me wearing today. Talia's project made me wonder what she thinks when she looks at these pictures. What nostalgia they hold for her, and if she wishes she still had this wardrobe. For better or worse our clothing helps define us. In this familial vein I often wear barrettes my deceased aunt made in her youth, carry a clutch of a great aunt I never met, and wear a necklace strung with a ring my father gave his sister on her 16th birthday.All of which leads me to this article. Why wouldn't Tory Burch use her dear mother and her (I'm guessing) happy childhood as inspiration for her line? And this defense is irrespective of liking her aesthetic (which I do), and the fact that she went to Shannon's and my High School (a fact we're very proud of). Because all fashion comes in and out through the generations we could find negative connotations for all styles of dress, as every period in history has it's own share of tragedy and defeat. How dare this author push societal stereotypes on one woman's memory of her household. Who doesn't daydream of lavish vacation in Morocco with ridiculous huge sunglasses, gin and tonics, and lots of laughter? And what fashion line is not pushing some grandiose lifestyle as their being/face/brand? Should she be docked because she nailed one group so well? Clearly this author's glass is half empty. "...submission to the males of her tribe"???? Is this woman serious? She honestly thinks she can draw a clear and fair parallel between a polygamist ranch and Tory Burch's recreation of her hippie-chic Main Line upbringing? It is an absurd parallel to me. TRB is playful and fantasy filled. I applaud Tory's creative ability to transport me to her mother's closet. I see the pea green, mules and Chanel lipsticks everywhere with a splash of waspy furniture throughout - a nice chintz wallpaper and lots of mirrors. Makes me wish I were in orange driving moccasins, a caftan and a straw hat sipping on a bloody Mary in the late afternoon sun laughing with friends in a garden, checking my gaudy gold watch for the time knowing that if I have my morals straight and the love of my family, no material possessions will ever define my character but instead liven my personality and keep my creative juices flowing.
