My mother’s whole life was (and to an extent still is) seen through a lens of apparel. Her mother was a milliner (made women’s hats during the first quarter of the 20th century, when everybody wore hats). Her father was a pattern-maker. My mother graduated from FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York City. She designed and made her clothes. She designed and made my clothes. She never bought a curtain, bedspread, or furniture slip cover in her life. She made them. If you were looking for her in the house, she would not be doing heavy duty cleaning. We had hired help for that. But she might be making fashion sketches, or sitting at the sewing machine. Here, three-year-old me stands on a seat cushion she made, which is on one of our Paul McCobb mid-century modern chairs, to examine to polka dot fabric she has draped on her dress form, as she starts the pattern-making process for another dress.
My mother’s whole life was (and to an extent still is) seen through a lens of apparel. Her mother was a milliner (made women’s hats during the first quarter of the 20th century, when everybody wore hats). Her father was a pattern-maker. My mother graduated from FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York City. She designed and made her clothes. She designed and made my clothes. She never bought a curtain, bedspread, or furniture slip cover in her life. She made them. If you were looking for her in the house, she would not be doing heavy duty cleaning. We had hired help for that. But she might be making fashion sketches, or sitting at the sewing machine. Here, three-year-old me stands on a seat cushion she made, which is on one of our Paul McCobb mid-century modern chairs, to examine to polka dot fabric she has draped on her dress form, as she starts the pattern-making process for another dress. | Click image for Comments. | Home | Browse All Photos