Monday, December 28, 2009

From my Grandmothers closet...

My Grandparents come from a time and a world that is more different than I could ever imagine. They always had cooks, gardeners, maids, nannies, and chauffeurs. They threw grand dinner parties, spent summer holidays in Corsica, winter holiday in St Moritz, stayed in the best hotels, ate in the finest restaurants ... and then there were the clothes. My grandfather loved nothing more than to shower my grandmother with clothes and jewelery. I'm not sure whether it's true but I get the feeling that if she saw something she liked he would right away go and buy her the whole collection. She sadly died nearly 10 years ago but before she did she gave me a pile of stunning clothes from the 1960's that she had never gotten around to wearing before. There were Chloe dresses, Dior sunglasses, silk scarves from Paris, elegant leather gloves and a very impressive collection of Emillio Pucci shift dresses, blouses, skirts, even a beautiful wallet, the only problem is that they were (and many still are) just a tad bit too psychedelic and bright for my liking. So I stored them away at my mum's place waiting for the day when I was daring enough to wear them. Well yesterday whilst rummaging through my big wooden clothes chest (everything that I haven't worn in a while but am not ready to get rid of goes in there) and rediscovered a number of items that I now really quite like. Excuse how crumpled they look, they all need a good wash and an iron! I wish I had photo's to show you of my grandparents but alas I don't have a scanner. I plan to photograph all the items next time I am at my mum's so I'll be sure to share.

Cashmere cardigan that is so soft that I couldn't live without it in winter (and somehow it still always smell like my grandmother which as far as I'm concerned is the most delicious smell in the world!).

Suede gloves which have never been worn before.

Long, fine leather gloves, also never been worn.

An endless collection of brightly coloured scarves, mostly from Paris.



This skirt she sewed herself (did I mentioned that she was an absolute craft queen, she always dyed her own fabrics, had a weaving loom, sewed clothes, knitted blankets, made quilts, the whole lot!) but what I love about it so much which you can't see in this photo is that the fabric had flowers and patterns on it which were raised, sort of like old wallpaper.

I completely forgot I had this skirt and couldn't be happier to have rediscovered it because I absolutely LOVE the fabric!


It only just dawned upon me how incredibly lucky I am to have inherited all these clothes. I'm sort of afraid to wear them because I know how special they are but on the other hand my Grandmother would tell me that they were only clothes and it would be a greater waste if nobody ever wore them!
Oh and just one other thing, here is the soft cotton nightgown I bought recently, I would very much like to wear it during the day as a dress because it fits so well and is SO comfortable. Any idea's on how to turn bed wear into everyday wear?

5 comments:

  1. very lucky indeed! what a treasure trove of history,My favorite items are those that have a story behind them. For wearing sleepwear as outer I raise the hems and add a shift underneath.

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  2. Wow Ruby that is so cool. My nana died before i was old enough to realise the value of her era so you are so blessed to have her stuff.
    Im sure she would love for you to wear them and enjoy them, becasue those are the things that mean so much to you.
    xx

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  3. I love the blue rose skirt!
    Lucky girl!
    My man gave me his grandma's old opera gloves, one pair of lavender suede and the other ones black leather, both have three buttons on each sleeve. Just like the ones Bettie Page had in Irwing's photos. *nerd*

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  4. Ooo those gloves sound fantastic!
    Thanks for the tip Rosina, I will think about raising the hem. As for the slip, there is no way I get away with not wearing one underneath because it's rather see through!

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  5. Yes, you really are lucky! The one thing I got from my grandmother that I really loved was stolen. Are the gray gloves elbow length?

    -Desiree, Pop-o-matic Deluxe

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