Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Mother/Daughter Dresses and My Crochet Skirt


Today I want to take a few minutes to write about...Mother /Daughter dresses. If you don't know what that is ...it's when Mom and Daughter wear the same style of dress. The actress Joan Crawford was famous for wearing these with her daughter Christina. 

 
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              I have to admit I think some of her outfits were a bit wacky... looking more like photo op costumes instead of outfits. And hearing some of their history it all seems a bit creepy. But some dresses both vintage and current are sweet and flattering like some of the ones on this page. When I was Four I remember my mom at the sewing machine making us both Mother/ Daughter dresses. They were pale yellow summer dresses with polka dots. I don't have many memories about that time, but I do remember that when she put on the dress I thought she was the prettiest thing I had ever seen and I wanted to look just like her. 

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 Fast forward  to when I was eight...My Mom went through her "crochet phase". We had more doilies and afghans than we could ever use and everyone in the extended family got some sort of crochet gift that year. Well, around the beginning of the school year Mom decided that since she had some left over yarn  she would crochet skirts for her and I. And as you can see to the left here that in the late 60's and early 70's crochet dresses were in.



She made a couple of skirts alright...an OK skirt for her and a big voluminous skirt for me. You see she made this skirt out of thick yarn INTENDED for things like warm blankets and thick comfy afghans...Not skirts for an extremely skinny 8 year-old-girl. The skirt was so big and heavy that it looked like I was wearing the Liberty Bell ! 


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I remember thinking ...OK this has got to be a joke. But NOOOO she had every intention for me to wear this Liberty Bell cozy to school! Oh and did I mention it was September when the temps were still high in the eighties? There I was wearing my home made hut, sweating and itching like crazy.

 Every now and then I mention this skirt to her and she laughs. She insists that it was well made and "Not as horrible" as I made it out to be....yes it was. So have I worn Mother/daughter dresses with my own daughter? Not really. I wish I could have sewn something like the sundress my Mom made me but that talent is not something I have aquired. We might have worn the same color now and then; perhaps coordinated the styles a bit but we've never worn the exact same thing... when she is older J can thank her lucky stars that I never went "crochet happy" and she never had to wear a hut to school. 





I think this combo is so cute
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10 comments:

  1. All I can say is your out of my league.

    LOL

    Best I can say for Dad/Sons is maybe both wearing similar Sports gear. :)

    and then again ----

    Who knows ??????

    Maybe I just stopped in to say "HI"

    Danny
    Anything at Anytime

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  2. love he old pictures and how cute that at one time mother/daughters dressed alike

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  3. What a cute post. It brought back memories not of me and my mother but of me with my daughters. I used to sew look alike sun dresses for all of us. My girls may have been too small to remember. I'll have to ask them.

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  4. I never fixed mother daughte dresses for my daughter when she was growing up. I did make sure she had lots of pretty clothes to make up for what I didn't have growing up.

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  5. What a cute and funny story!!! Whatever happened to the yellow polka dot dresses? If you still have them, I would love to see a picture, they sound so pretty!! So how many times did you have to wear the crocheted skirt to school and did you get made fun of? One time I got our grown son a tennis shirt to match his dads when they played tennis. He never wore it. When I asked him, he said it was geeky to dress like his dad, but not to tell him, he didn't want to hurt his feelings. But I think girls are just the opposite!

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  6. @ Dan~ Aww that's sweet. I love when you stop by! Just wish I had some coffee and Cake to share.

    @ Becca~ Yeah some are really cute like the last picture but some like the one Joan Crawford is wearing is a bit weird.

    @ Barb~ Thank You. Oh that sounds really sweet. I bet you never made them wear Liberty Bell skirts though!!LOL

    @ Beth~ I guess I did the same ,but with toys. Every Christmas I over do it with gifts for them because my family had a hard time when I was little.

    @ Ginny~Thank You. I don't know what happened to the yellow dress exactly...most probably it was handed down to my cousin who was just a few years my junior. I'll ask her if she has a picture and maybe in the future I'll post it.

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  7. Did I hear "Coffee", "Cake"??????

    I'll be there in 5 Mins. let me just pack and tell the wife and kids I will be gone for a bit.

    :)

    Dan
    Anything at Anytime

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  8. hehe now SOME are cute but overall most yup not so cute.

    How about couples that dress alike? UGH

    The bell skirt is great, ok you must find a picture!

    P.S. Girl I think the way I'm going I'll be happy to be in a one piece with NO skirt by 2014 ... lol

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  9. Oh goodness! That must have been big! Loved the post! Thanks for linking it for me!

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