In the wise words of the Conchords, "fashion is danger."
Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel - dangerous stuff, fashion. Which explains why I'm about as fashionable as last season's discount rack at Target. I don't laugh in the face of danger, I hide from it.
Gracie, the resident fashionista thinks differently. When gearing up for her 6th b-day in May, she said to me, "Hey Mom, can I shop at Justice at the mall? That's where the cool clothes are...."
And this kiddo wanted CLOTHES for her birthday instead of toys. Sometimes I wonder if she's really the daughter of my BFF Jenni, who has been known to say, "Marisa... what are you WEARING?" (this is when I dress myself. When my mom or grandma dress me, I'm pretty cool) And every cute pair of shoes that has ever destroyed my feet with blisters always met my BFF's approval.
"Beauty is pain, Marisa." That became my mantra through college as I heard it often enough. This mantra has been replaced by "Comfort is sweatpants, Marisa" and I'm much happier now.
When Gracie was four, I found this picture on the floor and wore a puzzled/impressed expression as I made sense of it.
"You're designing clothes?" I asked her. "Yup, I want to be a fashion designer," she said. Two years later, the girl is going strong. Her style can be described as "Betsey Johnson meets My Little Ponies."
(She was a fashion designer for Halloween last year and this was her monstrosity - er, creation)So, I thought I'd dig through the file cabinet of curiosities for these: dress designs from my middle school days.
6th grade:
And 8th grade:
I've always been a sucker for wedding dresses. I love them.
When it came to my wedding, I was one of those, "Tell me when to be there and what to wear and I'll show up about a half hour early," kind of gals. I was happy to hand ALL the wedding planning over to my grandma, who did a beautiful job! and focused my attention on making sure my hubs didn't get too crazy on his stag do and wake up naked in a train car in Scotland (he didn't, phew) and finishing school (I got married the same week as finals, so I ended up with a degree and a hubs at the same time).
When it comes to Gracie and fashion, she's very much a "back away, Mom, I'll handle this" gal, and tromps around the backyard in heels and fancy skirts with hair bows erupting from her head.
She's asked to design her 1st grade back-to-school wardrobe so we've been having fun prepping for that. Making sure Gracie doesn't go to school dressed as the tooth fairy will be a challenge... but she shares my love for art deco and I'm pretty jazzed about the designs she's played with so far.
Stay tuned, folks. My 6-year-old fashionista is prepping for the unveiling of her fall collection and it's going to be pretty sharp.
xoxo,
14 comments:
Too cute! I love it when kids dress themselves. My boys when they were little figured if the colors were the same...they matched. Blue shirt, blue shorts, blue socks...you get the idea! ;-)
That is too awesome! I love that her style is Betsey Johnson meets My little Ponies!! Too funny
This post is great! How wonderful that you still have those drawing from your childhood!
You were so talented at such a young age!! Love all the illustrations!
Your daughter sounds so much like mine. I seriously go to her to see if my outfit looks right. She's 8! & she's been picking out her outfits since she was 2!
Gotta love daughters! :)
love your fashion illustrations. If I didn't write I'd want to be a fashion designer - or maybe an archaeologist...? Tough choice.
hahahha, i love this.
my younger sisters have it easier than anna and i did, because we made the way, learning from each other's mistakes...oh boy!
Your daughter sounds delightful! My youngest son went through a phase of wanting to shop for blouses for me. When we were walking through the store, he would ask me to go back and try on blouse that he saw and liked. Everything he chose was shiny or sparkly or both.
First of all, I'm seriously impressed (by everything you do) with your wedding dress design. Gah! Secondly, Gracie and Hannah are very similar in their fashion sense, and I have a feeling I'm a lot like you. Get ready for a lot of, "Ugh, Mom. You're wearing *that*?" in your future (if she's not already saying it to you).
Great drawings! And Gracie sounds like a hoot...would be a good match for my Boy...he's got three older sisters and so understands the importance of patience at the mall. (or maybe it's the bribes he gets)
Comfort IS sweatpants (or pyjama pants in my world, but I think we're on the same page). I definitely need to be supervised when dressing!
She is adorable and I for one will be looking forward to seeing her fall collection!
I freely admit to being fashion impaired. And one of my daughters has, sadly, inherited the trait. :(
She is FIERCE! We need to pair her up with Amelia. Their design team would be 100% fabulous. Seriously though, she's totally your offspring...creative in every way. If you ever come visit I'll make you go shopping with me :)
wow. she and you.
also. i'm still waiting for my "sometimes i go grocery shopping" outfit.
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