SEMINAL INFLUENCES #2

CLOTHES:

I can remember my friend's mother was always "well turned-out" and "looked like she stepped out of a band-box"--those were the accolades I heard her receive--from other people. On one Christmas Eve I went to their home and they were having hors d'oevre and egg nog (oh, my, this little country bumpkin thought that was the height of elegance!). My friend's mother was wearing a burgundy velvet jumper with a pink silk blouse and burgundy velvet slippers. It was the most striking outfit I'd ever seen someone wear--in person. I held a secret passion--clothes--not that I had any nice clothes but I was very knowledgeable about designers--Hubert de Givenchy being my favorite. I surreptitiously read Vogue and Harper's Bazaar at the library and I knew about Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Balmain, and Mainbocher [I told the story about Lillian Hellman going to testify before the HUAC and she wore her Mainbocher suit and I pronounced it "Main-bocker"! Fortunately, it was my brother who asked, "Isn't he French--I think that should be pronounced "Man-bochay" Fortunately, I wasn't in public. I later learned that he was from Chicago and adopted that French-sounding name! Years later, when a relative of mine pronounced Etienne Aigner in an Anglicized way, she did not appreciate my whispering to her the correct pronunciation].

I was embarrassed by my preoccupation and would never have admitted it to anyone as I thought that it was not "serious"! That was the 1950s but when Mrs. Kennedy came on the scene I could no longer hide my fascination! I can remember getting a "Chanel-style" suit at Lord's in Washington C.H.

Another unforgettable outfit my friend's mother wore was a pale yellow cashmere sweater with a matching sheath skirt accessorized with brown alligator pumps and a matching purse! I recall seeing her at a basketball game wearing T-strap shoes, a Pendleton jacket and stretch slacks (it was when "stirrup pants" were first introduced!). NOBODY wore slacks then; soon everybody was wearing stirrup pants! I wanted to look just like that and to have that style. But of course, I could not have those kinds of clothes as they were sold at Lazarus, Soldan's and the Martha Washington Shop!

One day, I got a stain on my blouse and my friend said we'd just go to her mother's closet and borrow one; my friend wore a bigger size than her mother. I protested that I couldn't borrow her mother's blouse and my friend said, "We'll pick out one she hardly wears." I could not believe her closet--I actually counted 20 white blouses! One time I was staying overnight and I had brought my outfit to wear the next day and it was a white pleated skirt and lavender polka-dot blouse which I thought was very chic. I was pressing it and I told her I'd borrowed it from my sister-in-law and she suggested that I wear something of hers, since we were the same size! I felt so special and never "demeaned"--all because of how she phrased things--and not "put down" because I didn't have the "right" things to wear.

I was selected as the "Outstanding Senior Girl" and would be hosted by the DAR at a luncheon for all the County girls who'd been selected. I had no idea how to dress for a "luncheon" but my friend's mother allowed me to borrow a navy dress and blue and white Spectator pumps. I received many compliments that day and I was so grateful that I was the same size as she! I remember how she told me that she always wore navy blue to all important job interviews and meetings. To this day, I talk about the "navy blue uniform" that I wore to all job interviews.