Is there a fashion gene? I think there is, but sometimes it skips a generation or two.
As a grandma, it’s fascinating to watch my granddaughters evolve and see what family traits they share with us. Lately, I’ve noticed my 10-year old granddaughter shares a love of fashion with my mother, her great-grandmother, aka GG.
My mom has always been a creative woman who channeled her artistic talents into her family. She created a stylish home and cooked delicious, healthy meals for my brothers and me when we were growing up. As her nest emptied, she took art classes and enjoyed painting flowers and small still life pieces. I have several of her paintings on my walls. But she never developed the confidence in her work to continue on her own.
I imagine that if my mother had been born a generation later, she would have become a fashion designer. As a young girl, she loved to draw paper dolls and design clothes for them. She stored them in boxes under her bed and when they overflowed, her mother made her throw some away. They are all gone now. Oh, how I wish she’d saved some of them.
Although my mother never chose a career in fashion, she always loved clothes and still does. She subscribed to Vogue Magazine when she was married in 1945 and kept her subscription until just a few years ago. Now she pours through dozens of clothes catalogs that arrive in her mailbox and graciously apologizes to the mailman for her addiction. She once told me that she enjoyed the challenge of creating her own suits by mixing and matching different jackets and skirts rather than buying a ready-made suit.
Recently, my 10-year old granddaughter, Juliet, who also shares my mother’s name, has shown the same love of fashion. She has been drawing since she could hold a crayon and her sketches become more detailed every year. For her last birthday she received My Fabulous Look Book: Fashion Drawing Made Easy (Klutz)
During our last visit, Juliet asked my mother to design some clothes for her hand-drawn paper doll. My mother sketched four outfits then bought a box of crayons to color them. Each ensemble had little tabs to hold the clothes in place. When they saw each other again, my mom showed Juliet her sketches and she was thrilled. She grabbed a pair of scissors and started cutting them out. Then the two fashionistas took turns modeling the outfits on the little paper doll.
I’ve always wished my mom would pursue her art because of her innate creativity. Now, as I watch the sweet connection between my mother and granddaughter over these simple paper doll designs, I realize that she is passing her gift on to another generation by nurturing her interest and in doing so, rekindling her own passion. Maybe I’ll see it flourish in my granddaughter. But even if Juliet finds a different passion, I can still enjoy seeing the bond form between these two fashionistas.
