Fashion

[RedTop]

My maternal grandmother was a Sunday School teacher, and taking us grandchildren to church was her thing.   She always bought our Easter clothes.   I didn’t get hats after 3rd grade, but had 3 nice ones in my own hat box.   I can still describe all 3 hats, and most of my Easter dresses in detail.   I still have one of my dresses and the only Easter pocketbook Mamaw bought for me, and love both as much today as when I picked them out.   

By 6th grade I was tired of being a dress up doll, and that was the last year for Easter finery.   To this day, I absolutely HATE to dress up, and do not even own a dress.   I have 2 skirts that have never been worn, and hopefully never will be.    Easter was totally different for my girls, and did not involve dresses and patent leather shoes.   

[Big Sister]

My dear mother always managed to outfit the three of us for Easter and when we went to Sunday mass we dressed in new dress, socks, shoes, hat and white gloves.  We were not exactly poor but how she was able to clothe us for Easter on a tiny budget, I'll never know.  She was extraordinary.

[cherry]

I always had a new outfit for Easter. It came from the catalog. One year, when toppers were all the rage, I got a blue one

I had a navy taffeta jumper,  with  dress  to wear underneath of pink gingham  taffeta.  I always had a pr of Mary Jane's and white ankle socks with lace on the edges.

I always wore a hat of some sort. When I was small ,all women did this ,no matter what  faith they were

[Pook]

Oh how I hated all that nonsense!!  I now hate hats and won't wear one even in the winter.  When really cold will wear behind the head ear warmers and a hood - but never a hat!!  Those stupid white gloves were ridiculous!!  Then my mother would wrap our hair in rags the night before so we would have bananna curls - yuck!!  And of course the front yard pictures where my sister and I would have to stand there and hold our skirts out for "the pictures".  At least we were allowed to change into play clothes after that!!! 

Church was more about what who was wearing and gossiping about it then the actual reason for going!  Life is so much nicer now that casual dressing is "allowed".  I am the same person no matter what I am wearing and if what I wear means more to anyone than who I am - well then it's not a friend worth having or a relative worth associating with!  I value the person - not the clothing!!  

How sad it is for anyone to say their grandchildren embarass them because of what they wear instead of accepting and loving them for who they are - well they are probably embarrassed by your attire also!  They are too young to realize that it's the person and not the clothing that matter so they get a pass!  

[cherry]

I am sure they love and accept their grandchildren, no matter how they are dressed. It isn't important to everyone,  what children wear, but it is to others. It doesn't mean they love them less

[chvall99]

My mother sewed and we like many others were dressed in our absolute best for Easter Sunday services. We all loved it. I especially remember one year when my mother made me a matching coat and dress- a lovely shade of turquoise with small pink flowers.  The only thing I did not like were the hats-I can still remember how that rubber banding would cut into my neck- had to keep it on for the entire service, of course! Looking back on it I marvel how my mother (who worked on our family farm) found the time to do all of the sewing, shopping, cooking and cleaning for this (and all other) major religous days.

I had two boys, but I carried on the tradition.  New suits etc. if they needed them with dress shoes, ties, etc.  Everyone loved seeing them dressed for Easter. They liked looking sharp too, even in high school.  Not the reason why I did it, but i often found during the year that I was glad that we had invested in good dress clothes for the boys as events popped up without warning that called for stepping up their appearance.

I think it is a great way to demonstrate to children the importance of the event. We knew our parents were proud of us too and wanted to show off their family.  We felt special and loved, not a bad thing!

[151949]

When I was little we dressed up for church every week & esp. for Easter. My Dad would buy my Momn a gardenia corsage to wear to church.

[cherry]

I recall women wearing a corsage for Easter, and Mothers Day. In my area women wore orchids, but ,I really like gardenias better, they lay flat. I don't care for flowers that are big and stick out

[Harpa]

Yes, with the crisp little slips that made your dress stick out front & back & sideways! The new shoes, the ruffly socks, the hat and gloves!

I can still see my DM in her soft, flowing flowery dress and the aqua shrug that was part of the dress.

[FrostyBabe1]

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@nana59wrote:

i dreaded getting dressed up for easter.....so not me....

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Me, too! I had a couple of great aunts that would always buy us incredibly froufrou stiff, starched, petticoat laden dresses for Easter and Christmas. Of course we had to wear them. Along with gloves, tights with lace on the seat and those silly hats with elastic chin straps. I hated every minute of it.