(Photo: Mother's Day Picnic in Wine Country)
When we traveled, our Mother would put us in nice dresses. When we had our Christmas card photo taken, my sister and I were often in matching dresses. And when we went out to dinner, we put on our nice clothes. (Not the ones I was climbin’ trees in all day.)
My parents entertained often with garden cocktails, Derby parties, etc. and I always remember the ladies wore their Lilly dresses (or something similar), and the men wore slacks, (sometimes Lilly patterned pants) complete with a bowtie and maybe even suspenders. Nowadays, when I host, the invitation usually says ‘Snappy Casual’ - meaning, you better look cute and put-together!
I remember one of the first parties I was invited to in Santa Barbara, a baby shower. When I showed up, everyone was super casual wearing jeans, t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops. I was wearing white capris, a cute blouse, and fun accessories. Everyone was taken aback that I was so dressed up! Little did they know that I was more confused with their attire. I’m used to taking it up a notch for an occasion, and a baby shower seemed like that kind of event.
My grandmother had a collection of beautiful vintage Lilly clothes, as did my Mother. I’m fairly certain that somewhere in my high-school years, I confiscated a wild pair of Lilly-patterned pants, of my Dad’s, and wore them as a “Hippie Halloween costume.” Now, of course, they’re all back in style. My Mother still wears Lilly. And now they have really cute ‘everyday’ clothes for golf, swimming, tennis, walking, etc.
Seersucker, smocked, and embroidered are all familiar terms when talking about Southern fashion. Walk into any children’s boutique in the South and you’ll find the sweetest smocked dresses and John-johns with sailboats, flowers, watermelons - you name it. You can even have your child’s initials embroidered on the dress. (Which Southerners do a lot - I will talk about monogramming another time.) Right next to the register are matching bows - big bows in all different happy colors. I confess I got a little “bow-happy” when Riley was little. Once she had enough hair to pin back, she was wearing bows until about the 1st or 2nd grade. She'll sometimes wear the headband bow. The stores in California didn’t carry these kinds of bows, but they had some really cute ones in all different shapes, like butterflies, bumblebees, and even a giraffe!
My son certainly gets it. When I asked what he wanted to wear for his sixth-grade graduation, he know instantly what he wanted - light blue slacks, a white button-down shirt, light blue suspenders, and a matching bow tie. He was the best-looking kid there, hands down. He even wore the same outfit for our Derby Party, complete with a hat.
When we dressed up for a dinner out or traveled on an airplane, things we didn’t do too often growing up, it always made the occasion feel really special. This is something that I continue to do with my kids. They look presentable, but it also boosts their confidence when they dress nice. We don’t necessarily dress up when we go to the neighborhood taqueria, but we all take it up a notch for special occasions - birthdays, anniversaries, date nights, holidays, and when we travel so that we don’t look like ‘rag-a-muffins’!
Speaking of dressing up for an occasion, what are you wearing for Derby?!
