Sharing Dresses Across Time and Space
A blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
When I was in high school, one of my favorite styles of dress was made by a company called Gunne Sax. They were old fashioned dresses with lace up bodices and high necks. I wore one to my junior prom and my grandmother made one for my senior prom.
I also had some short versions which I wore for piano recitals. My mom saved them all and gave them to me when they were cleaning out the closet in my old room. Since I have been married for nearly 30 years, the dresses are in remarkable condition.
This summer I saw the following Facebook post:
Hi everyone, My oldest daughter is really in love with Victorian girls’ dresses at this time. She is 10 years old. I have been searching online to buy a dress for her but could not find anything. Anyone know where to go or if you have one and want to sell it please let me know.
The daughter was one of my piano students. We have known the family for years. So at her next lesson I got out my old dresses. Both the older girls were thrilled. They asked about having them altered and I told them that was fine. Better to have the dresses worn and enjoyed than hanging in my closet.
She posted this picture. The dresses and the girls were very happy.
I saw the dresses at church and even at piano lessons. It made me smile.
The family splits their time between Texas and Thailand. The dad is a doctor and the mom is from Thailand originally. They moved back to Thailand last month. My dresses have now brought joy in two separate generations in two separate countries.
While at my parent’s house recently my mom and I found the picture of me in one of the dresses. I may have thought my mom was a little crazy for carefully storing and labeling all those old pictures, but I was sure glad when she could find this one.Hanging on to things for many, many years is is good thing. Being able to find them and pass them on is priceless.