CORRECT ME IF I AM
WRONG, but I believe everyone remembers their first
suit. My memory is foggy when it comes to remembering my exact age {not older than eleven though} but I clearly remember the store’s name, location, and
interior. I also remember the middle-aged sales lady with that weird haircut
that could hardly pass as a bob who always said to my mom that she should be
happy to be holding my hand now because in few years when I were to be her
teenage daughter’s age, I would not want to be seen walking with my mom let
alone holding her hand. I never lived up to her stereotype, though. Even now,
way past that sales lady daughter’s age, I am still the same kid who always
links arms with her mom in public.
Long story short, my mom bought me
my first suit from that store. I remember it clearly: mint-colored and
comprised of a fitted jacket with elbow-length sleeves and flared trousers. Two
Barbie stickers: one where a breast pocket should be and the other on the left
leg {if the Barbie stickers confused you,
please reread sentence in brackets in paragraph one}.
My obsession with suits must have
started that day. Lucky for me, my mom taught me how to sew at a very young age and growing up I’ve honed my skills to the point where I never buy suits, just make them. I,
of course, have long moved on from suits with Barbie stickers, but I still like
being unconventional, which takes me to the suit you see in these photos.
A 1958-inspired balloon jacket
paired with straight-leg pants instead of the 1950s signature pencil skirt is
my way of - if I were to quote
one of my favorite people in the industry, Tim Gunn - “making it work!” As much as I
wanted to make a pencil skirt to create a decade-appropriate look, pants currently work a
lot better for me. I took a chance by mixing styles and
structures and, at one point, I was almost sure that I would never end up wearing
the two pieces together. But here I am, all suited up and ready to conquer the world!!!
Well...that escalated quickly...
