Stephen King wrote, “Sooner or later, everything old is new again.” The same words are sung in the movie All That Jazz. The dictionary of idioms and proverbs says, “Everything old is new again, fashions and trends are repeated and revived.” The fashion aspect of that idiom jumps off the page for me.
The dress had not seen the seen the light of day in 32 years. It hung under plastic in the back of my bedroom closet. It would never fit anymore so I never considered wearing it to any fancy special events like a wedding or bat mitzvah or bar mitzvah. While we attended these big parties, I knew with my weight gain, that beautiful dress would no longer fit. I bought that silk dress 32 years ago for my daughter’s wedding. A perfect, exquisite dress for the “mother of the bride.”
When Emily announced she and Josh were planning to get married, my thought balloon said, “There goes my free time during my academic sabbatical.” I had been teaching for many years and now I was going to enjoy my sabbatical classes in ceramics, chamber music and literature. Planning a wedding would compete with my attendance and attention,and as it should have, it did.
My best friend Jackie accompanied me shopping for the important dress for this important event. We started with our first and favorite Loehman’s in Queens and in Long island. Looking in the Front Room and the more expensive designer labels in the Back Room brought no success. We thad no greater success in other “bargain stores” like Bolton’s and Philly’s. We graduated to the “expensive stores” such as Saks, 5th Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Bonwit Teller. Looking in the mirror front view, back view, side view, everything I tried on was either too tight or too loose; too youthful or too awful. I wore a size 4 above the waist and a size 12 below. The problem was me, not the dresses. Finally, I found the perfect “mother of the bride” dress in Lord and Taylor. It was a pure silk, three piece, mid calf dress. The color was dark cyan (not quite teal and not quite turquoise) with abstract splashes of fuchsia and black. It was just right!!
Fast forward 32 years. My grandson Matthew is getting married October 17 (wedding delayed since last year). I am now the mother of the mother of the groom. I have lost 10 pounds over the years and I am happy to find the dress in the back of my closet fits me and is still exquisite.
“No, no no!!!! You can’t possibly consider wearing the same dress to Matthew’s wedding. You are in every one of my wedding family photographs wearing that dress,” berated my daughter. “ Oh yes, the whole world is looking at their 32 year old photographs of your wedding. I doubt they will all be aware I am wearing that old dress,”I claimed. “How come so many brides choose to wear a bridal dress their great grandmother wore?” I asked. ” I too will be wearing a vintage dress,” I insisted.
To appease my daughter, I did go shopping for a new dress. I am happy to report, non were of the quality and beauty of my dress and with my daughter’s approval, I now plan to wear that exquisite 32 year old silk vintage dress. Everything old is new again.
Ethyl Haber
August 2021
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