A dress to wear at my daughter’s graduation

I live in New York where black is seen as a perfectly cheerful color to wear. I didn’t grow up here. I grew up in a small city just south of Boston. Talbots began in a lovely town just to the south of where I lived. While the pink and green preppy look is not what I usually wear, I do have a certain soft spot for that country club look.

When I found this Marc Jacobs jacket in the thrift store, it just called my name. I showed the jacket to my neighbor who was born in Brooklyn, she thought that I had lost my mind. The saccharine pink and green of the jacket reminded me of little girls walking to church on Easter morning in the snow while wearing their think pastel Easter coats and straw hats and ruffled socks.

My daughter knew exactly why I would choose such a jacket. She is graduating this weekend from one of the Seven Sisters colleges. My daughter requested that I wear this jacket to her graduation and the garden party that follows.She thought that it would be amusing to see me in country club wear.

I didn’t own a dress to wear under the jacket. I don’t think that black is the right color to wear beneath this merangue of a jacket. I knew I needed to make an olive green dress. I bought the fabric from Kashi at metro. It is a soft rayon blend jersey with a great drape. I had hoped to make a more complex dress, but time is short. So I made a basic tank and inserted rectangular godets into the side seams.

It’s probably one of the easiest ways in the world to get a bit of a fancy look with almost no work. I learned the rectangular godet trick from a Roni Rabl skirt that I had bought a few years ago. I’m glad that my daughter gets that you can tell a joke of sorts with your clothes. Of course I’m wearing pearls ( they are black).

Oddly enough, I found the skirt that was made to wear with the jacket yesterday. It was in a different thrift store. It was a pink and green narrow stripe with side pleats held down with a buttoned tab. The skirt was not in my size and was about six inches long. The olive green is a less exciting choice, but I know that I need the dark color or I will look ill in my country club finery.

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