It's been a few years since my great granny passed away. Everytime I find myself at her house, I often look through photographs of her and a family I didn't have a chance to meet. My papa (her son) loves showing me pictures of where he grew up and of the grandparents who adored him. Having a piece of ourselves to share has been an important value to him and I. Inspiration for my projects have come from various sources, and this time, I thought I should pay homage to one of the most mysterious people I have had the opportunity to be with.
A TRUE FASHION ICON
(from left to right: my great-grandmother on the roof of her red brick apartment in the Bronx, at her in-laws' home in Pennsylvania in a wool coat, again at her in-laws' home wearing my great-grandfather's bomber jacket and his hat. bottom image: my great-grandmother and her father)
The images above, I would date at around the mid-1940's. I believe my great-grandfather was stationed in the Philippines at the time and would have come back a few months later.
Here is a closer look of the coat from the middle image in the first collage. I'm thinking of combining the cherry sweater look with the winter coat look in my 1940's recreation.
Of course, the years have not been kind to the color of this wool coat so I was wondering if anyone had any tips to help with the discoloration. I'm so terribly afraid of washing this coat, afraid of shrinking the wool or ruining the coat altogether.
I plan on knitting a black and white scarf, similar to the one worn by my great-granny. I believe it is a pretty long scarf but I may supplement that style by making a fringed infinity scarf instead.
As for underneath, if the cherry blouse does not work, I've decided that I would make a blouse similar to the Simplicity 8462 Pattern which they had remade from the vintage pattern from the 40's.

(all rights go to simplicity)
For the accessories, I think some nice shoes from Royal Vintage (my love for Miss Abby and Miss Lauren's designs are endless) would work. The Marilyn Pumps in Black would be absolutely perfect!
-600x600.jpg)
(all rights to Royal Vintage)
The longer I look at the collage with the coat, I can say with some certainty that the hat she's wearing is either a halo hat or tam hat. It may be the earlier because she was notorious for having thick, curly hair so the volume from her hair may be making the hat look a bit smaller.
This is all I have so far. I'll do a great bit more research before I start acquiring the fabric needed for this project.
Thank you!!
Here is a closer look of the coat from the middle image in the first collage. I'm thinking of combining the cherry sweater look with the winter coat look in my 1940's recreation.
Of course, the years have not been kind to the color of this wool coat so I was wondering if anyone had any tips to help with the discoloration. I'm so terribly afraid of washing this coat, afraid of shrinking the wool or ruining the coat altogether.
I plan on knitting a black and white scarf, similar to the one worn by my great-granny. I believe it is a pretty long scarf but I may supplement that style by making a fringed infinity scarf instead.
As for underneath, if the cherry blouse does not work, I've decided that I would make a blouse similar to the Simplicity 8462 Pattern which they had remade from the vintage pattern from the 40's.

(all rights go to simplicity)
For the accessories, I think some nice shoes from Royal Vintage (my love for Miss Abby and Miss Lauren's designs are endless) would work. The Marilyn Pumps in Black would be absolutely perfect!
-600x600.jpg)
(all rights to Royal Vintage)
The longer I look at the collage with the coat, I can say with some certainty that the hat she's wearing is either a halo hat or tam hat. It may be the earlier because she was notorious for having thick, curly hair so the volume from her hair may be making the hat look a bit smaller.
This is all I have so far. I'll do a great bit more research before I start acquiring the fabric needed for this project.
Thank you!!
(here's a bonus picture: my great great grandfather at a New Year's Eve Party and some close-ups of my great granny's makeup (along with cousins, I presume))
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