Happy Birthday To My Mom!

When I was little, I remember looking through my mom's closet and thinking how I would like to grow up and become like my mom - with the same great sense for fashion and style. 

My mom always had a great style. In the times when nothing much was available in USSR (now Russia), she managed to find fabrics and other materials and put it all together - [with the help of my awesome grandmother] - so that it looks so chic that hardly anyone could have guessed how it could have been made with an old sewing machine and with a few pieces of tools. I remember going through her old stack of the only foreign fashion magazine available at that time in Russia - Germany's Burda Moden. I could only imagine if she could have gotten her hands on the likes of Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar!

Burda Modern was the only magazine that let Soviet women to see what the 'western' chic women were wearing. I remember I made my very first skirt on a sketch from the magazine, which I was very proud off - I made it all from scratch. Those days, however, are all gone. Haven't made any clothes since then, except for a few modifications and accessories. 

My mom has been always an inspiration from everything she did. 

She was an A-student at the school and university. She read the right books, watched the right movies, married the right man. I always looked up to her and loved when she'd take me to adult functions, because I was proud to be a daughter of this stylish, smart woman. Even up until these days, I see her style - very J. Jill, very J. Crew but with a twist - and I think, she knows what clothing line and style is appropriate for each age. 

She's been always my shopping buddy, even now. She'd always tell me how it is, whether the clothes and/or accessories I buy become me or not. She is my best and my worst judge, if you know what I mean. 

And she always notices everything, even if you think she wouldn't notice such a small thing. Every once in a while, when we talk on the phone - [they live in Europe now] - she'd ask me: "You know that thing you wore last year on your trip to... Do you think I'd look good in it, or is it too inappropriate for my age? If you see it anywhere, can you get it for me?..." I can't tell you, what a honor it is to hear that my mom liked something that I wore and that she wanted the same. Does it mean, I've achieved what I always wanted - to have a good style like my mom? Perhaps... 

I know one thing for sure that every time she gets something for herself and then decides to give it to me, I always get compliments about this thing. For example, an oversized bag she gave me about two years ago, it's my favorite summer thing now - [it, literally, has been featured in so many blog posts of mine this past summer!] Every time I carry it, random people stop me on a street and ask me, where I got the bag...

She would watch American and European movies and come home already 'equipped' with the ideas on how she'd like to make her next dress and/or skirt. Movies like Love Story, Funny Girl, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, How to Steal a Million and other classics - [that made it through the Iron Curtain from abroad to Russia] - inspired her.

Looking through these images made of my mom in different years, one can say that her looks are very much applied to today's fashion styles. Just look at 1. Summer dress with espadrilles 2. Flare high-waist jeans and a two-color sweater, solid and strips 3. A warm wool dress with a faux fur detail - a faux fur collar, and 4. A one-piece retro bathing suit with a straw beach tote.

She's been always a true fashionista, a true classic lady - even long before the word fashionista became a part of the official terminology for the fashion-conscious and fashion-forward individuals.

She is still one of the most stylish person I know. She's also one loving, caring and giving mother that I could only wish for! And because of her love and passion for fashion, culture, literature and art, I always had a great example close by to compare my notes with...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!