Honestly I don't really have style.
If you see something I'm wearing and you like it, chances are it was my Nuna's.
I was (secretly) given access to her closet- a seemingly unlimited resource of 1950's structured handbags, long, elegant skirts and romantic blouses.
She was also a sewer. She was extraordinarily crafty- a couple years after she passed, my grandfather let me take over her dollhouse project that was half done. I turned it into a doll mansion complete with hand sewn mini doll pillows and curtains and painted furniture and even a damask-papered dining room. I cut up fabric swatches and made them into rugs, and dishrags turned into "embroidered" blankets.
Because I proved my craftiness, I was then given access to her sewing kit. I then started hoarding antique buttons and the tins they came in. I saved her antique bobbins even though no sewing machine I've found has cases they can fit it. Her pinking shears have become a relic, and I use some of the supplies I got from her kit every day in my kit.
Almost every project I sewed last year was made with fabric that was left from her- Floral godet skirt? Striped circle skirt? Lining for all my Fashion Society looks? From Nuna Calotta.
This year I'm even using her wool for my hand tailored jacket. It makes my grandfather so happy to see me using what she loved to do what I love.
My grandmother had 9 children, who all had 2-4 children, which in the end leads to approximately 30 cousins and one crazy Italian family. I am always honored that my grandfather has given me access her vintage patterns and her beautiful vintage fabrics and clothes.
I adore everything my grandmother left, and she in a daily source of inspiration for beauty, fashion and life. In all of my Aunts' houses they have multiple pictures of her from her "modeling days". My grandfather even has a couple of her modeling cards that boast her weight and measurements and her glossy sepia smile. Not only am I left with the clothes she adored and the kit she loved to sew with, but with warm memories of that lipsticked smile.
A modeling shot- I took this through a frame with a crappy camera. I needed it!
Their wedding day! How charming!
My Nuna and Pops
This was their 1961 Christmas card- my dad is the littlest boy on the right! He's 18 months old!
I miss my Nuna!
