Sunday, April 5, 2009
MY MOTHER'S PEASANT BLOUSE
It's springtime, and the weather has changed. It's warmer now, and I've had the urge to buy new clothes. Clothes shopping has been a pain because it's difficult to find clothes that aren't too young (too short, too tight). For a couple of years I was wearing Indian kurtas - silky, loose, airy, very comfortable. Then I figured I can't be wearing kurtas all my life, and looked around for some other styles. I discovered a couple of designers whose clothes I like: Citron of Santa Monica and Chico's. I love their silk tops and pants. They have simple lines with just a few catchy details. I've been buying them online because it's more convenient, and frankly, cheaper. If you go to the Citron shop in Santa Monica, clothes run for over a hundred dollars, but you can find the same clothes online for half the price. I know what size I wear for Citron and Chico's brands, so I can bravely buy the clothes without trying them on.
But the other day, I wanted to find some skirts and wanted to actually try them on, so I went to a department store. Naturally I got sidetracked and started trying on other clothes. One of the items I grabbed was a retro-gypsy peasant blouse - black and white, with string gathering the neckline, and elastic at the waist. When I put this on and looked in the mirror, I almost laughed because I saw my mother in my reflection. Even when she was older, she liked clothes with some style. One of her favorites was a peasant blouse that she wore with a drop-waist shirred skirt. She wore huge hoop gold earrings and clunky jewelry with this outfit.
So, anyway, I looked at myself with that peasant blouse and there was my mother - same face, same shape. It was a bit amusing and also a bit odd.
The blouse was a bit tight, otherwise I would have bought it and worn my mother's clunky gold jewelry (which I inherited)with it.
In the meantime, I'll hold off buying more clothes. I have enough.
~~
Photo of my mother was taken in 1994 when she was 82 years old.
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books..
Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized.
Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines.
She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
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