Tuesday, May 24, 2016

"Fragmentary Blue"


























I'm yearning for a blue dress,
      blue room,
             blue dish.

But a blue dress, for sure.

When I was fourteen, Mama made me a dress
      of white polished cotton
             swirled with sky blue, 
                   the skirt cut on the bias.


























I loved how it swirled about my legs.

I loved Sunday dresses
       on little sisters
            and cousins gathered to visit
                  at our grandparents' farm.


























I'm yearning for a blue dress, for sure.


"Why make so much of fragmentary blue
In here and there a bird, or butterfly,   
Or flower, or wearing-stone, or open eye,
When heaven presents in sheets the solid hue?

Since earth is earth, perhaps, not heaven (not yet)--
Though some savants make earth include the sky;
And blue so far above us comes so high,    
It only gives our wish for blue a whet."

Robert Frost
"Fragmentary Blue"



[Photo by R.H., late one day before sunset.

Blue dress at top from Bergdorf Goodman
in May 1931 Woman's Home Companion.]


27 comments:

  1. Love the blue dress...such a lovely photos. Loving our blue skies, however it is raining right now. We always need the rain, so I am grateful. xo

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  2. Hope you find what you are yearning for...nice photos!

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  3. Our photo's, our memories are so precious.
    I've so enjoyed seeing your photo's here, it reminded me so much of photo's of me growing up in lovely dresses.

    One thing I find about the 2015/16 era is that the children do not seem to dress up in dresses quite so much.

    With the month of May drawing to a close may you enjoy the rest of this week

    All the best Jan

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  4. Oh Dewena, I love blue too - in the home, to wear, and jewelry. I can see how you are yearning for a blue dress. I really love these old pictures of all the girls at your grandparent's farm. I do hope you get your blue dress, Dewena.

    love, ~Sheri

    *tell your husband the sunset photo is beautiful. :)

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  5. my favorite dress was a blue and white dotted swiss with a full skirt... and spaghetti straps. i loved it!
    it felt so fresh and cool always.
    i hope you get your wonderful blue dress.
    and RH's picture is gorgeous!

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  6. I love Robert Frost, but somehow haven't seen this poem before, or at least don't remember. Thanks for sharing, and I just bought a skirt like this . . . blue and white.

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  7. I'm sure you would do a blue dress justice like no other :)

    R.J. is a man of many talents!

    (We are home, and I am better. Thank you for your concern).

    xxz

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  8. Don't you love looking back at pictures and admiring dresses from the past? I sure do. Love your pictures.

    Here's hoping you get a blue dress.

    Judy

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  9. Oh your mama was quite the seamstress! Just beautiful! :)

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  10. I love the dress your mother made you Dewena. I also loved sky blue. I always like wearing sundresses. I used to have a lime green Swiss dotted dress and it had a little bolero jacket with it. ...I loved it. Hope you get a sweet dress, be sure to show us. xoxo, Blessings, Susie

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  11. I posted about 'blue' today, too:) I love the dresses. So sad to think there are generations of girls growing up that will never know the thrill of twirling in a flouncy skirt!

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  12. What beautiful memories and photos, Dewena. Blue is my favourite colour but when I was a child I was always dresses in pink (my blond sister wore the blue). What a pretty teen you were!

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  13. Good Morning Dewena,
    Such pretty photos and precious memories combined with a darling dress. I remember Momma made she, I and Sandra each a dress in exactly the same fabric and print. I was so impressed that she could do that.
    Blue is such a wonderful color.

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  14. I love the photos! There's something to be said about the days back then when girls and women wore dresses a lot of the time. Nowadays, not so much. Though I do love wearing skirts in the summer when I can be bare-legged. I definitely don't do pantyhose! My mom is a southern lady (from KY) and she still wears dresses and skirts a lot of the time. :-)

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  15. I loved this post and wish people still dressed like that.

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  16. What a beautiful blue dress in the first photo. Blue is my favorite colour, and always has been. It's quite dominant in my wardrobe. As a child, my mother always said I looked best in pink and my sister in blue, so that's what we frequently wore.
    A lovely post about times when we all dressed up a whole lot more.

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  17. Cobalt blue is my favorite color. I have a blue & white kitchen. Loved the photo of you. I could drown in blue, and die happy! :-)

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  18. If only people still got all dressed up to visit family on Sundays! The blue dress from Bergdoff's looks like it would still be in style today!

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  19. Your post is sweet and it brought back a memory of my own blue dress. I was in second grade and my mom had just made me a brand new blue dress that I thought was so extra special! The teacher had us do a show and tell song so I decided to show my new dress and so I sang, "Do you like my new blue dress?" The class sang back to me, "Yes I like your new blue dress!" Now I'll be singing that all night! thanks for the memories Dewena! Just loved your photos!
    Linda

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  20. A lovely post. I've never had a blue dress. A little black one, one with little pink flowers, but never a blue one.
    Amalia
    xo

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  21. I love that photo of you!!! I do hope you are getting settled in Florida! I will keep you posted on when I'm visiting so that we can get together! Love and hugs to you sweet friend!

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  22. What a sweet post! I do remember when wearing a dress with the cousins was the thing to do. My sweet blog friend Benita mentions you a lot so I had to come over and visit your blog. Nice to meet you and read about your move to Florida!

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  23. So glad you stopped by my friend!how is florida and what is your favorite thing so far? What is the biggest difference? Its gotten so hot here-'-how bout there?

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  24. It's always nice to see any of us in our younger years with family! Loved the photos and I hope you get a blue dress.

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  25. I liked your photo's. I had a pale blue and white cotton dress with tiny flowers on it years ago. Your post reminded me of it. I do hope you find the perfect blue dress soon.

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  26. Such great photos and verse!

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