Friday, April 3, 2015

A Violet Easter



I adore violets!


Usually in full bloom by the end of March here,
this year they're just beginning.


R.H. snapped these last year,
getting close as a grasshopper.


His pictures make me want to paint a room violet.

They make me long for an Easter corsage of violets.


Why did corsages go out of fashion?

When I was growing up they were de regieur
for every special occasion.

My mother would have looked stunning in this
gray silk shantung taffeta suit in 1951.
She would have easily made it from the 
Vogue Design No. 7310.

The green hat by Irene would have been
perfect on her soft black hair.

And my father might have ordered
a violet corsage for her
instead of the usual orchid.



This photograph was taken c. 1959
of my beautiful mother.
She still is beautiful at 90.



41 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to the first violets as well! Your mother is very lovely.

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    1. Thank you, Brenda! And I'm making your Asian Beef tonight!

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  2. That field of violets is amazing, Dewena!

    Your mother is beautiful and I can just imagine her in that beautiful outfit :)

    xo,
    rue

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    1. Thank you, Rue, and I think that suit would be gorgeous even today.

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  3. I'm always struck by how well the previous generation dressed. My mother and her sisters wore lovely sheath dresses to family events (where there were photographs). Full skirts for picnics and rarely slacks. They always looked so put together. Your mother is beautiful!
    I saw a small cluster of violets in my garden, wafted there on the wind, I think, because I never planted them. But I'll be protecting them so they stay.
    Happy Easter.

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    1. Thank you, Lorrie, and I remember my mother and my aunts the same way, always looking nice even when going to shop for groceries. And if they were going downtown to the department stores, it was church clothes all the way! And when women were traveling by plane they dressed up too, often wearing a corsage. It was an event!
      Happy Easter!

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  4. Violet was my grandmother's name. Violet Augusta for being born in August.
    Brenda

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    1. I agree with Tammy's comment, Brenda, your grandmother's name is lovely. Have you noticed that the old-fashioned names are coming back into style? I hope Violet Augusta does too!

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  5. oh my.
    i love this post.
    hats with veils... your mother so beautiful and feminine and elegant ...
    and i think you SHOULD paint a room violet!
    i can see it perfectly at valley view! maybe that little kitchen area where the table was set up at christmas? oh i hope you paint a room violet!
    it's you dewena. another magic touch.
    much love dear heart... on this blessed weekend. XOXOXO♥
    p.s. don't you just love brenda's grandmother's name! like a heroine in a novel!

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    1. I knew this post would please you, Tammy! Our mothers were of the same era, and much alike, from what I can tell by your posts about her, which BTW is some of your very best writing!

      And yes, Brenda's grandmother's name is lovely and would be the perfect name for the heroine in the kind of books we like best.

      Happy Easter, dear friend!

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  6. OH I love violets tooooo! Don't want the lawn cut, while they are blooming. but of course, they come back, after cutting. :-)

    How delightful to hear someone mention "shantung"! Do women today, even remember it????? And saying... "gray silk shantung taffeta suit" from a "Vogue Design No. 7310" makes it all, even better. And hat by Irene. Yes I'm sure your beautiful Mama would have looked striking in this.

    Thank you for a delightful walk down memory lane, in this post today!

    Have a lovely weekend,
    Tessa

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    1. Tessa, R.H. always waits until the violets and other wildflowers have gone to seed before mowing.

      I am the same way about the wonderful fabrics of the past. I have some old Vogue magazines from the 1930s and am entranced reading the names of all the fabrics used. And hats, we both remember when women wore hats, don't we? Who cared if you woke with mussed hair, you could always cover it with a pretty hat!

      Those were the days!

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  7. Your mother is lovely! She would've looked fabulous in that outfit, especially wearing the violet corsage. Silver + violet + green + soft black hair = stunning!

    Happy Easter, dear Dewena!

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    1. Thank you, Kimberly! I can just see her in it!

      Happy Easter to you, dear friend!

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  8. What a beautiful last. And you are so lucky to still have her. Women really looked like women back then, didn't they? When I see old movies from the fifties I love the full skirts and fancy clothes. Where is Doris Day when you need her?

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  9. Violets were my wedding flower, bought at a flower stand in London on our way to the registrar's office!

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    1. Nan! That's so sweet, I'd love to know more!

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  10. Oh, what a radiantly romantic post, my friend! How pretty your fields must be at Valley View at Easter time, adorned with frilly violets; they just glow against the green blades of grass. Wonderful pics, R.H.!

    Yes, I can definitely see your beautiful mother, dressed in that pretty outfit, but then again, her photo implies that anything she would have donned, would have looked lovely and stylish on her. I'm sure she possesses the same feminine elegance, today.

    Wishing you a Blessed Easter Sunday!

    Love,
    Poppy

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    1. Thank you, Poppy! I passed the word on to R.H.

      Mama still loves pretty clothes and pretty colors, and my sisters Deb and Jenn shop for her to be sure she likes her clothes. She was always the essence of femininity.

      A blessed Easter to you there in Crete, dear friend,
      Love,
      Dewena

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  11. Dewena - hope you have had a very blessed and happy Easter! Love violets and especially the little violas.

    Judy

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    1. Thank you so much, Judy, I hope yours was blessed too and that you have a good week ahead.

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  12. Your field of violets is gorgeous! I always loved purple, and insisted that my room be painted that color when I was a teenager. Your mother is lovely, and I can almost picture her in the suit and hat! How pretty those styles were!

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    1. Weren't the styles wonderful then, Amy? They were so feminine. And I'd still love to have one violet room!

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  13. Your Mom is beautiful! How sweet she is still so at 90! I have an aunt (Mom's only sister) who just turned 90! Love the old-fashioned beauty of violets, also, and that color. I have a purple, lavender and pink bathroom. And one of my favorite flowers is lavender! But violets always remind me of my Mom. And corsages were always such a beautiful thing to receive. Another sad loss in this modern world!

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    1. Thank you, Linda! I think every year at Easter I regret that corsages are no longer in favor. I wish they'd come back. Oh the excitement of my father opening that box and the fragrance floating out and getting to wear it on my dress and sniffing it all during church!

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  14. I wasn't fond of the color purple or its various shades until a few years ago. Violet was my mother's favorite, however, and I often bought her things with that color in it. Have you ever read the poem "When I Am Old I Will Wear Purple"? Oddly enough, as I have aged, Purple and Co. have grown on me. Most of the flowers in my garden are some shade of purple or blue. The very thought of seeing a whole lawn full of violets every morning as I looked out my window leaves me weak with envy.

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    1. Yes, I know "When I Am Old"! Adopted it 10 years ago as my permission to stop wearing hose and anything else uncomfortable.

      And yes, these mornings now when I look out the windows and see trees ringed with violets, violets creeping along the creek bank, and between stepping stones, I think how perfectly lovely, this plant that many feel are weeds.

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  15. Dewena,
    Happy Easter Monday and such a treat for me to visit you and see the gentle violets and photo of your precious and treasured Mother. I had almost forgotten the traditional orchid corsage for Easter Sunday-such a lovely tradition.
    xo
    Jemma

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    1. Thank you, Jemma. I posted Mama's picture on our family FB page and it drew so many comments not only from sisters but from cousins who loved her too. My sisters showed her my post and she remembered the dress. A lovely moment.

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  16. Oh Dewena, I just love when you put vintage pictures on your posts. :~) The pictures of the violets are so pretty. They look purple to me, which is my favorite color. And the picture of your mother is such a treasure. She's a beauty, and how I love those old black and white photos.

    I hope you had a lovely Easter.

    ~Sheri

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    1. Thank you so much, Sheri! When I do these family posts I realize that it is mainly because I want my children and grandchildren to know that my darling mother was once a vibrant beautiful active woman. I suppose wanting for them to know more of the heritage they come from. And perhaps mostly for myself, because of all the happy memories these old pictures evoke. You're sweet to appreciate them with me!

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  17. How lovely your mother looks! You don't often see this kind of elegance, it has certainly been lost.
    Amalia
    xo

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    1. Thank you, Amalia! It was a special era of feminine fashions!

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  18. What a lovely post and wonderful photo of your mother.

    Violets are such dear flowers. Can't grow them down here, so I'll just enjoy yours.

    I am planning to paint my little cottage a plumy, violet color after pressure washing, after I get over this linger cold with cough.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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    1. Oh, I hope you get well soon! I dearly love your wonderful garden and your pretty garden shed! When I look at your pictures I remember the 3 years we lived in FL and the year round growing season.

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  19. I was outdoors yesterday afternoon doing a little yard work, amazed that it was April because March was like February ...I felt as if we lost March! :) No violets here, no daffodils or anything 'early' in bloom yet.

    Your mom is gorgeous and I love the vintage clothing photos! :)

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    1. Thank you, Deb! I love it when you post your family pictures from years past, and of course, the current pictures of your cute grands!

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  20. I vote on bringing corsages back!
    Love the violets.

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    1. I vote on bringing them back too, Marcia! How did we ever lose something so lovely? If only a few Hollywood stars would begin wearing them, we'd be off and running!

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