Circa 1960

/ JACKET (c/o Mom) / PANTS (c/o Mom) / BRALETTE / SHOES /

Sometimes the best outfits don't come from getting something new, but rather are sourced by digging through history and the backs of our closets.  This outfit is a special one as it includes a jacket my mother used to wear when she was 10 years old. Every time I wear it, I think of a little Chinese girl with bursting energy re-enacting scenes of the Wild West. She likes to fondly recall the time her big brother tied her to a tree as part of a game they were playing, before promptly forgetting all about her and running off to play with his friends. Being the adoring little sister she was, she stood tied to the tree for hours, patiently waiting for him to return. Luckily, he eventually did.

Moving on to the pants, which she wore around the time of the Vietnam war, spending a good deal of her days at Harvard out of class and smack dab in the middle of sit-ins, protesting the war and fighting for minorities and working class who were drafted with no alternative options (aka no 'bone spurs' daddy money if you catch my drift). Fast forward to my high school uniform days where I passed these same pair of pants off as part of my uniform instead of the little blue skirt or tapered navy chinos we were required to wear. 

And years later, here these pieces are again, taking on new life marching down new paths. It's kind of fun to think that these items might one day get passed on to the next generation. 

What traces of history do your favorite pieces carry? 

Photos by Nikko DeTranquilli