Vintage Blouses

The last items from the Big Box of heirlooms from my grandmother include these three blouses. They were rather ordinary Sears brand blouses until my great aunt, my grandmother's sister, took her needle to them and created some lovely embroidery work.

These every-day blouses harken back to a day when a lady cleaned her house dressed in smart, put-together outfit and covered that outfit with an apron appropriate to the task.

I suppose when I'm done with this post I should go change out of the pajamas I wore to load the dishwasher, straighten my kitchen and vacuum the living and dining rooms this morning!

My great-aunt designed these for my cousin. But the women in my grandmother's generation were smaller and more petite than my cousin and myself. I think I, at my slightly-shorter-than-average height, am the tallest woman in my dad's family. My cousin passed these along to me hoping they would fit, but it is not to be. Still, I cast a sidelong glance at the Artist and see she is a petite girl. So I'll pack the blouses away for her to try on one day. She may or may not wear them, but it will be fun to see her admire the handiwork and connect with past generations for a few brief moments.

The red and blue have similar floral designs on the front and back. I just love the brown one! The mushrooms look so much like little German Pilze to me. The butterflies, flowers and fern remind me of fairy tale land. Maybe my great aunt was most pleased with this one too, she added her signature to it.