My Red Jersey Dress

I don't remember the reason why Nauni made that dress for me. It had long sleeves, a high neck, fitted torso to midway on my hips and floated away in gathers. It was American Beauty Rose Red. I was 14 or 15, weighed about 100 lbs. and it fit me like a glove. It was my first "grown up" dress. I loved it. Mom loved it. Nauni loved it. Dad absolutely hated it. It wasn't funny then, but it is funny now. Poor Dad. All my other clothes were little girl clothes in insipid pastel colors. Combine that with braids crisscrossed over my head and little flat shoes with socks and I looked about 11 years old. It must have been a shock to Dad to see me decked out in that little red jersey dress wearing high heels. His little girl wasn't so little anymore. It's amusing to make a comparison between tweens today and when I was one. No makeup allowed. I remember secretly buying a tube of tangee lipstick and putting it on when I got to school and wiping it off before I got on the bus to come home. (I didn't fool Mom - mostly because that lipstick kind of stained your lips - she gave me hell and forbid me to wear it until I was 16) No polished toes or nails. No pierced ears (or anything else). No tattoos. No exposed midriff, no two piece bathing suits. Of course I felt it was terrible, unfair and old fashioned and I sulked!! When I was older, I was glad that I didn't get to experiment with those enhancements at an age when I wouldn't know good taste if it ran into me. And it turned out that I loved changing hair styles, makeup and fashion. When I was 19, I found this outlet that sold one of a kind dresses designed for fashion models. At 104 lbs. I wore a very tiny size and my closet was so stuffed full of clothes that my Mother would stand there and laugh when I opened the closet doors and everything kind of puffed out. She laughed even harder when I tried to close the doors. (She laughed a lot in those days) But with all the clothes I bought I don't think I ever loved any of them as much as I loved that red jersey dress Nauni made for me.