Category: The Softer Side

Can you believe that we are half way through March, and that in three short months we will be getting our cars out of the winter abode and dusting off the winter grime? At some point winter seems to never be ending, and spring is just around the corner at lot faster than we can…

I’m sure that many of you have far more wonderful and harrowing experiences teaching your children to drive but I would like to tell you ours. Most families seem to go to the nearest shopping centers to let the youngster learn the art of driving a car. Our three daughters had a slightly different training,…

All this cold weather that we’ve been having makes me very thankful for the winter clothing that we now have. My grandmother told many stories of her driving adventures in the winter months. For some unknown reason my grandfather never got his drivers license until later in life. He was employed as a foreman for…

The picture in my mind that speaks volumes of home is my mother working in the kitchen. Her attire consisted of a simple dress, low shoes and of course an apron. When thinking of fashion one does not think of a simple item such as an apron as fashionable or even an accessory. The word…

Some fashion questions: In the last half of the nineteenth century, the fashion style was named for what Queen? In the late nineteenth century, what was a skirt made with straight panels called? What fine art influenced the dress designs and color of courier Paul Poiret in the teens? What style of fashion did Gabrielle…

Have you bought your copy of the VAE 50th Anniversary Book yet? If not, you’re missing out on an extremely interesting book of information on your club and it’s members. There is still time, and the book would made an excellent gift to someone. This is Vermont history in the making. If you turn to…

Fashion design is greatly influenced by the automobile and the automobile has been greatly influenced by fashion design. One of the greatest designers was Raymond Loewy, 1893 – 1987, who is called the “Father of Design” it was his influence that started the American Institute of Industrial Design, and whose influence is still felt today…

Near the end of the decade there were two entirely different silhouettes. Dior designed the “Sack” dress, which later became the chemise, a no-waisted dress that was short and narrow at the hem. In 1958 Yves Saint Laurent produced the second, the trapeze dress, with narrow shoulders, no waist and a triangle shape. In 1955…

After the war, women left their wartime factory jobs and returned to the role of homemaker. Families thrived in the suburbs with station wagons, picture windows, backyard, casseroles and Emily Post. Donna Reed was the perfect picture of the happy housewife dressed in the standard daytime shirtwaist with full circle skirt, and belted waist. A…