My Mom Style Icon by Piper Weiss. Image courtesy of Chronicle Books.
Writer Piper Weiss never knew her mom was so cool, until one day while digging around in her mother’s closet she discovered a 1960s crochet belt. (A retro look Piper had been searching for in vintage shops.) Amazed that her mother, Marilyn, ever owned something so hip, she dug some more and began asking questions. She heard stories about parties in the West Village, world travel, and gentlemen admirers. Piper realized her mother led an exciting life before becoming a mom, and she did so with great style.
Inspired, Piper found photos to go along with the stories and started a blog, which eventually included not just her mother but photos and stories of other moms.
Now we have a book, My Mom, Style Icon (Chronicle Books, 2011), based on Piper’s blog of the same name. The book presents 200 photos of everyday moms from around the world, Texas to Moscow, living their lives and dressing with flair.
Submitted to Piper by proud sons and daughters, each photo includes a paragraph telling where and when the photo was taken and who this woman was – student, traveler, model, performer, wife, and of course, Mom. The photos date as far back as 1925 and up to the 1980s. The book is nicely formatted and divided into sections. It’s a visual treat, but there is no shortage of content. Piper includes an introduction, tales of her mother, and a little fashion history.
It is both fun and touching to look at all the pictures and read about engaging women, including a jazz singer in San Francisco and a fashion publicist in New York. One mom was a model and the sixth wife of Norman Mailer. Another was a fashion illustrator for a Philadelphia department store. There are car enthusiasts, rebels, and trendsetters. Moms in gingham, leather, maxis, minis, hats, gloves, wedding dresses, date dresses, and bikinis. Women under the radar, but just as inspiring.
As a proud daughter of a stylish mom, what I like most about this book is that it honors women who haven’t stepped one foot on a red carpet. In contrast to celebrities and celebrity-wannabes, there’s something really appealing about the ordinary mom, who in fact is pretty darn extraordinary.
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Sounds like a fun book. I wish I could have fit in the clothes my mom wore when she was younger (though, actually she did not keep most of them). She has photo albums full of herself in the absolute latest fashions …. she worked and she bought clothes (that’s what ladies did then!). She had a great sense of style and it was hard for her as she got older that she couldn’t dress like a model any more! (I never could, so unfortunately she couldn’t live vicariously through me!)