OverDressed for Life

When I was in high school, I often assisted my mother at antique shows around the Bay Area and beyond. She was an antique jewelry dealer and sold mostly at shows. On weekends I’d help her pack the car, set up the displays, fetch food, and do whatever else I could. (Including flirt with the handsome antique rug dealer but that’s a different story.)

The otherworldliness and camaraderie of those shows enchanted me. Dealers are an eccentric and social bunch; the wine started flowing an hour or so before closing or after a particularly nice sale.

Mom and I usually took the opportunity to dress in vintage. She’d don a black cut velvet 30s dress paired with 20s copper-colored shoes. I was all about the 40s and my favorite find was a grey and red Lilli Ann suit jacket, which I thought was tres chic paired with a blue turban. I still have and wear that jacket and indeed, Mom’s velvet dress and copper shoes also live in my closet.

One year of shows there was a ring in Mom’s display case that I coveted. Of all jewelry pieces, rings are Mom’s favorite and mine too. This was Art Deco – onyx with a tiny diamond in the middle set in white gold. I liked the sharp design and combination of black and white with just a touch of sparkle. That ring got a lot of attention and every time someone tried it on, I held my breath. Of course I wanted Mom to do well and sell but I also really wanted that ring on MY finger. Sometimes I’d slip it on hoping she’d say, “Oh, just keep it.” She didn’t.

I was heartsick when one day Mom said the ring sold. I’m pretty sure I actually pouted. (Hey, I was teenager.) But perhaps I should have known my mother a bit better than that because the following Christmas, tucked into the toe of my stocking I could feel a velvet box and what was in that box? You guessed it – the Art Deco ring. I think our exchange went something like this:

Me: Mom, you said you sold it.

Mom: I did. I sold it to myself … for you.

I have worn and loved that ring for many a year now. Thanks, Mom.

Merry Christmas from Mom’s Closet.