Faye’s Dress

My husbands Grandmother passed away this past year. She was 94 yrs old.

My husband and I were last to go through her house before the rest was cleaned out, donated or items went into the trash.

I found the usual nic nacks or trinkets, a lot was gone already, but still a lot was left to be sifted through.

I was excited when we got into the garage and there was a closet in there, once I opened it I gasped.

Full of clothing!

Vintage Clothing!

Fabulous Stuff!

This is only a TINY sampling of a few items

I only wish I could fit into most of it! Much of it is going to the local Vintage Clothing Store where I live and do business, or on ebay to find new homes. Some of it I have had professionally cleaned. 2 dresses bit the dust at the cleaners when I went back to get them. Sighhh

Faye had some beautiful dresses, either she or her daughters wore.

Right now we are doing family history research on my husband’s side, piecing family tree’s together. So I have a small amount of old photos my husband got from his Mother of his Grandma.

So I was excited to see one of the actual dresses I dug out of the garage in one of the photographs, Faye came to California from Texas in the 1950s, so this is most likely in the 1950s. Faye and her second husband

And here at home in my living room is Faye’s Dress. Granted this is not as flashy and flirty as so many others I have of hers. But its special to me as its showcased in a photograph. I could not fit it on my other dress form because the chest is too big to pull the dress over, its a small size with a side zipper. But still in good condition! I wonder what the occasion was in the photo.

It looks as if Faye had these items in the garage set out for Yard Sales as many had price tags on them, she had $10 on this one. But it stayed there in the garage, safely tucked away for me to come rescue them all one day and give them new life, homes, and stories to share with others.

Thank you Faye, and by the way, I sure Love that Grandson of yours 🙂

Our last Christmas with Faye in 2010

19 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

19 responses to “Faye’s Dress

  1. What a great find! And to have a photo with the dress in it is even better. My favorite dress though is the one on the left with the chevrons.

  2. You could have a rewarding garage sale with what you’ve found.

  3. Fabulous is definately the right descriptive. How exciting.
    Regards,
    Theresa (Tangled Trees)

  4. Lucky you! To have the photograph and the memory of someone who seemed a lovely lady as well is a bonus.

  5. Family treasures in a photo time machine. Priceless. Great story.

  6. Oh my goodness — what a wonderful gift of rememberance. Awesome to have the photo and the dress, and the memory of a person special to you, as well. Great post. Glad I stopped by!

  7. The photo and dress are both interesting, and having them together makes them even more interesting

  8. Pat

    How fortunate that you have a vintage clothing source and interest. Wish I’d have had someone around like you to share all the vintage clothing I tossed and donated when I cleaned out my aunt’s home in PA and later my uncle’s. I think the dresses are beautiful….and yes the women had way tinier wasistlines.

  9. QMM

    She looks great in that dress. What a wonderful adventure you have described. Vintage clothing is sure popular out there now. Thanks for sharing.
    QMM

  10. Mrs Marvel

    Wow! Great find! What a special treat to have a photo of Faye wearing it too.

  11. I agree with everyone who says it’s great to have the photo to go with the dress.

  12. Karen S.

    Oh what an awesome and exciting find! You are lucky…and some of it might be really worth quite a bit….I just recently learned that my great-grandmother’s wedding dress, that she hand made herself, was and might still be on display at a college in Michigan! You just never know how special somethings are! Very cool!

  13. Jo

    Sorry to hear about your husband’s grandmother’s death, but 94 is a good age. I bet you are pleased that she held on to so much “stuff” – I wonder if I could squeeze into the blue and silver dress in the first photo 😉 Faye looks great in the checked dress – so much better than on the hanger. Jo

  14. I love the photos and dresses. What a treasure. Might be enough to inspire me to stick to a diet. Thanks for sharing.

  15. How wonderful to see the actual dress!

  16. aubrey

    It doesn’t matter how old you are: a closet of glittering, vintage clothes is magic. Treat these with love and respect and they will last forever.

    That dress with the turquoise chevrons is Beyond Swell.

  17. Oh, now that is really impressive – being able to match up the dress with the one in the old photograph. A fine legacy to leave behind and to add to the legacy of someone who I am sure was a wonderful lady.

  18. What a treasure to find both the photo AND the dress. Faye looks so happy in the photo with her husband. I find it amazing that she kept so many clothes for so many years. People just don’t do that very often anymore.

    Not like you’re thinking of selling the dress but because you have its provenance, the value increases greatly. Perhaps some day, if there’s no one else in your family who wants it, it could be donated to a clothing museum or a museum with a clothing collection.

    How many of us family historians wish for such a great find! Thanks for searching the treasures, both dress and photograph.

Leave a reply to Karen S. Cancel reply