gssquared710
gssquared710
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | May 12, 2011 (15 years) |
- | 1 | 0 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
May 12, 2011 (15 years)
- Last activity
- -
- Topics created
- 1
- Replies created
- 0
Bio
Im a 28 yr old man born of Dominican parents. My late paternal grandfather was a tailor back in the Dominican Republic and my mother sewed dresses for her sisters out of window drapes before the age of 10, obviously annoying my grandparents. In the late 70's she came to America and began sewing garments out of a factory in Bushwick Brooklyn. When she came home she would continue her work on the Singer sewing machine we had at home.
This is where I attribute my fond appreciation and understanding for all things being fashion. My mom, Marianela would sew wedding dresses, halloween costumes, sweet-sixteen dresses, and even some blouses for herself to wear. Being a single parent naturally meant I'd have to be within arms reach and ear shot at all times. Our Brooklyn railroad apartment also meant the sowing machine occupied the corner opposite the kitchen sink. It wasn't a cramped apartment in terms of furniture and space, the two people, mother and son filled it with lots of love for fifteen years.
I would help trace and cut patterns with my mom (ironically I was about the same age as when she started her sartorial expeditions). I saw all the tools of the trade, I helped spool up the bobbins (very fun if you haven't tried it at a young age), I would be my mom's assistant and fetch the matching thread to a piece of fabric sample she'd hand me.
Not too long after the end of the 80's my mom came down with a chronic fatigue that halted her ability to work, at the factory or at home. She stopped sewing and I no longer helped. Had this disability never struck her I have no doubt I'd be a master tailor by now. The Singer was sold and with it left a part of my mom. Her passion, her career was over. My hobby, my avenue through which I bonded with my mom until the age of thirteen was sold away just like that.
She looked elsewhere for work once she felt better. The memories, the late nights sewing just to be able to provide for me and her family back home will never fade. Sweeping up strips of fabric off the floor and endless loose strings (pun-uninteded) have never again been swept since the mid 90's. The many micro lessons she taught me about couture, metaphorically speaking, will always be around for me to sweep. Without too much cognitive effort I can still picture the green table where our Singer machine stood. Black iron with decorative gold paint, the foot pedal about a food wide where on her time off I'd pretend it was a gas pedal.
So here I present to you my all new fashion/style blog Moda Cum Laude, dedicated to Marianela my mother. I pay many many thanks to my wife Walkiria for being behind me on this project, for purchasing books, and endless note pads. For suggesting we got to Barnes & Noble and flip through some books when I couldn't find a name for my blog after a month of bad names. I thank you for treating my passion like a true career and not like a dead-end hobby. I love you, thank you.
WordPress.com Forums 