Floral Embellishments

In all of my wardrobe, this embellished sweater is my one and only truly vintage piece.  I have other embellished sweaters but this one is my favorite because the sweater originally belonged to one of my great-aunts and it is probably about 65 years old.  The beading was done by my great-aunt’s sister, my maternal grandmother.

Like many women of her generation, my grandmother was a very skilled seamstress and had a talent for embroidery. According to my mother, my grandmother would make all of my mother’s clothes when she was a little girl from the remnants my grandfather brought home from his ‘smattah’ business.  One of my grandmother’s sisters (and that sister’s husband) own a speciality bead store in Downtown LA and, in 1946 they encouraged my then widowed grandmother to move from upstate New York to work for them in the store.  Besides working in the store, my grandmother had a bit of a side business embellishing sweaters with beads like the one in this feature. My mother was 16 at the time so of course she made the move to sunny LA as well.

I’m not sure you can tell from the photos but the buttons on the sweater are rhinestones and they are on the cuffs as well. The sweater is 100% cashmere and the manufacturer’s name on the label is Rembrandt. My first inclination was to pair the sweater with a black and white patterned skirt but the two pieces did not work well together (or look very flattering on me). I ultimately decided to go with a dressy/casual mix and went with denim. This skirt is from the new WhoWhatWear collection at Target and I love the silhouette. The fabric has some stretch to it and the skirt is so narrow at the knees that I have to pull it down instead of up when I need to go to the bathroom (TMI?).

At Target, the skirt is displayed with a silky cream-colored blouse that has black dots. I have a similar blouse that looks good with the skirt but not in combination with the sweater. The light gray top I am wearing has a burn out effect that repeats the floral pattern on the sweater and is from H&M (bought a couple of years ago). And yet more floral is in my earrings which were a gift from the Husband many years ago.

I will be featuring more on the skirt in an upcoming post but I did want to show the rear view and how nicely the material hugs my curves.

For my footwear, I chose a pair of lace-up sandals that I bought at the end of last summer hoping that they would stay in style for another Spring and Summer season. I’m so glad that I’m seeing the style in current ads and fashion articles.

And that’s this week’s floral. The Husband and I have bonafide plans for Valentine’s Day this year (dinner and a play) and this may be turn out to be my date night outfit. What are your plans with that special someone? Do you prefer to get flowers or wear them? Please share what you’ve got with the Powers the Flowers link up below. Next week’s theme within a theme will be mixing florals and patterns.