The Coolest pictures never before seen:

If you're familiar with Scott Shuman's Sartorialist blog then you have probably marveled in the awesome vintage photos in his recent contest. I think the prize was Chloe look books, it was right after fashion week this year. Anyway, people sent in really amazing vintage photos of family members or whoever capturing a sense of style while simultaneously telling a story.

Well, after raiding my mom's a couple weeks ago, I found her boxes of photos that has become her new project. She's re-organizing them into better albums. Of course, my sister Grace, has three times as much photo material than I. She's the oldest, and when I came around things got tough. C'est la vie.
But I didn't care about my baby pics as soon as I came across these:
This was my mom after high school graduation. My mom had most of her clothes made, dresses were always custom done. Even growing up in a developing Philippines, my mom had a sense of dressing for the occasion. She would never let me wear pants to church, not even those hideous floral bib jumpsuits that were popular for a year sometime in the 1990's. I really wanted one, too. They had banded ankle length hems. WTH?!
Growing up here in the U.S, I have come to the realization that we are a casual society dressing mainly for comfort. Comfort is a huge factor in dress, but sometimes we totally compromise style. I'm not talking about vanity, either. I'm talking 'bout that certain something that make you unique (and hopefully fearless, non-matchy, but mix-y, body conscious, and confident!)
I just love seeing older photos because people had such style. They knew when an occasion was one to be cherished, and had tailor made clothing. Didn't matter that they didn't have much, but what they did have MATTERED!

This dress is totally back in style:

The Beda Dress, Spring 2010.

Well, it never went out of style. Classic Tailoring.

This picture will be how I wan to remember my daddy. He's pretty hip here in his suit and plastic fireman's hat. This was probably in downtown Atlanta in the '70's. I didn't know either of my parents to be this stylish but they were. I guess when your young and child-free you have the world at your disposal. I'm sure this is the version of my dad that my mom fell for.

Look at those bells. He even had an afro. Yeah, my dad had a perm. Not to mention my mom's beehive!

I love the story that these pics tell. I never knew my parents this way, but I love seeing the life that they lived.