The butterfly dress

Did you ever have a dress or an outfit that meant so much to you that it returns to you in your dreams for decades? I did, and I called it the "butterfly dress" when I mentioned it to my sister. It turns out that a picture of that dress still exists, scanned in by my brother-in-law Pete. Most likely it was taken by my father. The dress was pink and had the most beautiful net cutout on the bodice. It might not look magical to you, but it certainly was to me. I STILL have dreams about that dress.

Although you can't see it in the picture, it was made of a soft taffeta fabric and when I wore it, I felt like a princess. I'm not sure whether Norma Jean had a matching dress, but she probably did as Mama often dressed us alike, or in the same dress except in different colors, like pink and yellow.

My hair was not naturally curly, so I suspect my mother had my hair in pincurls the night before the picture was taken. Do you remember what it was like to have your hair done up in fat curls secured by bobby pins? If you hair is wet when it is pinned, it ends up being as big and fluffy as mine is in this picture. But of course I didn't mind at all, I thought it was the height of fashion, with my patent-leather shoes and white socks to complete the look.

Another picture Pete scanned in that I had forgotten about was this other pink dress with fabric puffy sleeves, and my favorite, that see-through net on the sleeves and collar. In this case, Norma Jean and I had matching dresses for Easter. I suspect it had little pink dots on the see-through part overlaid over a nice silk or taffeta, which was of course very popular in the 1940s and 1950s, when I was a little girl. Mama loved to knit and make dresses for us, but I know the butterfly dress was purchased. She might have made this one.

When I think back about my childhood, it was a happy one, although we moved around so much because Daddy was in the Air Force and never stayed anywhere for very long. I loved being the "new girl" in town, while Norma Jean hated it. It's interesting to me how different we were, in the same environment but experiencing it completely differently.

I have enjoyed the many comments and well wishes from my blogging friends about Friday's thyroid test. You may rest assured that as soon as I know anything, you will too. It's amazing to me how comforting it is to think of my friends all around the world holding me in their thoughts, and I realize that I do the same for you, when you are in a situation like this. Robert the Skeptic is having surgery tomorrow for an aortic valve replacement, and if you don't follow his blog, you might want to check it out and send him a kind thought or two. I know it has certainly made a difference to me.
:-)