Harlem rooftop fashion shoot, 1942

Lorraine Duffy Merkl, author of the acclaimed novel Fat Chick, usually publishes her personal parenting anecdotes in places like the New York Times. So I was honored to have her share her own mother's memorable style exclusively for this here little window shop.

Lorraine writes:

"My love of vintage comes from growing up looking at photos of my now 88-year-old mother Angelina (Sacino) Duffy.

I have boxes of pictures with her in cocktail dresses, suits with peplum waists and shoulder pads, peg pants and all that was in vogue when she was a young woman.

This shot, taken on the roof of her apartment in the Italian section of Harlem circa 1942, is a particular favorite of mine. I love the strappy shoes, trousers, formfitting top to accentuate her small waist, and most of all the 'Take that Betty Grable' attitude.

Even though her family did not have a lot of money, my mother always managed to look stylish, because as a gifted seamstress she made most of her own clothes."

Happy New Year!

To kick off 2012, a submission that double-popped my eyeballs then sat unfairly in my inbox for too long. Resolution: no stylish mom left behind in the new year.

Walt Young, part of the rif-raf on the water fountain posing with his family in 1962 in the German Alps writes:

"My mom, Elfriede Katherine Hoffman Scheuerecker Young, was born in Wurtsburg Germany in 1928. She grew up in Nazi Germany and survived several bombings from the Allied forces. She was blind in one eye from the flash of a bomb that almost killed her and her family. She worked from the age of 14 in war torn Germany to help her family survive and was a translator at the Nazi War Crime Trials since she spoke fluent German and English.

In the late 40's, she met my dad, an African American soldier from Bogalusa Louisiana. They fell in love, married, and raised 5 children at a time when interracial marriage was illegal in certain states in the South. When the Federal government under President Kennedy decided to integrate the south, the Army gave my dad orders to transfer to Jackson Mississippi from Darmstadt Germany. He stopped at the Pentagon to plead his case with the Army brass that this was a suicide mission for him and his family but his pleadings fell on deaf ears. We proceeded to drive down South to Mississippi but were chased by Alabama rednecks and took refuge in a military base in Selma Alabama. The Army brass came to their senses and redirected us to Fort Bragg North Carolina.


The picture, above, was taken in New York City, in Columbus Circle, around 1959, and features my mom holding my brother Al with me standing to her left.

My mom retired from the State of New York in 1994 where she was the executive secretary to the head of the Tug Hill Commission in Watertown, NY. She was an officer of the NSA...National Secretaries Association...and was the president of the German American club here in Watertown. She passed away in April of 2007.

She was a great woman who made many sacrifices for her family and who enjoyed life to its fullest."

The best unintentional ad for Coca-Cola

Honeymoon pictures of parents are gold mines. Dressed in their new travel wardrobes, celebrating their first rites of adulthood (people married young before we came along) there's a candid glamour not found in posed wedding photos.

Natalia's parents, who turn 80 this year, were just kids playing adults when they married in Chile, in 1959. Juan put on his best spats and let his new wife, Maria Teresa, an Ava Gardner twin, pour one out for him.

Natalia writes: "They've been together since they were 13 and 15, respectively... one could say that's a lifetime. My mom has always been a huge inspiration to my siblings and myself, both professionally and personally. She's never had formal studies, but back in 1973 (military coup in Chile) my dad was kicked out of his job for political reasons, which made them start from zero and build their own path. She helped him out with a little accountancy office they decided to start up at home. I also remember hearing she cooked lentils and beans for at least 10 years 'til things got a bit better - I bet it was a hard time, but no doubt it made them grow stronger as a couple. About this particular picture, I can say that it never stops amazing me: they look as if they were posing for a Coca-Cola ad, don't they? Gives me a huge nostalgia for those happy, full of life days."

Original hipster: Maribel

Big news: MMTSI was featured in Chile's leading daily newspaper. That means we'll be getting a tour of Chilean fashion from bygone days. First in line: Angela shared these two unbelievably cooler-than-thou photos of her mom, Maribel. The year is 1987. The location is Chillan, Chile. The look is 30 years ahead of its time. Memo to the girl at the free outdoor Catpower concert in Prospect Park: you're wearing Maribel's blouse.

Giveaway alert: Benefit Cosmetics + My Mom Style Icon book

Moms do beauty well. This is not a generalization, it's a fact. They practically invented make-up. Our generation just took some of the work out of it. Miss June Miller, mother of Benefit cosmetics co-founders June and Jean Ford, who was featured in my Lucky MMTSI column in (appropriately) June, inspired her beauty guru daughters. We had a cool idea to partner up and offer two copies of My Mom Style Icon along with their new chacha tint lip and cheek stain which makes beauty touch-ups a lot faster than mamma's make-up routine.

Folks in the US can enter to win the giveaway (ending 7/27/11) by commenting on this here post and answering the following question: what's your favorite makeup tip from mom? The winner will be randomly selected but I still want your mom's advice.

Mickey blue dress

Kelly Cooney Cilella, of Los Angeles writes:

"The picture is of my mom (in blue) and her mother-in-law/my paternal Grandmother (in red & white). The photo was taken in Florida on a family trip around 1977. My mom Mickey has always had fabulous style. At the time of this photo, she was raising four kids all under the age of 8 or 9, yet she still managed to put together a look worthy of Style Icon status. The woman knows how to accessorize. A year or so after this photo was taken, I was born, and shortly-thereafter my mom was diagnosed with breast-cancer. Every year on my birthday, she tells me that I’m the reason she’s still alive. She made a promise to herself that she would see me turn sixteen. I am happy to say that she has been in remission for over 30 years. She has seen all 5 of her kids graduate from college, marry amazing people, and start having children of their own. She is the proud grandmother of 13. And today, as she turns 68, she is still the most stylish woman I know."

Happy Birthday Mickey! You're an inspiration!