My Graduation Dress

It was spring of 1971.  I was a senior at Sonora High School, which was technically in Fullerton, CA, but really, it seemed more like La Habra.  I was really looking forward to being done with high school and getting on with the rest of my life.  But, I wanted to leave in style.

We weren’t having a Grad Night party, because the class ahead of us decided not to go to Disneyland, and we didn’t have a good alternative.  That meant that the graduation ceremony was a big deal.  My friends and I were all very concerned about what we were each going to wear…

The long and short of the fashion of the day was… long and short.  We wore mini-skirts to school and church, hip-hugger bell-bottoms with poor boy tops and platform sandals to school and to activities, and granny dresses all the time.  Granny dresses were groovy.  I had a few, but I wanted a very special dress for graduation. I knew exactly where to go.

There was a small boutique dress shop, Backstreet, in Fashion Plaza in La Habra on the corner of Imperial Highway and Beach Blvd. It was an open-air mall with anchor stores of Bullock’s and Buffums. They were the Nordstrom and Macy’s of the day.  Backstreet was decidedly different than any other shop in 1970’s Orange County, California. It was couture.  It was boss. And, it was expensive.  The dress I wanted cost $125.00. In 1971. Today, that would be $497.50. There was no way my folks could afford that kind of money for my dress. But, ever resourceful, Mom found a way to give me what I longed to have.

I took her to the boutique to show her the dress and plead my case. Unbeknownst to me, she came prepared with a measuring tape, pad and pencil.  She sketched the dress, then took the measurements and jotted them all down. She even sketched the fabric design and copied the lace and the trim. The belt would be tricky, since it was a take on a corset and was green leather. But she was confident that she could make the dress. I was astonished, and hopeful.

Mom went into Los Angeles, into the garment district, to find the fabric, trim and the lace.  She spent the day examining every outlet, every bolt in every store.  And, she found it.  Well, sort of.  Since the dress at Backstreet was couture, the fabric would never be the same.  But, she found a very close cousin of that fabric.  And the lace! And the trim! Next, she would need to find patterns that she could combine to create the look I wanted.

She took the bodice from two different patterns, the neckline from another, the sleeve from another and the skirt from yet another.  She measured and figured and referred to her sketch over and over.  Finally, it was time to cut the fabric.

She made the dress in about two days.  Because she was a genius like that.  I decided that I wanted a lavender belt instead of a green one.  And, a fabric belt would have to do because there just were no lavender, corset-type belts in any store anywhere.  When I put it on, I melted. And screamed a little. And hugged it a little. And hugged her a lot. She did it. I had a one-of-a-kind designer type dress. She was amazing.

The dress is no longer pristine. I wore it every time I could. I absolutely loved it. And, I loved telling people that my mom pretty much designed it. Now, it’s in my cedar chest, no longer being worn. But every time I open the chest and look at it, I am immediately back in the Backstreet dressing room watching in awe as my mother sketched and measured.  My dress was not a replica of that dress.  My dress was much, much better.  It represents sacrifice and love and talent and dedication and artistry and devotion. For all that, and more, I still love it.

         Mom didn’t use these patterns to make my dress – those are long gone.  But this is what we were wearing back then.  And Oh! The sleeves!