my chinese pattern dress

this is a picture of me in my chinese pattern dress. my mum made me this. i remember choosing the fabric and being amazed at how silky it felt. the pattern was of chinese ladies in a chinese landscape. it always felt very special when i wore it.

my mum made me a lot of clothes. she and her sisters were all very good at sewing. their mother had been a widow and they had been brought up in north wales on national assistance. my mum's younger sister dot made hats. she probably still makes them, although i am not in touch with her these days. my mum's twin made identical outfits for them to wear when my cousin got married. my mum always looked like a film star. i have pictures of her in fabulous tailored suits that she made herself.

i used to be embarrased by how smart she was. my mum worked full time as a secretary and sometimes came to meet me from school in her work clothes. once she came in a flowing black cloak and a wide-brimmed black hat with a silk rose. she told me that i once asked her to put her hair in curlers and come to meet me in her slippers like the other mums. we lived on an estate where everyone had been moved out of east london as a result of slum clearance. the families were cockneys and were pretty tough people. the other mums were very different to my mum. she read new society and the guardian and had opinions about all sorts of intellectual things. she had left school at 14 but had educated herself by reading everything she could lay her hands on. when she died i was given some of her books. they included plato's republic and dante's inferno.

in this picture you can see my vest so i assume it was taken in cold weather. it would have been taken when i was about 6 or 7. i think this must be a school photo as the background is plain. i look quite happy.