My Mother And I: A Tale of Two Completely Different Styles
By Sharee Burns
Growing up, my mom and I butted heads a lot. My grandmother always said that we were alike in some ways, as we are both Virgos with birthdays only 8 days apart. You’d think we’d have a lot in comment right? Wrong! My aunts always told me stories of how they would go out on the weekends while my mom would stay home to help her mother cook Sunday dinners. My mom is the Betty Crocker of our family. Southern Living ready decor for every season and holiday, trying new recipes from Martha Stewart, and hosting a plethora of socials for her and my dad’s friends. Me, on the other hand, I love minimalist decor with plants, I hate cooking, and my idea of hosting is inviting my friends over to watch reality tv and drink wine.
As I entered into my early 20s, I began to realize how different my mother and I are, particularly at this age. Our personal styles, especially, couldn’t be more different! My mother is conservative. She always has to wear a cardigan with a tank top and she’s definitely not wearing anything skin-tight. This the total opposite of me. I love showing skin, I like my clothes fitted, and I like to play around with my style. My style is heavily influenced by the 2000s and 1990s. Sexy and simple.
At my grandmothers house, she always had these vintage photo albums with pictures of my family from almost every era. I loved going through them and seeing my mom as a normal teenager instead of someone telling me that I’m lazy because I didn’t wash the one fork in the sink. My mom grew up in one of the best eras in my opinion, the 70s. Platforms, afros, minidresses, Soul Train. The style, the music, everything was the perfect recipe for fashion inspiration.
Though we currently couldn’t be more different, I can see myself so much in the style of my mother’s teenage years. I often think of a photo of my mother at Folly Beach in the 70s, wearing a very on-trend outfit of a shirred crop top with high-waist bell-bottom jeans. It’s similar to the first picture I ever took for my blog launch. And then there’s a picture of her hanging at her friend’s house looking super chic with a turtleneck, skinny belt and pleated trousers with vintage 70s art in the background — super similar to another picture that I posted. Seeing her for the first time in these pieces seriously blew my mind, but it made me realize that not only do trends come back every decade, but that the only thing that really changed my mother’s style was motherhood. Once my mom became a wife and a mother, her style completely changed. She always told me that it was because she wanted to set an example for me.
As I’m riding out the wave of my late 20s, I wonder if my style too will change as I begin the next chapter in my life of getting married, killing it in my career, and perhaps kids. Whatever it is, I do know that whatever and wherever I end up in my life, I will be confident and strong because that’s what my mother instilled in me. Happy Mother’s Day Mom!
— Sharee
Sharee is a fashion blogger and owner of Shop Ancien Vintage
