Tulle we meet again...

Tulle skirt (Anthropologie); Jacket (vintage); sequin tank (Gordmans); Suede boots (Simply Chic Consignment). All photos courtesy of Jason Jones, Jones Photo.

This jacket. Chocolate brown. The softest nubuck leather. More than 70 years old...No, that's not a typo. This jacket has more than seven decades of stories to tell.

It's one of my prize possessions. Not because I'm a lover of vintage clothing; not because it's in pristine condition despite its age; not because it fits me like a glove; not even because it was a gift.

All of those things are true, and all of those things make me love it even more. But the primary reason this jacket means so much is because it belonged to my Grandmother Dorothy Coy. 

According to my Aunt Linda, the jacket (which still bears its original Montgomery Ward label) was a staple of Grandma Coy's wardrobe throughout the 1940s and 50s, and she often wore it with jodhpurs and knee high boots to accompany my grandfather to motorcycle races on Friday nights. She also regularly paired it with plaid skirts (as do I). We are so alike, Grandma Coy and I.

She is my personal style icon, and I'm pretty sure my love for shoes, purses, jewelry, and fancy schmancy dresses came from her. I used to marvel at the collection of perfectly organized accessories in her closet.

She's been gone more than two decades. I have faith that one day we'll meet again. But until then, every time I wear the jacket I'm reminded that she's actually with me always. 

Fashion is what you buy; Style is what you do with it!

The photo on the right is my Grandma Coy wearing the jacket for a walk in the fields behind her home in the 1950s; the photo on the left was taken the first time I wore it. My original story about the jacket, including how I came to have it, can be found here.