To the Previous Owner of this Dress

In which I pretend I can send a letter to them...

To the previous owner of this dress,

Thank you for donating the dress to the new thrift store, the one my daughter visited for the first time a few weeks ago with my friend. I’m not sure what drew them to it, exactly, just that it came home with my daughter because it was a fun pattern and fit her perfectly. She calls it her Miss Frizzle dress.

It’s obvious someone made this dress - was it you? Where did you get the fabric? Was this the first complicated garment you sewed? How hard was it to get the crinoline layers underneath to lay just right, so they make the bottom poof without showing themselves too much?

What occasion was it made for? A school play? Birthday party? Because the pattern had been calling your name or was it the fabric? Was it worn just once or every chance the recipient could find an excuse to wear it?

Who was it made for? The size is in that perfect place where kids’ sizes end, but Juniors sizes are still a bit large. It’s got thin straps and a neckline that is low but not too low as to make the mother of its wearer uncomfortable. At least, not a mother with my sensibilities.

Was it hard to part with it? Did you hold onto it until after the original wearer was far too large to wear it still? Did you find it at the back of a closet after three years, surprised it wasn’t lost or given away already?

I wish you could see my daughter in your dress. How it makes her smile. How she wears it with leggings of an entirely different pattern and with her worn ivory hoodie with rainbows that really should be replaced. How she will match it with her hiking shoes or delicate flats with little roses embroidered on them. How she’ll twirl around at random intervals, even if just in the kitchen, to see the bottom lift up and out.

I know I’ll probably never get to ask you all of the questions I have but thank you for passing it on. I’ll make sure the next person who wears it will love it as much as my daughter already does.

Thank you,

A Fairfax County Mom