This weekend, I celebrated my 40th Birthday with an intimate dinner with 18 of my closest friends, most of whom I’ve had the pleasure of twenty to thirty-five years worth of friendship. I was struggling with what to wear. I wanted to dress up, but be comfortable. I also didn’t want to spend a ton of money simply because it was my 40th. I came up with the perfect outfit: I’d wear pieces that celebrated me but also celebrated my heritage and my family.
When my grandmother died several years ago, I was put to the task of cleaning out her closet. I found several amazing pieces including this beautiful crochet bat wing top that I just fell in love with.
It speaks to the lace trend that is going on this Spring (I know its crochet, but close enough), but still is one-of-a-kind. I couldn’t tell you if my grandmother made it, had it made for her, or if it’s a ready-to-wear piece because there isn’t a tag on it. All I know is that It fit me like a glove and I felt really great wearing it, knowing that my grandmother had worn it at one point or another.
I wear my grandfather’s gold Timex watch almost every day. It’s a classic piece and I love that it’s a man’s watch and is big and bold on my wrist. My mom and I found three of these watches when we cleaned out my grandmother’s home when she passed, so I have one, my brother has one, and my cousin has the other. We all have a piece of my grandfather which is pretty cool.
The tri-gold bracelet with the hearts is from my mom which she gave to me several years ago. I remember as a young child being held by her and seeing and touching this bracelet. It’s pretty amazing that I am wearing it now, and I know I’ll be passing it to one of the girls later on.
I also wore this Emerald and diamond ring which the stones originally came from my great-grandmother’s necklace. Supposedly, she had a necklace that had several emeralds on it. She took the necklace apart and gave an emerald to each of her children, my grandmother’s generation. Now, our emerald has been passed down from my grandmother to my mom, and now down to me.
I love that Pantone has named “Emerald” the color of the year, so I wear this ring a bit more than I normally do.
This wool felted vintage clutch didn’t get passed down to me, but I did find it in a vintage shop in Tucson, Arizona, my most favorite place to find cool, vintage purses. And p.s. it was $22.
So all in, I didn’t spend a dime on this outfit, but my outfit was priceless. It is one-of-a-kind, with one-of-a-kind pieces that all have a story to tell.