Sweet new-fashioned girl

Once upon a time, when I'd see a little girl wearing a dress like this and there seemed to be no special occasion, I would assume her to be a very quiet and ladylike child. Timid and bookish, perhaps. 

Then ViMae came along and set me straight. Ladylike when she chooses, this girl also runs and tumbles and climbs and digs in the dirt with the best of them. She is usually just a step behind her big brother Augie. And while he's in t-shirt and sweat pants, she's in a dress with a swirly skirt. Usually pink, often ankle-length. And sparkly shoes. She is a girly princess and an active child.

I was aiming for an over-the-top princess dress when I picked up this smocked corduroy dress at Once Upon a Child and glammed it up with jewels and lace. I made a shimmery, sheer overskirt, but instead of attaching it I put a ribbon on it and left it separate so she can wear it any time. It twirls very nicely, as you can see. 

The dress also works perfectly well at the park, when paired with tastefully matching pink pants. Good thing it's washable!

Recently, I bought Vi a handful of mix-and-match clothes on sale at Gymboree. On this day, she wore coordinating pieces together. But she has her own sense of style. Picking out her clothes each day, she loves to find combinations other than the original ones. She nearly always has a rationale for her choices: the greens match, or the flowers go together. Which, of course, is exactly what we say about the pieces that came together in the outfit.

One lovely morning she was in a dress that was part of the new duds, and I wanted another photo. Pa suggested she pose for me in the garden, near the bleeding hearts. So this is what she did.

This past weekend, Vi went to her daddy's grad school commencement in the afternoon and Rock the Barn, the preschool's big fund-raising party, in the evening. Two days before, I asked what she was going to wear and she answered, appropriately, "I want to wear something beautiful." Grandma Anita provided the perfect answer, making Vi this new princess dress as an early birthday gift.

It seems to me that we who worked so hard to expand the range of choices and opportunities for women can take pride in the fact that new generations are exercising those choices with ease. And style.