T / Heritage

March 26, 2015 by caitandtiff Leave a comment

Our friends Laetitia and Abigail have such class and style while working in difficult climes. Whether it’s ensuring that refugee children are able to access education or fighting malaria in Sudan and Southeast Asia, they’re getting the work done and looking mighty good while doing it. We all first met as you do in this part of the world: Abigail was the lone lady English speaker at a workshop, I asked if I could sit next to her and there we go. Then we all boarded a minivan to Kep last year, and Laetitia happened to be along for ride!

I discovered that both have access to such wonderful and stylish pieces handed down through their families, and Cait and I both love a vintage treasure, especially those that are handed down. This happened when I first spied Laetitia in her mother-in-law’s vintage Italian shirt dress over dinner, and then Abigail mentioned a grandmother’s antique Japanese kimono in her possession. We also happened to be going back to Kep. So you know that means a photoshoot of awesome ladies in a beautiful place wearing lovely pieces handed down from their very cool kinfolk. Without further delay, here are their stories:

Laetitia

“My mother-in-law, Silvia, found the dress tucked in the depths of an armoire in her home in Milan last spring, waiting to be rediscovered since the 1960s. I wore the dress during the summer in Italy, and paired it with a vintage belt from my mother, high heeled faux snakeskin leather sandals, simple jewellery, and my wayfarers.

When people ask about Silvia, I tell them that I have Sophia Loren as a mother-in-law. She is the epitome of elegance, and I watch her fashion closely for lessons in timeless Milanese chic. My husband is equally as well put together as his mother Sophia Loren! And while most people are initially intrigued by her style, it is her enormous heart and boundless energy, the energy of a person half her age, that draw people close to her. She’s a lesson that fashion will always be attitude, confidence, and remembering to have fun along the way.” – Laetitia

Abigail

Abigail’s family also roams the world. I have a feeling that wanderlust is genetic. While a member of the US Merchants Marine Corps, Abigail’s grandfather sailed the world and made landfall in Japan. He bought this exquisitely embroidered kimono, made in the 1930s, for Abigail’s grandmother while there.

This kimono was handed down to Abigail’s mom, and from the US, it moved to Germany with their family as the American armed forces do. And while her family was doing a spring cleaning, Abigail rescued the kimono from being cast into the “let go” pile and it wound up in Phnom Penh. It now adds a little conversation and dinner-readiness when worn on top of simple cotton beach wear. Now how’s that for a piece that has traveled across decades and lands?