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| Christmas 1963 |
Christmas 1963. With our new house not quite finished, the holiday was celebrated in the large, partially exposed basement family room area. I remember wishing that Santa would bring me a doll, and he (my mother, Audrey) did not disappoint. I received a Ken doll with a brunette buzz cut, wearing two-piece cotton pajamas and slippers. I was the happiest little boy in the world. My grin in the picture says it all!
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| Halloween 1968 |
Halloween 1968. I wanted to dress in drag, to look like a character my favorite comedian Ruth Buzzi played on “Laugh-In” on TV. I wore a dress, wig, hat, granny glasses, and I carried a purse and cane. Just like any other 9-year-old boy, wouldn’t you say? My mom said nothing negative about my theatrical endeavors. I enjoyed doing the “voice” and being in character.
Later that same year, I saved all the foil wrapping paper from Christmas gifts that I could find. I told my mom that I wanted to make wings, so that I could put on a play, The Bluebird. I think I had seen this on Shirley Temple theater, which was on every Sunday afternoon on Channel 6. She thought it was a neat idea and let me use her “good” paper scissors. I carefully cut feather shapes from the shiny paper. Lots and lots of them as it turned out. I was an ambitious little kid. Once glued on to leftover corrugated cardboard, I turned them over and attached string to the other side with rubber cement so that I could strap them on. It’s too bad there isn’t a picture. I can’t remember the play, or even what I wore my wings with, but what I do remember was that I wasn’t stifled in my eccentric pursuits. I was a good boy who did his chores and was encouraged to be creative. Who was it hurting?
Summer 1972. I asked my mother, Audrey, to teach me to sew. I wanted to make some elaborate, dramatic costumes for a Muscular Dystrophy Association carnival that I was to mount in our side yard. I had scoured rummage sales on neighboring farms and come up with a collection of shiny loose sequins, some assorted fancy fabrics and even a satin prom dress that I would take apart. I set to work hand-sewing sequins onto the collar of what would be a circus cape. I would make my grand entrance wearing that cape, and then take it off so I could do my solo trapeze act. I always dreamed big. Mom said I did a good job sewing.
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| Confirmation, spring 1974 |
Spring 1974. In my teens, I became much more particular with what I wore. I was confirmed in the Lutheran Church. In those days you wore white for such a high religious occasion. I wanted to be cool, so I picked out a Levi’s brand white leisure suit with navy blue shirt and a white bow tie. I think I bought and paid for it with my own money. My godparents, Bob and Janice Smithback, are in the picture with me. I had ditched the bow tie at that point. Note the Justin Bieber haircut. My mom thought I looked great and complimented me on my fashion sense. She said I looked like Mr. Clean. Around that same time she started asking my opinion on her outfits before she got ready to go anywhere. She took my critiques seriously and wore what I thought looked best.
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| Prom, spring 1976 |
Spring 1976. For Junior Prom, she custom made a vest to go with my polished cotton two-piece JC Penney’s suit that I got off the sale rack. I wanted to look like Robert Redford from The Sting so I just had to have a coordinating vest! Mom worked on that vest for a week or more to make sure the fit was just right and worried that the different fabrics wouldn’t match. They did, and I felt like a movie star. I feathered my hair.
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| Très Robert Redford |
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| The author in Oklahoma |
That same year, I landed one of the leading roles in Oklahoma in the Cambridge High School play; she gladly made me custom cowboy shirts. I helped choose the fabrics and buttons. Mine were by far the best in the show. I loved performing, and a ham was born.
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| Bjorn and Audrey, 1991 |
Thirty-five years later, Spring 2011. I still give her fashion advice when she asks. In retrospect, I understand the simple gift my mother gave me. She let me be me. She is not a city sophisticate, but then again, wisdom isn’t restricted to urban settings like Paris or New York. Audrey is someone born and raised on farms in small, unincorporated towns in rural Wisconsin. Her insight to allow her son to be different was a testament to her maternal love, not her political bent or locale. Her influence on how I look at fashion and style is still with me today. I see it as an adventure or like a treasure hunt of sorts, to set ourselves apart from the crowd with what we wear. She let me be different, completely unlike anyone else she had known in her life so far, and that was OK by her, as long as I was a good person.
Thanks mom, for being a good parent, a good teacher and a great friend. Your inspiration has always come from the joy of sharing your gifts with others. You’ve always made something out of nothing in a resourceful and beautiful way. You allowed me to follow my own course, including many mistakes and near calamities, without letting on that you were fearful and worried about me at times. You taught me that I didn’t have to change myself to fit into a certain group, but to be true to my own creative principles and I would prevail. I love you.
So all you lucky children with cool moms out there, give them a hug, and let them know you’re thankful for having grown up under their loving influence.
“My greatest accomplishment in life is being the mother of 5 children, a wife, a chauffeur, nurse, seamstress, gardener, cook, baker, teacher, decorator, sales clerk, collector, painter, wallpaper hanger, bookkeeper, reader, writer, cleaner, menu planner, entertainer, and grandmother.” (From Mom’s Memories by Audrey Nasett, 1999)
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Don’t miss your chance to see emerging fashion designers at the annual Mt. Mary student show. For more information or to order tickets for next Friday’s event at the PAC go to: mtmary.edu/fash_fashionshow.htm.
