Mom: a Saint, True, but also, a Style Icon

By Leah Chernikoff
May 5, 2011

Piper Weiss; My Mom the Style Icon

Piper Weiss; My Mom the Style Icon book cover

Ever come across an old photo of your mom from before you were ever a gleam in her eye, and thought, "Wow, her outfit is amazing," probably followed by, "I wish she saved it so I could wear it right now"?

When Piper Weiss found a bunch of old photos of her mom, Marilyn, she was so in awe of those wool frocks, flare pants, toggle coats and chain link belts that she launched a blog in the spring of 2009 to chronicle her mom's groovy late-'60s style.

My Mom the Style Icon

This photo of Piper Weiss' mom, Marilyn, from the late '60s, was among those that inspired the blog.

She then used the blog to put out the call for old photos of moms in style before they were moms. She was flooded with scanned photos of mom styles the world over, dating from 1920s through the 1980s. Weiss found that mom style was seriously inspiring. Moreover, the stories that accompanied the grainy black and white photos and saturated Polaroids were compelling and poignant.

Two years later, she's turned all of these mom styles into a book. Out this week—just in time for Mother's Day—My Mom the Style Icon (Chronicle Books) is billed as "a scrapbook of over 200 vintage snapshots of moms from decades past, along with some amazing stories about the lives they lived when we weren't paying attention" (or even born yet, for that matter).

My Mom the Style Icon, a Blog Sampler

Previous Next

MEET MY MOM: Marilyn: The image that started it all—this photo of Weiss' mom, Marilyn, is from a trip to Portugal in 1963. It was the first entry in Weiss' blog.
Jim Morrison wants his belt back: Another early blog entry featuring Marilyn.
5 TRENDS I'D LIKE TO SEE IN 2010...as illustrated by my mom: Weiss tells us that these two images are among her favorites.
HOT MOMS AND HOT RODS: Weiss says that a popular trend she noticed was photos of moms with their cars.
Prom king and queen of my heart: A recent series on Weiss' blog features prom photos of moms and their dates.

We talked to My Mom the Style Icon author, Piper Weiss about how she did it and what she learned along the way.

The Inside Source: How did you get the idea for the mom style blog and book?

Piper Weiss: I started the blog, My Mom the Style Icon, because I found these awesome old photos of my mom that I'd never seen before because they were from before I was born. They were from the late '60s. She was in her early 20s, and she'd traveled all over the world. The first thing I thought was that I was amazed by the outfits she was wearing because not only were they great looking, but they also felt like the kinds of things I had been trying to find to wear now but couldn’t.

Looking at the photos opened up this whole world we never really talked about. In one photo she's wearing an "I Dream of Jeannie" hair fall, but you would never have known it was fake. I was so blown away by the photos that I created a quickie website to show my friends and I wanted to have them post photos of their moms and nobody followed through.

So a few months later, I picked it up again and started asking for submissions and I ended up getting them from all over the world.

My Mom the Style Icon

The Inside Source: What vintage style trends, fashion or otherwise, emerged from these photos?

Piper Weiss: One trend that I thought was really interesting that emerged totally organically was moms with cars. They’re just standing really proud with their cars or motorcycles. Some of these photos are from the '40s, but mostly they’re from the '60s and '70s and it seems maybe cars represented independence. The photos they took in front of their cars were taken at very important moments and these moms were wearing something that matched the importance of the set of wheels.

Big hair was such a strong trend, too. Of all the looks in the book, that's the one thing that hasn’t come back-- it stays in that era. This is not a Snookie bump—I'm talking sky high, crazy hair. I had some moms give me the inch count of their hair, and I think it went as high as six inches.

The Inside Source: What were the most compelling lessons or stories that you took away from compiling the My Mom the Style Icon blog and book?

Piper Weiss: I was surprised how much you can learn about someone you think you know everything about just by looking at an old photo of them. These outfits hold memories. You might think you've heard every story about your mom, but when you break apart the elements of an old photo, so much is locked in it that it opens up memories and stories.

The Inside Source: So when you found these old photos of your mom, the ones that were the impetus for this project, which of her mom styles did you want to steal the most?

Piper Weiss: There's a lot. There's a vest she wears in Israel and I think it's like a Moroccan vest that's black with yellow stitching and I just love it. I love the fake glasses and the hair fall because they don't look mass marketed. They were a great accessory and completely finished her look.

My Mom the Style Icon

Images from the book My Mom the Style Icon

The Inside Source: What was your mom's response to your being so taken with these old photos of her vintage fashion trends?

Piper Weiss: She was really excited. I had never asked her about her life before she had me and my sister. We've actually gotten a lot closer and gotten to know each other better. She's never been psyched about my style tendencies and after this she's been more respectful. I'm a much grubbier person than she is, but she understands now the things that I gravitate towards, which are more costume.

The Inside Source: So if you were going to use eBay online auctions try to find some of the awesome vintage clothes and accessories that have stood out to you in these pictures, how would you do it?

Piper Weiss: The book spans from the '40s to the '80s, but when I shop online for vintage pieces, I love the late 60s and all of the 70s. I've gotten used to looking for labels when I do a search. One of the biggest labels that moms are always referencing in the book is Saks. Saks was the department store that you went to for your one super nice purchase—the one that you saved up for, whether it was your wedding dress or a dress to wear for your first day of work at a new job. So I would search for that vintage Saks label or even Neiman Marcus. I just bought a dress from the Masonette label of Neiman Marcus from the late '70s and it's awesome. Pierre Cardin is a good label to search for, too. For jewelry I like plugging in the terms "medallion and 1970s" and you can get some really awesome stuff that way. Sometimes I'll plug in vintage fashion inspirations just to see what comes up, like Mia Farrow or Patti Smith. It's a fun way to find authentic stuff from that period.