My Favorite Fall Jacket

Jacket: hand-me-down

Rogue Wave t-shirt: purchased at concert (2008?)

Shorts: H&M

My grandma's daily uniform as long as I knew her was a crew neck sweatshirt and stretchy polyester slacks. (The woman had a rainbow array of each.) But inside her closet she kept a few relics of her time as a fashionable mom in the 1960s and 1970s. My sophomore year of high school, she let me raid her closet. I found silky high-necked cocktail party blouses, eyelet dresses, a t-shirt with a fierce leopard, and this quilted jacket, which will forever be my favorite. (Here's me showing off the jacket--but hiding my face--in my Senior Year yearbook.)

I could list you a dozen reasons why the jacket appealed to me (and 10 years later, still does). Here are just a few:

• I was immediately drawn to the rich colors--navy blue and red being two of my most frequently-worn colors. 
• The quirky use of plaid
• The cartoony flowers and shiny, painted buttons
• The even cuter rows of red buttons along the shoulders
• It's warm
• It really doesn't require many accessories to 'make the outfit'
• It reminds me of my grandma herself, because she was a quilter. 

While my mom has a tendency to poke fun at my ensembles, my grandma always said my style suited me. (I like to think it was a compliment.) This jacket reminds me of her every time I wear it.