The Charming Stories of 18 Timeless Vintage Outfits

Labor of Love

“I kept this dress all these years because it represents a labor of love from my mother,” says Nelle Goff Wheat, shown at 17 wearing the organdy formal her mother created in 1949. Nelle wore the gown in a local beauty pageant and at Lexington (TN) High School’s Junior-Senior Dinner. Today, the dress hangs in her bedroom alongside her grandmother’s bed and dresser. “Wonderful memories surround me when I reflect on things of the past,” says Nelle, now of Oakland, TN.