That Little Piece of Me

“Too many people in my generation fought for the right for us to dress up and not put down.” Dorothy Height

This is my mom, Wei-Kuo Liang, in Luxembourg in 1969. She’s wearing shorts from Hong Kong, a convertible fur coat (that could transform into a jacket, a mid-length coat, or a long coat), knee-high go-go boots and a red silk scarf from Taiwan. The temperature is below zero but she chose to wear hot pants that day - that’s just the kind of woman she was.

These women are preparing backstage for a benefit fashion show called “Dream in Silhouette” sponsored by the Outdoor Life and Health Association and featuring Don Loper designs and Eadward hairstyles. The fashion show took place at the landmark Ciro’s nightclub on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, California on April 23, 1950.

Mary Kitano (with the straight bob and jewel stones on her cheek) and Lily Shitara (with the curly hair and getting her lipstick touched up by an unidentified African American makeup artist) were popular professional Asian American models.

In 1965, when my jet-setting aunt was returning to Viet Nam from her year abroad in the U.S., she stopped over in Japan and bought my mom (her younger sister) this Seiko watch. The watch and her Sears-bought outfit secured the title of “fashion plate” for my mom among her classmates.

Part of the reason why I love this photo - besides the fact that it’s so incongruous with who my mom is, a nonviolent anti-gun lady - is that it reminds me of this photo of Madame Nhu, another gun-toting Vietnamese woman. (Nhu, it should be noted, was not so averse to violence).

We found this when we were going through my grandma’s photos (after she passed away on April 29, 2012 at the age of 98). It’s taken in Los Angeles. I forgot about this photo but it’s one of my favorites. It was taken in the 1930s and the dress was likely made by my grandma, like a lot of her clothes.