Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Meet Lois

After my post about the Look of Suits from 1955, Facebook fan Bonnie sent me these pictures and the story of her mom and dad. She has kindly given permission for me to share them with you here.

Lois Marie Cashell and Charles Berkeley Randall were married in November 1957. Lois was working as a hairdresser at Hochschild-Kohn, one of Baltimore's famous department stores at the time.

Because the wedding was small, with only immediate family in attendance for the service at St. James Lutheran Church, Lois chose to wear a suit instead of a wedding gown. She purchased the Glenhaven suit at Hochschild-Kohn, and remembers it was quite expensive, even with her employee discount!

I found this ad for a very similar Glenhaven suit from 1957. Glenhaven suits were of very high quality and made of the best fabrics. Lois's suit was made of Forstmann wool, one of the premier wool mills of the time.

Sadly, Charles passed away just months shy of the couple's 50th wedding anniversary, but their children took Lois out to celebrate the date despite that fact. Amazingly, she was still able to fit into her wedding suit, and wore it along with the original hat, jewelry, and slip that she wore on her wedding day for the celebration. Isn't she beautiful?

Bonnie was kind enough to take some detailed photos of the suit for us.





Not only did the suit last all those years, it still looks stylish today! Thanks for sharing your story and pictures, Bonnie and Lois!