In the 1940s, a young woman had a dream of becoming a fashion designer. But due to life circumstances, “she had to give up something she wanted.” (USA Today) Today, eight decades later, she’s a mother and a doting grandmother — and, thanks to her granddaughter, a late-blooming designer.
Her granddaughter Julia has garnered attention by sharing her videos recreating vintage 1940s-style dresses designed by her grandmother, Georgie. Julia, who uses the handle boringbb on TikTok, says she was so inspired when she saw the sketches that she had to rekindle her grandmother’s dream.
Finding a buried gem
Julia says that she’s always known Grandma had dropped out of fashion school in the 1940s to support her family financially. However, Georgie never talked much about her time there and her ambitions.
This changed during the COVID lockdown when Julia was visiting her grandma. In Jan 2021, the dynamic duo was going over some old stuff when Julia got a glimpse of Georgie’s work from the 1940s. The designs were not “anything special” to Grandma, but Julia was awed.
According to Julia: “I was really blown away. They were really beautiful. She mentioned that when she passes away, she wants people to know that this was part of her life. She wanted them either sent out to magazines or displayed at her funeral. And I thought: ‘Well, why would we wait for you to pass away?’” (Glamour)
Her followers were equally floored when she shared Georgie’s designs on TikTok. They encouraged her to make them a reality, and she’s been doing so since. She bought a sewing machine, learned the basics from YouTube, and her recreations are magnificent.
Granddaughter recreates vintage designs with a modern touch
For the past two years, Julia has been remaking her grandma’s designs and posting them on TikTok. She’s got more than 90 videos of her amazing recreations, garnering millions of viewers and almost 800,000 followers.
She says she started by retouching her grandma’s wedding dress before moving on to other designs, which range from floor-length evening dresses and ball gowns to peplum tops. After recreating each design, she usually reveals her dress to Georgie, and her grandma’s reactions are gold.
One heartwarming video from June 28, with more than 20 million views, shows Georgie’s heartfelt appreciation after seeing her creation come to life. “It’s one thing to see it in a drawing but it’s — when you’re putting it together and I see it in real life it kind of makes me want to cry a little bit,” her grandmother said. (abc7news)
In another video, you can hear Georgie saying: “That is absolutely stunning. And I thank you because that’s just lovely and it feels so nice to see something that I drew so many, many years ago.”
A closer relationship with grandma
Julia says her grandma was born in inner-city Chicago and was the youngest in a big family. Georgie was also frail and sickly as a child, but she graduated from high school. However, she couldn’t pursue higher education.
Grandma decided to attend fashion school, and Julia says she borrowed US$500 from her sister. But she dropped out because of financial constraints and the cutthroat practices in the fashion industry.
“So she dropped out and she felt awful. She had to pay back the $500. It was a hard point in her life. It was kind of the moment where she had to give up something that she wanted for herself in pursuit of something else she wanted,” Julia shared. (USA Today)
She also wanted to have a family and felt finding the right balance between family and fashion would be difficult at the time. On top of her desire to start a family, she was also caring for older family members.
“My grandma has always wanted to be a mom and has always wanted to be a grandma. It’s her favorite thing in the world. That’s why she’s so close to her kid and all of her grandkids so she’s definitely happy that she chose this life path,” Julia said. (USA Today)
But now that the designs have seen the light of day in glorious fashion, the duo have been spending even more time together. The grandma-granddaughter bond has grown stronger. Julia says she’s always loved vintage designs, and recreating them has also made her grandma more radiant.
Julia says: “I think getting to do this, going back to sketching has helped keep her spirit in a better place. She seems to be really a lot happier than she was a few years ago.” (USA Today)
Julia’s fashion creative journey
At the moment, Julia says she just wants to spend more time with her grandma. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would ever be a fashion content creator — but it seems to be working well for her.
Thanks to her social media following, their work was featured at New York Fashion Week in February. It was a dream come true as her grandma saw her work on the runway for the first time.
Their work has showcased the fusion of 1940s fashion with the 2020s, illustrating a fantastic cross-generational relationship. Grandma’s story is a poignant reminder that while we may put our ambitions on hold as life takes unexpected turns, it’s never too late to pursue our dreams.
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