I have spent the past hour procrastinating from writing a paper by looking through your website. I am a fourth year women’s studies major living in Montreal, and when thinking about dresses that have stayed in my memory and made an impact on me, I don’t think of my favorite dress, rather the one that was the most disappointing to my young mind.

I am the daughter of Gwen and Tom Hopkins, who married in 1973 at the age of 22, the same age as I am now. They met while working as servers at the Old Spaghetti Factory, and needless to say had very little money. My father proposed to my mother – to which she replied “maybe” – after about 5 months of knowing one another. They had a small ceremony on the farm that my mother grew up on.

When I was about 6 years old, after hearing this story, I asked my mother to show me her wedding dress. I was expecting a crisp white dress with sequins and puffy sleeves (this was the early 90s). Instead, my mother pulled out an off-white cotton hippy dress with flared sleeves, with what looked like burlap around the cuffs. I think my mother could sense my disbelief and said something along the lines of “I knew you would be disappointed.”

In retrospect, I think this was the first time that I saw my mother as someone other than simply just my mother. Someone who had a life long before I came along.

Your dresses are stunning and your message is inspiring. Thank you so much for doing this.

Jean Hopkins, Montreal, Quebec