Remembering Betsey Johnson and the Dress That Defined My Style

It was 9th grade. It was 1991. And I was totally confused. I was searching for my style, I loved clothes, and I loved to design and sew my own, but somehow I felt I ended up looking dumpy all the time. The truth is that I just wanted to fit in and not be noticed. Enter Betsey Johnson and the dress! Take note: This was not the Steve Madden brand; this was HER brand, in all of its crazy, grungy, girly NY glory.

Her clothes gave my closet a 360-degree makeover in the course of the next four years. I went from Eastlands, rolled-up jeans and tucked-in t-shirts to flowery short dresses with Doc Martins. It was freedom, and this was how my Betsey dress collection (and obsession) began. Her dresses were feminine and loud at the same time. They gave me the voice and style I had been looking for.

The Chicago Betsey Johnson Store

In the 90s, there were no stores in Kansas City selling Betsey Johnson and online retailers didn’t yet exist. So my only chance to buy Betsey dresses were on the infrequent trips to Chicago to visit my grandmother. On this particular trip, I travelled to visit her by myself. I knew she would offer to take me shopping, and I knew exactly which shop I wanted to visit.

Betsey dresses were expensive, especially for a middle-class high school kid. But, I had saved up my baby-sitting money and was bound and determined to bring something back home with me.

When I saw this dress, I knew I had to own it. There was something about the fabric and the cut that fit my personality and my body type. I felt happy just looking at it, and even happier wearing it!

My Grandmother’s Opinion

Little did I expect to get a lecture from my grandmother about how a dress like this would give the wrong message. Wrong message? I was devastated, because for the first time I felt like I had found something that would send the exact right message for me — I finally had found something that expressed my style.

Prior to this, my grandmother had appeared to understand my search for individuality. She often shared great stories with me about her life’s challenges, losing her father young and her failed Catholic marriage, which nevertheless brought her life’s greatest gifts, her two sons — one of them my dad. The way she had told me her stories of living under an unfair set of rules inspired me to be tolerant of others’ tastes and viewpoints. But her life stories had the opposite effect on her, she was passing the unfair judgments she had experienced on to those around her, including me.

Her words stung. Luckily, I had a lot of strong women role models in my life — my mom had a great circle of friends and openly shared them all with me. But my grandmother’s words still stuck with me through high school. Her words!

I was on a journey to learn about things outside of my suburban life, about things that were outside of my American life, and getting in touch with this side of myself was coming through in my choice of music, friends, and especially my wardrobe. How could any woman who had been ill-treated degrade that process and not celebrate a woman’s right to become herself.

Embracing Your Personal Style

I believe there is a pivotal point in every woman’s life where her choice of clothes turns into a personal style, and it can happen at any age. This experience with my grandmother was the starting point for me. Through the amazing older women I met subsequent to this, I gained the confidence to follow designers that I admired and collect pieces that I loved.

My goal is not only to encourage women to support each other when they are in the process of finding themselves, but also to inspire them to look at how much life is continues to influence their style.

Check out some vintage Betsey Johnson dresses available on eBay by clicking here.