When I was about preschool age my mother was working for a Frenchwoman named Solange Cody, who owned Cody Couture, a sewing studio overlooking M Street in Georgetown. It was where the elite of Washington, D.C. went to have their beautiful clothes made and altered. I was there a lot more than I was in preschool and I loved it. All the rolls of fabric, bins of buttons, colorful spools of thread were everywhere in this small studio always enticing me. At Cody Couture I learned how to thread a needle before I could say my ABCs.
The best part about being in that studio space was my relationship with Ms. Cody. She did not like children but she loved me. She is the reason why I love Georgetown and boutiques today. Whenever I was there she would take me up and down Wisconsin Avenue or M Street dipping in and out of shops, delivering clothes, picking up lunch, or buying me little snacks for out walks. I loved exploring the neighborhood with her. We skipped the whole way laughing and holding hands. We must have been a sight; me, a tiny brown button with little puff balls trying to keep up, and her, this amazon-esque pale blonde woman who looked way too regal to be skipping down any street.
Anyway, I don’t have any pictures with the infamous Solange Cody but here’s one she took of my mother and me in the sewing studio that shaped my love for everything beautiful.
