The Story Behind The Name
“WHERE ARE THE MIDI’S?!”
I screamed with frustration in the middle of the department store! My mom, who had entered a state of deliriousness after walking the entire mall that day began to laugh uncontrollably as she lingered behind my quick paced walk. We were running out of time, we were hungry, and we were having NO luck on finding a dress for the upcoming wedding we were set to attend.
“I’m going to call you Midi Mae instead of Hannah Mae for the rest of the day”… Making herself laugh even more. She followed that sentence up with one of her favorite corny quotes, “and now I’m a poet and didn’t even know it.” Very funny, Mom!
I was bound and determined to find a dress that hit just below my knee, but for some reason that particular year the only dress that seemed to be in style was the kind that would easily show your woo-haa if you were caught in a slight wind draft.
I ended up settling with a dress that was shorter than I liked, but one of the sales representatives told me about a “trendy slip” (is that really even a thing) that I could wear under the dress to add a few inches to the bottom. I fell for this advice and my tired mom told me it looked good when I tried it on. We were both ready to be done with the grueling shopping day we had, so I bought it, and I wore it.
“Uh ma’am… do you know your slip is showing?” A man, YES, a MAN whispered to me from behind at the wedding as we were waiting to blow bubbles for the newly married couple. Of course my mom was standing right next to me when he decided to make me aware of what would normally be an embarrassing situation. She slipped into quiet hysterics (again!) while I was left to defend myself of the “TRENDY” slip that was SUPPOSED to be showing… SIR!
It's okay, you can laugh... it won't hurt my feelings. This is literally the only picture I have of this dress in full length. My cousin Rachel though is looking gorgeous in her maxi. Why in the world did I not go with a maxi?!
Needless to say, I burned the slip when I got home (not really) and decided from then on that I would stick to true midi length dresses!
In the moment of that day, finding a dress was the main objective. However, looking back the memories I have consist more of the hilarious experience with my mom. We rarely ever had a shopping day out where one of us didn’t end up laughing until we cried… often times it would be in dressing rooms when we would lose it and no doubt people walking by on the outside probably thought we were crazy.
Mom and I would always share a dressing room… is that weird? It wasn’t to us! It never failed that one of us would get stuck in a dress, either putting it on or taking it off, and would suddenly have to fully rely on the (weak) strength of the other (who, might I add, would be in full on hysterics) to get out of it.
Usually, the one stuck wasn’t the one laughing… and the one laughing wasn’t capable of moving quite as quickly as the other one wished they would.
Mom and I at the wedding.
I really did love the colors of that dress!
One time, Chris had surprised me with a brand new dress to wear to his annual conference for work. I loved it so much, but it needed a few certain (unmentioned) undergarments to go with it. Mom and I took off to Belk with the dress to try and piece everything together. Once I had the undergarments on, I wanted to put the dress on to make sure it was all smooth and fit right. Mom began to zip the dress up for me, and once she got right to the middle of the dress, the zipper busted. If this has ever happened to you, you know this pretty much makes the dress unwearable (unless you are a zipper replacing expert.)
Chris and I were scheduled to leave for the conference the next morning. Mom was heartbroken. She literally cried there in the dressing room. “Hannah Mae I’m so so sorry.” Of course I didn’t blame her for the zipper breaking. It was a very poorly made and cheap zipper to begin with.
I assured her I had plenty other dresses I could take, and we even walked around Belk to see if there was another one I could buy instead. There wasn’t, but mom insisted on taking the dress home and seeing what she could do with it.
The next morning she called me, “I fixed it… kind of! Come up here before you leave and we’ll see if it works.”
My mom had spent the entire night sewing the dress. She took the zipper out and sewed the seam together. I was overwhelmed with excitement and couldn’t believe she had spent the entire night fixing it for me. A mother’s love is {true} love.
I was able to successfully slip the dress over my head and wear it to the conference.
When I look back at those pictures I don’t remember the conference as much as I remember the kindness of my mom and her resilient effort to fix the dress.
There are countless more stories I could tell but for the sake of time I’ll skip to the punchline (Insert the “poet and didn’t know it” quote here)
Spend time and make memories with your loved ones. Go shopping, get stuck in the dress, laugh until you cry and can’t talk, because when they’re gone… you’ll be happy you have such wonderful times to reflect back on.
Since my mom died in May of 2021, I have been looking for a hobby or something to do that would distract me from the time missed with her. I was a mama’s girl for sure and there was hardly a Saturday that went by that we didn’t spend the day together. Our men are heavily involved with racing cars and while we would be involved with racing sometimes too, we enjoyed our girl time when they were gone to the track.
After much prayer, I decided to start this little online boutique. The creation of this brand sparked so much joy back into my life as Sweet Horizon Studio and I worked together to deliver to the world… Midi Mae!
It is my hope that you will be able to visually see the joy on each page of this site that only Jesus can give. My mom always said “no one was ever sad when buying a new outfit” and I couldn’t agree with her more. There is something about going on a hunt for a few new pieces to add to your wardrobe that just makes you feel good! It did to us anyways.
With my mom no longer here with me to share in those experiences, I am thankful to have a daughter of my own to create the special mother/daughter bond with. We already have small shopping days together and have enjoyed our time making the “Isla Kate Collection” that is featured here at Midi Mae.
“Weeping may endure for a night, but {joy} cometh in the morning” Psalm 30:5
In spite of the trying years we’ve had, I can still say the Lord has been so good to me. I am blessed beyond measure and can only testify of {His} love, grace, and mercy in my life.
Welcome to Midi Mae, friend…
I’m glad you’re here!