Ma, You Be Killin’ Em: Judy Brunette

Photographer Thomas Edward Kay
May 08, 2011

We have so much to thank our mothers for. In addition to birthing us, feeding us, and bathing us, they've also been our most influential style icons. As a small token of our affection, we're counting down to Mother's Day (this Sunday, heads up!) by celebrating our moms' style, swagger and grace.

What did your mom like to wear? Contrary to what it looks like from this photo, my mom did not often rock wedding dresses just for the hell of it. I just happen to think she looks amazingly beautiful in this photo. She still does. My mom has always been a sharp dresser. When I was growing up, she was a single mom hauling ass to work every day, dressed to the nines in heels. She worked for what is now the largest printer of magazines in the world, Quad Graphics, based in Wisconsin. Fun fact: she once modeled in the Quad catalog showing off their corporate workout gear (I saved her the humiliation of putting that one on the internet). When not at work, my mom kept it real classy in pretty typical Northern Midwest wear from LL Bean and J. Crew. She is definitely stoked on the recent heritage trend in clothing. I think because now I look like my dad and his friends did back in the day.

What music did she listen to? I inherited all of my mom's old vinyl. It's, as expected, filled with a lot of Fleetwood Mac, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross and Lionel Richie. Basically, it's exactly the vinyl collection I would go out and buy right now. Good looking out Ma!

What would she say? Does she have a fave phrase or saying? Something anecdote-ey. We are from Wisconsin. It would take thousands of words here to itemize all the weird crap we say compared to everyone else in the world. Plus, there's no way to accurately communicate our vowel pronunciation over the internet. I will say that right now she has a Coco Chanel quote on her Facebook profile : "At 50 you get the face you deserve". My mom rules.

Posted: May 08, 2011
Ma, You Be Killin’ Em: Judy Brunette