Oh, Mountain Ash, how much things have changed! You're right, married women couldn't be teachers once upon a time!
I know my mother also pined for store bought; and when I was small I stated my preference for the dresses my grandmother made me, and she was amazed that I too didn't want store bought. It's simple, I had a choice, more or less, and she didn't. If they didn't sew it, they didn't get it.
I never wore anything except skirts and dresses until i graduated from Highschool. In college I wore jeans and that was the end of the dress era in my life.
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