Maxine and her Fair Lady -- surely the most appropriate model name ever coined by Schwinn

Mom had a sense of style that was as refined as Mrs De Luca's, if rather less well-resourced. Not having a daughter to coach, she doted on Maxine. On days when it wasn't Dad's turn to drive, they'd often disappear together in the Dauphine to give Marco and me time to be boys.

Maxie returned from one of their first expeditions wearing a colourful scarf over her hair. It was larger and much more luxurious than the bandanas some other girls wore, and she fastened it under her chin in a much more sophisticated style. The next big breakthrough came when she returned wearing a different pair of glasses. The blue-tinted lenses and the shape of the frames made them look less strong than the ones she wore to school.

Bright headscarves and her cat-eye glasses became Maxine's signature look. Under the tutelage of her two mothers, a pretty little girl became a young lady whose beauty and elegance could rival that of any movie star.