Gabriella and her lookalike mum cause a stir wherever they go…
Securing the bow in my long, curly locks, my mum beamed at me and my two sisters.
We’d worn matching green T-shirts, white shorts and bows in our identical brown hair.
‘I think we’re ready to go,’ she smiled.
Aged 10, we were on holiday, which meant one thing.
My mum Catherine loved dressing us up in the same clothes and hairstyles when we were away.
But we weren’t the only ones getting in on the act…
Mum was sporting the same green top and white shorts combo, her chocolate brown locks swishing as she walked.
Mum really loved coordinating with us.
And ever since I could remember, I felt like Mum’s mini-me.
With our similar hair styles and bright, blue-green eyes, people said I was her double.
‘Wow, you’re really becoming your mum’s twin!’ my dad commented one day.
Judging by her massive grin, it definitely made Mum happy to hear this.
For me, it was a huge compliment too, as my mama was a former pageant queen.
She’d scooped the Miss Connecticut title in 1988 and also competed in Miss USA.
Every year, we made it a tradition to watch the Miss USA pageant together, and while we watched, she recounted many stories from her pageant days.
Despite several years passing since she had competed in a contest, Mum was still a vision of beauty.
I wanted to be just like her.
'Is that your older sister?'
One night, I sneaked into her bedroom and tried on a pair of her high heels.
As I tottered around, I imagined strutting my stuff in front of a panel of judges at a beauty pageant.
But as well as having stunning looks, Mum was beautiful on the inside, too.
She was such a kind-hearted, loving and uplifting person.
She worked hard as a newspaper columnist, author and product designer, but we always came first.
One day, Mum picked me up from secondary school.
‘Is that your older sister?’ my substitute teacher asked, as she saw my glam mum strolling over to us.
‘No, it’s my mum,’ I smiled.
With a 33-year difference between us, Mum was thrilled.
Our bond stayed strong as I got older.
We both embraced our long brown curls and as well as identical looks, we also shared similar tastes in fashion and loved fabulous glitzy clothes.
Luckily for me, we were the same size, so we often dipped into each other’s wardrobes.
If we were out shopping, we often lusted over the same things and it wasn’t uncommon for us to end up buying the same item.
Whenever I was with Mum, we continued to attract attention because of our twinning ways.
Mum often allowed me to invite friends over for parties and they would usually point out how alike we were.
‘Gabby, I cannot cope with how similar you two look!’ one pal exclaimed.
One day, my boyfriend popped over to see me.
As I hung out with him, he had to do a double-take when Mum walked in, wearing exactly the same outfit as me.
‘I can definitely see the resemblance!’ he said.
But it wasn’t just loved ones who saw the spooky similarities.
One time, a stranger came up to us when we were out shopping.
‘You literally look the same!’ they exclaimed.
‘Oh thank you,’ Mum smiled, glowing with pride.
Mum loved it when people thought we were sisters.
During the pandemic, I started posting TikTok videos of me in the pink Jeep I owned, including make-up content, and glitzy outfit videos.
Then I had an idea.
‘Would you do a video with me?’ I asked Mum.
‘I’d love to!’ she replied.
I decided we should do a transition video, which is when a video cut from one clip to another.
I thought of having Mum and I sat on a bench.
I wore a floral printed dress and threw my blue high heel shoes up in the air.
Then the video transitioned to Mum in the same floral dress and blue stilettos.
As I pressed upload, I started seeing the number of views and likes go up and up.
We were both gobsmacked when it went viral with over 17 million views and thousands of comments such as: The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
From time to time, we made more videos together.
For one, I faced the camera while Mum stood with her back turned.
When I finished styling Mum’s hair, she turned around and revealed her near-identical face and mountain of cascading curls.
In another video, Mum and I wore the same blue, slinky dress, with our curls wound into a bun and chandelier earrings.
I always loved reading the comments that were posted under the videos of us together.
OMG, for a second I thought you had the mirror filter on, one person wrote.
Copy and paste, said another, while someone else wrote: You’re twins and both beautiful.
They made Mum, now 56, smile.
I felt so excited when the TikTok videos we did together were so well received.
Every time I posted a video of me and Mum, it seemed to rack up a crazy amount of views.
‘When the mama shows up, the numbers go up!’ Mum laughed.
I couldn’t believe it when our videos were re-shared on popular Instagram accounts and brands such as Gap asked me and Mum to model for them.
It was great fun to do together.
We were even invited to New York Fashion Week, and of course we went out and bought matching dresses for the occasion — mine was red while Mum’s was pink.
Then, I started following in Mum’s footsteps and competed in beauty pageants.
I was thrilled when Mum became my coach and used her years of experience to help me prepare.
‘That’s it, own it!’ she smiled, as I practiced my walk and stage presence in front of her.
She was such a great support and gave me lots of tips.
In beauty pageants, it was all about the wardrobe and, of course, I opted for a glitzy custom-made gown.
I loved the glamorous side of beauty queen life, but Mum taught me it was important to give back too, like she had done when she was crowned.
Mum and I volunteered at community events such as food drives, pet adoption events, and the Make a Wish foundation.
I loved the feeling of satisfaction I got by helping others.
Over the past four years, I’ve competed in Miss Connecticut USA — the same title Mum won.
I’ve been placed as a top five finalist but I’m not giving up on my dream to follow in mama’s footsteps and bag the same title she landed.
Undoubtedly, Mum and I will most likely continue to be mistaken for sisters, but I couldn’t be prouder.
Gabriella Vigorito, 22