We Love the Southern Tradition That Appears in This Photo of Jennifer Garner and Her Sisters

The holiday season often inspires thumbing through old family photos and reminiscing on Christmases past, and it appears that nobody—not even an award-winning actress—is immune to the nostalgia-inducing sweetness of the season.

A few years ago, in the spirit of the holidays, actress Jennifer Garner shared an adorable circa-1970-something photo of herself with her two sisters on Instagram. The Garner girls, as she calls the merry trio in her caption, are all smiles in the grainy Christmas photo:

We've long admired the way the West Virginia-born actress celebrates her Southern upbringing and values, and this throwback photo of her family at Christmastime is no exception. There's a lot to love about the oh-so-relatable childhood photo, from her older sister's pigtails and straight-across bangs to Garner's smile (those dimples!) and, of course, the fact that nobody's looking at the camera (family Christmas photos where everyone's smiling and looking at the camera are next to impossible).

But our favorite part of the cute snap is a bit subtler: The fact that, as Garner notes in a hashtag, her mother made the clothes that she and her sisters are wearing in the photo. Does it get much more Southern than that?

From the ruffled sleeves of one sister's classic green number to the precious smocked details on Garner's and her other sister's home-sewn frocks, it's clear that the girls' Christmas dresses were made with love. They're the kind of sweet, classic pieces you'd want to pass down to your own children, destined to become family heirlooms – and that's a Southern tradition we'll happily celebrate any time of year.