The long dresses are not a big deal. I love maxi dresses. However it is a big deal that shorts are out, and also I am supposed to be covering up and not going sleeveless, which is something that, darn it all, I love to do.
Normally when I walk in the park, I wear shorts. What to do? I wanted to go for a walk in the morning.
What happened was, I was rifling through my closet and this pink maxi called to me, just a long pink maxi with tie-dyed white trim around the bottom. The label is Izod, which impressed me when I picked it up heaven knows where. But I have never worn it. It is too skimpy on top, was the reason. It needs something over it. But I never tried to find something to go over it until now. Because now, I have to.
I found a pink striped top which looked kind of nice. But then I hit on this denim jacket, this flowered denim jacket I had found at Amvets. I had never worn the jacket either. It is pretty as all get out but it never seemed to go with anything. I tried it on over the dress.
Hmmm, I thought, studying it. Too wacky. Not me.
I was going to take it off and try something else but right at that moment Howard appeared.
"Wow," he said. "Nice outfit! That looks great."
Howard does not compliment my clothes as a matter of course and I loved that. Then he said, "Want to walk in the park?" He does not normally walk in the park with me either. He usually has to get on with the workday.
So I felt happy as a puppy being taken out walking. I put on sneakers with the dress -- what the heck, at this point. Then the dress and the jacket both left the house for the first time. The dress is very long so I was holding it up so as not to fall over it.
Howard had the idea to take my picture on the swings.
I was so happy with how things went that I kept this outfit on all day. Sneakers and all. I had to go to the chiro and run some errands. All day long people complimented me! The receptionist at the chiro told me my outfit was beautiful and said she wanted to shop where I shop.
I had a blast!
The jacket got a little bit warm as the temps approached 80 degrees but it was cotton so it was not too bad. And you know what, I'll take it.
My brother George has joked that whenever the Catholic Church gives you rules there is a reason for it and you would do best to follow them. I was thinking, things do seem to work out.
At least it did today!
4 comments:
Hi Mary!
Sorry we missed you last week in Buffalo. We had a terrific time exploring downtown and the amazing architecture. We started with City Hall and proceeded to the Erie County Court Building and onward, following our eyes. We were dumbstruck to discover Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building (I'm a huge Sullivan fan, having lived in Chicago for 15 years).
I'm intrigued by the no-pants policy. I went through a phase in my 30's when I never wore pants to work. I thought it was unfeminine and for some reason I wanted to be both taken seriously at work AS a female. Eventually I started wearing pants to work but I never felt 100% comfortable with it. (I've been working from a home office now for years and years...in pants.)
In Arizona I never leave the house without a hat and long sleeves. I have a lot of sun damage from growing up outdoors in California and Oregon. It's too late to bring back fair skin, but never too late to protect against more damage. So coverage serves many purposes. I love your inspiration on these things!
--Kate Fitzgerald
Kate, I was thrilled to see your comment! So nice of you to read what I wrote.
That really makes me grin, that you see me as an inspiration. Kate, you must join me on the skirts-only adventure and let me know how it goes. I haven't gotten around to writing it ... I will have to do that in a couple of minutes ... but since I cut out the pants and the shorts, all kinds of great things have happened to me. I even told that to our priest when I saw him at a party. I said, all kinds of people are complimenting me, and two people even asked where I shop! He was laughing and laughing. It really is funny how this works out.
The long sleeves have been a bit of a challenge ... well, elbow length is OK ... so I want to go to Amvets and see what I can find made out of cotton or linen. I have a few things but not enough. You get the joke, I can tell ... you have to make it a game, and then it's fun, and an adventure.
I love that you saw the Guaranty Building! A few weeks ago I set out to draw it but I couldn't quite get a good angle .. I'll have to work on that. That building is so handsome and when you said you were dumbstruck to see it I feel like saying, "Thank you," as if I designed it, LOL!
Let's be in touch. Do the long skirt thing! I don't want to go this alone!
Mary,
I haven't done much on the no-pants initiative. However, on your inspiration I bought a skirt and it's setting a new pace for my summer wear. It's four-gore style (I sewed one of these in high school, is how I know about "gore"), mid-calf, navy with white dots, made of a thin crepe, very lightweight and flowing for the Arizona summer. I feel very free in it! The length covers much of my white-potato skin, so I feel less shame about the fact that I don't have long, tawny legs.
This skirt goes with any shoes, I think. Another plus.
As for long sleeves, I think a very lightweight button-down style shirt works OVER a cooler, sleeveless tank or T-shirt in the summer. That way you can be covered when you want and cool when you want. I found one on sale at Banana Republic that just about fits the ticket, except it's got black vertical stripes, which doesn't "go" with everything.
To be clear, I'm still wearing pants. I'm not going to the Gregorian mass, or any mass (though I like your priest). I'm just very tentatively thinking about the glory of skirts and planning to wear them more now.
Last week in Scottsdale we went to lunch at the hot dog place and two young Amish women crossed our path, carrying bags from the store. They wore white bonnets and chambray skirts that to the middle of their calves with matching chambray shirts with long sleeves, though one girl had her sleeves partially rolled up. (Marshall contends they were Mennonites, but my Google search of headwear suggests otherwise.) Anyhow, those girls never wear pants!
Oops, the "anonymous" comment above about the Amish from Scottsdale is Kate. I was logged into the wrong account.
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