Have I mentioned lately its hot? Oh, and humid? You know, hot and humid like a south east summer should be? Complete with vacationing northerners? And lots of people at Food Lion in bathing suit cover ups who should have gotten dressed before going for groceries? Well, It is and they are and they should have...seriously, they should have. In the defense of all those on vacay, when I vacation I loose my mind too and am prone to decisions like wearing dayglo colors or thinking having my hair braided into corn rows is "IT". ( That last one might have been the margaritas talking.) In any case, its truly time to wear clothes that allow as much convection as possible. This is a struggle for me as I live and have lived and will always live in breeches. Horse breeches,that while cotton, are always black, snug and cover up all skin between belly button and ankle. This, while habit and once comfortable for me is not so much working in the buggy mug here. Not to mention, how "unacceptable and out of the ordinary" my clothing of choice seems to be to the average Hampsteadian.( see previous posting: horse pants blues) So I embarked on the dreaded shopping trip and forced my way through several changing rooms full of shorts, skorts and such. It was heinous as well as unproductive. In some mirrors I actually re-lived the Food Lion vacay cover up horrors that had so recently elicited such a visceral reaction from me. Disheartened,I scuffled off home, determined to ride out summer in the cool confines of my house. But first a quick bite at the local health food hang out. As I munched my curried seitan,and got ready to drown my sorrows in a Honest Tea, apple-jasmine kombucha, I noticed several of my dred locked, tattooed lunch compadres wearing sundresses. For 40 some odd years I have scrupulously avoided dresses unless it was for prom, wedding or my thrice yearly church forays. Then I counted the milliseconds until I could remove it and wear breeches. In fact the word "dress" is almost as hard for me to say as the words"I love you" are for many of the adult, male population. It usually comes out as sort of a stuttery, disdainful , snort. Something like "duh duh duh dress?!!" the last part rising in volume and pitch until it reaches the proper "are you freaking kidding me?" level. For some reason, maybe it was the seitan and mellow vibe of the place. I caught myself thinking "oooooh thats cute!" Shocked, I began a furious argument with me on all the reasons dresses are sooooo not us. "Dresses need cute shoes!" I blurted "Cute shoes are usually uncomfortable!" Me countered with " Look around , there are Birkies , flip flops and clogs...oh and over there some old keds decorated with marker." "Yeah but..." I stuttered "Dresses are for occasions." Me said "Summer is an occasion." "Dresses are so not us!" I whined. "Maybe they should be." reasoned Me. Who continued with " Look how , easy, breezy, cover girl that one over there is." Pouting, I looked. Girl friend had her dreds up in a cute head scarf, no make up, a floor length floral cotton shift and some rainbow flip flops. And all of a sudden it did make sense to me then. I love ease, I love comfort, I NEED cool, I hate outfits that need to be matched. What could be easier than one piece of clothing? I have flip flops for heavens sakes. I had been enlightened. So with this in mind and not ready or willing to face any more neon lit, multi mirrored changing rooms, I went home and ordered three sundresses from my favorite catalog( Athleta.com) I am giddy with my girlishness and I LOVE my new dresses. I even threw one on to buy celery the other day. Its a new me!
