I had quite the battle with the bed this morning. It would not let me get up. So I tricked it. Told the bed that I would stay in its warm confines for another 1/2 hour and as soon as the bed felt it was triumphant, I jumped out of it.
Seriously, my energy has been lagging a bit these days but I did make it to the gym. Had a decent little workout and managed to spend about 5 minutes in the steam room. It is yet another spectacular day on the West Coast even though it is getting a wee bit cooler these days. I went and got my coffee and chatted with Vicki and Richard. The debate this morning was holidays and the need for down time. Vicki and Richard got into a debate about the American Thanksgiving and I took the opportunity to get my coffee then came back out and chatted for a few more minutes then made my departure with Vicki instructing me to ‘not work too hard’ and Richard demanding that I ‘work harder’.
I laughed and carried on to my car. Whenever I hear talk of the American Thanksgiving, it brings to mind the image of the pilgrims and how they dressed. This then lead the thought process to wonder about fashions and how they came about. Did someone think it looked good? Did someone think they looked ‘hot’ in it? Probably not. They were likely just being very practical I suppose. Still men wearing stockings and breeches and women covered in a shapeless dress from neckline to ankle. Hmmm.
I can see the progression of that look though. Men had been wearing stockings and breeches for a very long time and women wore the drab shapeless dresses for a long time as well with petticoats and all that good stuff. Of course if you were high born then you would be dressed somewhat more elaborately.
I am really glad that I didn’t grow up in that time period. The idea of the being stuffed into a corset or into a dress like that, well I don’t think it would have been all that comfortable. I am going to go out on a limb and say that many of the fainting spells of the day may well have been because the women were trussed up like a Christmas goose and catching ones breath may have been laborious at times. Personally I would have likely been in a liquid state most of the time or passed out on the floor.
I would likely have done well dressed as the saucy little wench that worked at the local pub. A low cut blouse displaying a healthy cleavage and a skirt that wasn’t too tightly reined in. I would smack the sailor’s hand as he tried to cop a feel and utter in my provocative wenchly voice, ‘Now now Davy, you know if ya wanta play with the wee things, it’s going to cost ya.”
I wonder about the motive to create and wear certain items evolved from and perhaps if I am incredibly curious about this I will research it. One item that pops into my head is the stiff collars that were worn by Queen Elizabeth 1. Were they meant to make her appear intimidating? Were they meant to make her appear more powerful?
Perhaps I should research fashion a little bit more. I am not a fashionista. Learning to dress appropriately oddly enough was taught to me by my daughter. I never really had much in the way of fashion sense. When I think back to how I have attired myself throughout my life, I shudder thinking that I left the house in some of the garments I have worn. At times my clothes looked like they had been made from the fabric that once covered my grandmother’s sofa, which leads me to wonder yet again, ‘Who makes this stuff?‘
I really learned most of my fashion sense from my daughter. This started about 12 years ago. Yes, I am afraid it took that long. I shudder when I think of some of fashion faux pas I have displayed. For a time my clothing looked as though it had been made from my grandmother’s sofa. Then while coming out of a deep depression back in the ’90’s I began dressing in brightly coloured clothing of the neon variety. Friends now put sunglasses on when they came to visit I was that bright.
Then came the comfort clothing phase. Have you ever done this? I would wear something until it was threadbare and falling off of me. I don’t know why. Perhaps it was much like a security blanket.
Back in 2000 I was looking for a job and I went to an employment agency to have my resume reviewed. The woman I met with was great. She liked my resume and gave me some really good interview tips, then made some suggestions about dressing for an interview. My daughter would assist me with this and to this day I will ask her advice on how something looks. These days I am shooting for a ‘chic bohemian’ look. I don’t have a cool what that looks like but it sounds great and we’ll leave it at that. I still have make gaffs and likely always will.
Now time to get back to the job at hand. Enjoy!
Power of One by Nancy 