“Clothes are inevitable. They are nothing less than the furniture of the mind made visible.”
Today is a perfect spring day on Cape Cod: a bright sun, a deep blue sky and a bit of a chill in the air. My grass is turning green. The forsythia has yellow flowers as bright as the sun. The springs bulbs have all bloomed, and the green tips of flowers are appearing in the front garden. The male goldfinches are almost brilliant yellow. All of the signs say spring.
Even when I was a kid, I didn’t love pouffy dresses for Easter. I remember one year I had my mother buy me a Lois Lane sort of suit. At my grandmother’s I overheard my mother tell my aunt that’s what I wanted when my aunt questioned my choice of an Easter outfit. My sisters and my cousins were bright in pastels with pouff, and I guess I seemed out-of-place.
When I worked, I wore dresses and skirts every day. One time at lunch in the cafeteria, a student came up to me and said she wanted to wear clothes like mine when she grew up. I was thrilled by her compliment. Most of my clothes back then came from small shops which sold dresses from Mexico and India and countries with similar styles. Afer I retired, I seldom visited those shops as I didn’t often have an occasion to wear a dress, but I did buy a new one for a wedding last October. The dress had the same look as back when especially when I added Ghanaian beads and matching earrings.
The clothes I wore in Ghana, always dresses, were mostly made in Ghana. The cloth was beautiful and the colors amazing. I’d sometimes have a dress made with elaborate stitching around the neck called jeremy in those days. Tie-dye was another one of my favorite cloths for a dress. The patterns were intricate with stripes or squares or dots and back then the die was natural. I also had dresses made from batik., and I still have batik I brought back forty years ago.
For Easter this year, I’m wearing the dress I bought for the wedding. It’s a green color which reminds me of spring. I’ll wear the necklace and earrings. I think together, the dress and jewelry, are smashing!
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April 3, 2012 at 1:49 pm
Nasty cold and sunny here today, but that was kind of nice to be honest. Even the spring bulbs has taken some days off now, only the Lungwort dares to flower despite the cold weather.
I’ve never really had to care about what to wear at work since I mostly have worked in factories. But I always wore a brightly colored shirt (usually bright red) and jeans when having my garden center.
Only two more working days this week and then a four day long weekend 🙂 .
Have a great day!
Christer.
April 3, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Christer,
It was lovely here today though there is still a little chill to the air, not cold but chilly.
I have always had to dress up for work so I hated to dress up the rest of the time.
We used to have a three day weekend for Easter, and I was glad for the day. It was even better when it came just before the week off for April vacation. I used to go to Europe, and I had an extra day abroad.
April 3, 2012 at 3:31 pm
I almost forgot! What do You think about Falling Skies? They’ll start showing it here tomorrow on channel six (suddenly they just stopped showing Grimm without any explanation and start showing Falling skies instead, nothing unusual for that channel 🙂 🙂 🙂 ).
Christer.
April 3, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Christer,
I really liked Falling Skies though I was a bit critical of the setting. It was supposed to be in Massachusetts but it wasn’t even close. The second season should be starting here soon.
April 3, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Wow! Smashing! I bet. My Dad came back from Vietnam once with five new suits he paid $19 a piece for. Pure silk I think. Those suits lasted him the rest of his civilian career. He may have even been buried in one.
April 3, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Z&Me,
You are so correct. Ghanaian clothes are just gorgeous. The cost was about 2 or 3 cedis (about $3 or $4) to have made.
April 3, 2012 at 7:53 pm
Today we were hit with several tornados as a result of severe thunderstorms. My 12 year old car sustained some minor hail damage for the first time in all those years. The hail occurred in the parking lot at work which was only a couple of miles from where a tornado touched down. North Texas is at the southern end of tornado alley and we get our share of violent spring weather.
For the last 21 years I have been required to wear a uniform at work which my employer provides. I have one suite that fits for the occasional weddings, funerals and Bar Mitzvahs.
I commend you for wearing what you liked on Easter instead of what everyone else thinks is appropriate. I spent years convincing my employer that wearing navy blazers and stripped ties was out of date and didn’t look good. The decision to do away with them was strictly economic.
April 3, 2012 at 11:33 pm
Bob,
I saw all those tornados on the news. I was horrified when I saw they were so powerful that semos were lefted in the air. The news said no one was killed, and I consider that a miracle.
I always found uniforms easier and far cheaper than having to buy clothes.
Thank you!