Sunday, December 13, 2009
T'was the night
Approximately a fortnight before Christmas. This won't rhyme or be all that clever, but it's been perking in the noggin, so I thought I'd capture it.
My friends are social folks. We have an annual list of parties that have solidified over the years. Super Bowl, T's birthday, 4th of July, Winter Formal and New Year's. There are random gatherings sprinkled in as well. Last night was Winter Formal. It's the newest occasion. Last year, Lees decided that we needed an occasion to dress up, that our normal "show up in whatever" needed a break. So last year, I wore a nice skirt, a sparkly sweater and a nice wrap over it. This year, we put the "formal" in formal.
As outfits go, I'm happy to dress conservatively. In general, the more of me that's covered, the better, which has been my clothing MO for 90% of my life. Not this time. Friend P made it clear that my snazzy sweater and work-appropriate skirt wasn't going to cut it this time. She wanted cleavage and legs. Easy for her to say. So a-dress-shopping she went. She picked out preliminaries and later I joined for the fitting. I was really in favor of a dark blue goddess-y gown, but it was pronounced "not hot enough". Some of the dresses were cute on the rack, but really bad on. It's sad when your back fat makes better cleavage than your front fat.
Finally, the dress was found. Long, so no leg, but plenty of cleavage in front...where it should be. I described the dress to a friend as "cut halfway to my navel". Not quite. Halfway down to my knee is what it felt like and was in fact, about an inch and a half above my navel. I don't know if I flashed any scars from my hysterectomy, but I'm sure I could have.
All day Saturday, I had a giddy sense of anticipation. Cookies and other goodies were baked. Drinks packaged. Then the nerves started. How would I do my hair? What on earth would I do for my makeup? Could I pull off a look that wouldn't look like I was on my way to work? Could I really tape myself into clothing? That part worried me. Not sure why as it's the only practical thing for a gown like that.
As getting ready progressed, the nerves got worse. It was raining a little. Rain and long dresses with trains don't go well together. Got to the party a tad late and hauled our stuff in. I came in with a coat on (it was cold....even not half naked, it was cold) and got several "why are you wearing a coat" looks. Dropped off the coat and purse and made an entrance. Boy did I ever. I think Friend P couldn't have been prouder of me if I were her kid winning a contest. But she should have been proud. I would never have picked out a dress like this. I wouldn't have had much of an idea for my hair had she not made a suggestion that was not too hard for me to do and worked well.
I wore the dress through dinner, for many many pictures, a few trips outside (any more and I'd have swept Lees's deck clean) and then it was time to retire it. As far as things went, I was comfortable both dress fit and shoe-wise. I really wanted to be comfortable with wearing the dress longer, but the length and all the skin was a bit more than I could do.
So with slightly mixed feelings, I changed into my fav fleece shirt and jeans. Much better, but I almost felt that I'd given in too soon.
The girls discussed wearing our dresses again and going out for a night on the town. Maybe we'll do that. The dress certainly deserves another showing.
My friends are social folks. We have an annual list of parties that have solidified over the years. Super Bowl, T's birthday, 4th of July, Winter Formal and New Year's. There are random gatherings sprinkled in as well. Last night was Winter Formal. It's the newest occasion. Last year, Lees decided that we needed an occasion to dress up, that our normal "show up in whatever" needed a break. So last year, I wore a nice skirt, a sparkly sweater and a nice wrap over it. This year, we put the "formal" in formal.
As outfits go, I'm happy to dress conservatively. In general, the more of me that's covered, the better, which has been my clothing MO for 90% of my life. Not this time. Friend P made it clear that my snazzy sweater and work-appropriate skirt wasn't going to cut it this time. She wanted cleavage and legs. Easy for her to say. So a-dress-shopping she went. She picked out preliminaries and later I joined for the fitting. I was really in favor of a dark blue goddess-y gown, but it was pronounced "not hot enough". Some of the dresses were cute on the rack, but really bad on. It's sad when your back fat makes better cleavage than your front fat.
Finally, the dress was found. Long, so no leg, but plenty of cleavage in front...where it should be. I described the dress to a friend as "cut halfway to my navel". Not quite. Halfway down to my knee is what it felt like and was in fact, about an inch and a half above my navel. I don't know if I flashed any scars from my hysterectomy, but I'm sure I could have.
All day Saturday, I had a giddy sense of anticipation. Cookies and other goodies were baked. Drinks packaged. Then the nerves started. How would I do my hair? What on earth would I do for my makeup? Could I pull off a look that wouldn't look like I was on my way to work? Could I really tape myself into clothing? That part worried me. Not sure why as it's the only practical thing for a gown like that.
As getting ready progressed, the nerves got worse. It was raining a little. Rain and long dresses with trains don't go well together. Got to the party a tad late and hauled our stuff in. I came in with a coat on (it was cold....even not half naked, it was cold) and got several "why are you wearing a coat" looks. Dropped off the coat and purse and made an entrance. Boy did I ever. I think Friend P couldn't have been prouder of me if I were her kid winning a contest. But she should have been proud. I would never have picked out a dress like this. I wouldn't have had much of an idea for my hair had she not made a suggestion that was not too hard for me to do and worked well.
I wore the dress through dinner, for many many pictures, a few trips outside (any more and I'd have swept Lees's deck clean) and then it was time to retire it. As far as things went, I was comfortable both dress fit and shoe-wise. I really wanted to be comfortable with wearing the dress longer, but the length and all the skin was a bit more than I could do.
So with slightly mixed feelings, I changed into my fav fleece shirt and jeans. Much better, but I almost felt that I'd given in too soon.
The girls discussed wearing our dresses again and going out for a night on the town. Maybe we'll do that. The dress certainly deserves another showing.
