My mom is throwing a party with a bunch of friends, one of whom is a hair dresser. We are getting feather extensions in our hair. J~ is getting a clip with sparkly colored hair.
At first I thought better of it. Two perms have happened to my almost waist-long hair, and we have a bit of a split-end situation. I'm worried that if I add feathers to the frizzy, damaged mess, combined with my father's neaderthal-like characteristics (which I have inherited) and all I will need now for my National Geographic centerfold is a lemur-femur poking out of the top of my head.
But you know what? I'm going to go with it. It's been a while since I followed a trend for trendiness' sake, and I'm going to have a little bit of fun.
I have to remind myself that it's not a bad thing to enjoy looking pretty. I'm not especially tomboyish, but I'm at the end of a decade of my life during which it seemed like a good idea to feel ready to go camping at any given moment. In college, I was proud of the fact that I could go from pillow to classroom in 15 minutes. Why was this an inherently good thing?
The fact is, looking pulled together takes a lot of work, and I'm not very good at it. Yesterday, I dressed for an evening of shopping with my husband, and I thought I was looking pretty good. But do you ever have one of those days when your clothes just rebel against you? I was wearing skinny jeans and a tank top with a flowy tunic layered over. My shoes had a "my first high heels" kind of heel. Nothing too extreme, right? Here's how I slowly fell apart.
7:00- I get in to my car to head for the store. I notice my shoulder straps aren't staying up. I pull them up a few times during the drive.
7:15- I get out of the car and notice that the tank top is also riding up in the back. I stand up straight, adjust the straps (again) and pull the back down and ruche the fabric around my hips. Lookin' good!
7:30- I am grateful to realize that the jeans that were tight on me last week are a little loose. I've been trying to lose weight, so I'm happy my body is responding to diet and exercise. I fix the straps, pull up my pants, readjust the tank top around my hips and look around to make sure that no one at the store is watching me basically redress myself.
7:35- 8:00- That keeps happening. I am beginning to feel like "What not to wear" is following me around.
8:30- we have to go to another store, and I'm rushing through the mall to get to the new place before it closes. The tunic is joining the clothing rebellion, twisting around me as my purse pulls the fabric. Strap, pants, pull down tank, untwist shirt, fix purse, repeat...
9:15- I have to go grocery shopping. I am late to pick up my daughter from my in-laws, we just spent WAY too much money on a suit for my husband, I am embodying all the things that male stand-up comedians mock when they tell cautionary tales about getting married, and I am pushing a cart with one bum wheel, forcing it to constantly turn sharply to the left, and every garment I am wearing is trying to punish me for the spelling test I cheated on in 4th grade. Walk ten feet, readjust cart, fix strap, pull up pants, fix tank top, untwist tunic, purse strap.
And this is when I twist my ankle. Heels? Who wears heels to the grocery store?
9:30- It was in no way sexual that the path from our entrance hall to our bedroom was a trail of clothes. That stuff was coming OFF as soon as I got out of the public eye. Seriously. I'm never leaving the house again. Or wearing clothes.
I know how you feel. I always envy people who just look pulled together all the time, but I don't know if I'm too lazy, too uncoordinated or what - I just can't seem to make it happen. I think part of it is I have not, in my 28 years on this earth, mastered the art of wearing makeup. I just can't figure out how to wear it and have it look good, so I really never wear it at all. And looking put together is much less likely with acne marks and barely-there eyelashes!
ReplyDeleteI remember you as very pulled together in college. And your 15-minute transition in college was inherently a good thing because you were busy (and popular), and needed all the sleep you could get.
ReplyDeleteAnd Caity, have you tried clear mascara? It gives the lashes a wet look, which darkens them, without making them black and thus totally mis-matched your hair.
Thanks, Chris! But you also remember me as the girl who ran into the Chapel dressed as a cat... so... perhaps your memories are skewed?
ReplyDeleteAs for makeup, I don't wear it all the time, either. But I transitioned into it by starting with just two products that are almost undetectable (tinted moisturizer and lip gloss with some color) to get used to the concept of just having stuff *on my face* and went from there.
I still don't wear a lot, but it's fun when I do try...
I actually wore clear mascara at my wedding. :)
ReplyDeleteI have dark brown hair, though, so it's not the color that makes them barely there. They're just not very lush.
I do like tinted moisturizer, Julianna!