I bought my first trench coat at Jacqui E. It cost more than I'd probably ever spent on an item of clothing at the time. The first time I wore it was the first night of the Toowoomba Eisteddfod 2008, Music Theatre night. It was perfect for covering up my Yentl costume, a long, brown dress with a white, tie-on collar that my Mum made for me (I'm so lucky to have a Mum who was happy to continue to make my ballet and singing costumes up until the age of 28). I took off my black trench coat and knelt on the stage, holding a white tablecloth above my head.
"God, our heavenly Father,
I'm wrapped in a robe of light,
Clothed in your glory,
That spreads its wings over my soul,
May I be worthy"
I said with deep solemnity and devout resolution, my eyes looking skyward.
Good memories, for me at least. Not sure about the audience. I still wear this trench coat.
I followed this up with a red trench coat when I moved to Melbourne and finally had enough money to buy it. Felt fabulous wearing it with red shoes. The next one is one of my favourite things. I have worn my grey, checked jacket to death. It never gets dirty and it never creases. The other day I found some stitching coming undone, a tragedy. Now I also have a special one just for going to the theatre. It's a little bit shiny with a collar that curves around the back of my neck, framing my face. This one is the prettiest one. It's beautiful.
Despite my love of trench coats, I have become famous at work for another item of clothing, the cardigan. People talk about my cardigans. Someone said the other day that I wear a cardigan every single day. It's probably true too. I have long-sleeved, short-sleeved and medium-sleeved cardigans. I have pink, purple, blue, green, and navy cardigans. I probably have all these cardigans in more than one shade. When I had my birthday this year my coworkers in the two babies' rooms bought me a cardigan. This was an extra special one because they were the first to notice my cardigan fixation.
I've flirted with hoodies, blazers and bunchy jumpers but they're not quite me. If you see me in one of these items however, give me a high-5. It's time I broadened my horizons. The actual truth is that when it comes to clothes I'm a creature of habit. Expect to see more trench coats and more cardigans. There will always be more of these classic items to catch my eye. Also, the great thing about cardigans is, when I'm a little, old lady rocking in her chair, cardigans will still be perfectly me and absolutely right.
Saturday 8 December 2012
Monday 3 December 2012
Go to Specsavers
A few weeks ago I bit the bullet. I went to Specsavers. My contact lenses have started to irritate my eyes because of driness. This is due to old age, the optometrist informed me. Everything gets drier as you get older. Fantastic :( Only problem is I hate glasses and wasn't planning to ever have to wear them out of the house.
When I was 12 I discovered I'd inherited my Mum's bad eyesight. Getting glasses is kind of exciting at that age, especially when you only need them to see the blackboard. I went off to high school with a little, round, maroon pair in my pencil case. By the time I was 15 I realized that people were looking at me and I couldn't see their expressions. I didn't know if they were smiling, or laughing, or frowning or talking to me. This can cause some embarrassment. At the same time my sister Miriam and I were planning a trip to attend a Summer camp in America. How often do a 14 year old and a 15 year old head off to Oklahoma by themselves, via Sydney, LA, and Dallas Texas? I decided then and there that it would be better to look bad then to miss the sights. I wore my glasses full-time from then on.
By then I had a new pair, gold. Gold! Really? I never wear gold now. It makes my skin look yellow. Really glasses were the last thing I needed at that age. I was overweight, with bad posture, bouffy hair and pimples. No I'm not overexaggerating, I'm probably underexaggerating. Fortunately it didn't matter what I looked like because nobody noticed me anyway. At least I could see. I wore these for a year and a half. I remember sleepovers when my best friend would say, "take off those horrible glasses!" (By the way for some reason she's become much nicer to me now - heehee, you know who you are).
When I was nearly 17 I got contact lenses. Really hard to get used to but when I did they were fantastic and I could wear them every day for hours a day until now. I could go swimming and still see and I could walk in the rain and still see. It was so great. (I opened the dishwasher at work the other day while wearing my new glasses and foof - I couldn't see a thing!).
I had a couple of other pairs during these years for wearing when I got up in the morning and for just in case. My latest pair were black metal, smallish and oval-shaped. My Grandma informed me that she didn't like them at all and I must get new ones as soon as possible. I had to wear them to work all of a sudden and caused quite a sensation. The first person who saw me laughed, but I felt better when someone else told me I looked like the ladies in the Specsavers ads. I still didn't like them, but kept putting off the task of buying new ones because it is just too hard.
When I went to Specsavers to fit my new glasses they felt crooked. All the glasses and sunglasses I've ever had have felt crooked. I said to the lady, "all the glasses I've ever had have felt crooked. I think I'm crooked". "Let me see," she said. "Oh yes, one of your ears is higher than the other". Great, I'm a freak!
So now I wear them sometimes and apparently I look smart. I was told at work the other day that I should wear them to uni because I might get better marks. I replied that it was not necessary because my marks are already as good as they can be. I read somewhere the other day that men like women who wear glasses. They are mysterious and sexy. Haha. Maybe I should wear them more often. When it comes to attracting a man I can do with all the help I can get!
When I was 12 I discovered I'd inherited my Mum's bad eyesight. Getting glasses is kind of exciting at that age, especially when you only need them to see the blackboard. I went off to high school with a little, round, maroon pair in my pencil case. By the time I was 15 I realized that people were looking at me and I couldn't see their expressions. I didn't know if they were smiling, or laughing, or frowning or talking to me. This can cause some embarrassment. At the same time my sister Miriam and I were planning a trip to attend a Summer camp in America. How often do a 14 year old and a 15 year old head off to Oklahoma by themselves, via Sydney, LA, and Dallas Texas? I decided then and there that it would be better to look bad then to miss the sights. I wore my glasses full-time from then on.
By then I had a new pair, gold. Gold! Really? I never wear gold now. It makes my skin look yellow. Really glasses were the last thing I needed at that age. I was overweight, with bad posture, bouffy hair and pimples. No I'm not overexaggerating, I'm probably underexaggerating. Fortunately it didn't matter what I looked like because nobody noticed me anyway. At least I could see. I wore these for a year and a half. I remember sleepovers when my best friend would say, "take off those horrible glasses!" (By the way for some reason she's become much nicer to me now - heehee, you know who you are).
When I was nearly 17 I got contact lenses. Really hard to get used to but when I did they were fantastic and I could wear them every day for hours a day until now. I could go swimming and still see and I could walk in the rain and still see. It was so great. (I opened the dishwasher at work the other day while wearing my new glasses and foof - I couldn't see a thing!).
I had a couple of other pairs during these years for wearing when I got up in the morning and for just in case. My latest pair were black metal, smallish and oval-shaped. My Grandma informed me that she didn't like them at all and I must get new ones as soon as possible. I had to wear them to work all of a sudden and caused quite a sensation. The first person who saw me laughed, but I felt better when someone else told me I looked like the ladies in the Specsavers ads. I still didn't like them, but kept putting off the task of buying new ones because it is just too hard.
When I went to Specsavers to fit my new glasses they felt crooked. All the glasses and sunglasses I've ever had have felt crooked. I said to the lady, "all the glasses I've ever had have felt crooked. I think I'm crooked". "Let me see," she said. "Oh yes, one of your ears is higher than the other". Great, I'm a freak!
So now I wear them sometimes and apparently I look smart. I was told at work the other day that I should wear them to uni because I might get better marks. I replied that it was not necessary because my marks are already as good as they can be. I read somewhere the other day that men like women who wear glasses. They are mysterious and sexy. Haha. Maybe I should wear them more often. When it comes to attracting a man I can do with all the help I can get!
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