Clothes Make A Difference

Clothes 

            Bob was the first boy friend who told me I was “pretty.”  Actually, he didn’t tell me.  I overheard him tell my college roommate.  Later, after we were married, he told me he really said “She could be really pretty.” 

            In any case, my self-confidence soared based on that comment and I lived up to it.  The first year we were married I lost twenty five pounds of fat, began sewing with more expensive cloth, and studying makeup and hairstyles and all that stuff that affects one’s self-confidence as a young woman.  I spent most of my time, away from my secretarial 9 to 5 job, in an exercise class or exercising at home, shopping for shoes, until I lost weight and it would make sense to buy body clothes, and generally concentrating on my appearance.  It is true for me, clothes do make a difference in how I feel.  How I look makes a difference in how I feel.  It’s pure fun to dress up—whether it’s for yard work, yoga, church, partying, meditating, or whatever else I’m about to do..

            My reward to myself for losing the twenty-five pounds was a white cotton sheath dress from I. Magnin, an upscale store in Pasadena.  I’ll always relish the memory of standing on the little platform while the seamstress placed pins to mark adjustments.  That $25 polished cotton twill dress fit me like a glove.  With it, I wore white gloves and a large red straw “picture” hat and the white high heel sandals I wore with my wedding dress a year before.  It was a great Saturday afternoon adventure to dress up and drive my Model A Ford to the Broadway or I. Magnin’s, pull up under the portico and have the doorman open my car door, take my white-gloved hand and assist me out.  Then I’d parade into the store, head high, with less than $25 in my purse, but who was to know?  I couldn’t afford to buy anything, but I could wander around in the store to my heart’s content.

            All of this clothes stuff has to do with my urge to be creative.  Role-playing and dressing for the part are creative activities I still enjoy.