"Adornment is Never Anything Except a Reflection of the Heart." Coco Chanel

I had lunch with a few friends yesterday. This is not something I often do, but we all carpool our sons in the afternoon, and it seemed like a good idea to get together and chat. It's always good to get another mom's perspective on homework, how often baseball clothes need to be washed, and what to pack for the upcoming field trip to DC.



I had a few errands to run beforehand, so I decided to dress up a little bit. It was a New Year's resolution of sorts to start dressing up a little more. I noticed last year that when I put on something besides my jeans and tank top, The Husband would ask where I was going. This told me that I might need to put a little more effort in to my appearance.



I have about 6 minutes to get ready in the morning, if I am lucky, and I generally do this in as little light as possible in order to avoid disturbing The Husband, who is still in bed. This means I can brush my hair, put on some lip gloss...and if I am really being fancy, a bit of eyeliner. I always spray the perfume too...I have to do this...it must be my genetic link to my french ancestors, because I feel naked without it. That generally leaves 2 minutes for clothes. Now, the first thing I see in my closet are my old torn jeans that I generally wear at some time or other everyday. They are my "go to" piece of clothing. The problem with those jeans is that a shirt or t-shirt must be thrown on too. Last year, I left my pajama top on a few times, and of course, those were the days in drop-off line at school that someone would walk up and say hello. See, school drop-off line fools you a bit. You think you can get by with the TV announcer trick of wearing a decent shirt with sweatpants or gym shorts.....because you know, everyone only sees you from the waist up...but you cannot get sucked into this thinking, because just when you do, a teacher will call out to you, and you will be forced to get out of your car and reveal the fact that you are wearing a blazer over your sweatpants.



The moms I lunched with commented on the fact that they have seen me wearing heels in the morning. This is true. But the fact is, I have only 3 choices in my shoe wardrobe...tennis shoes, heels or boots. I just don't do flat heels, and I only wear tennis shoes with my sweatpants. (This rule was drummed into me by my best friend in Paris who declared the American woman habit of wearing tennis shoes with anything but workout gear as "gauche")



It's so easy for men...you put on the suit or the khaki pants and dress shirt....and you are good to go. But for women, there are so many choices. And you know, just one more way to express yourself...and be judged for it.



Here is the thing. I like clothes. I like to look nice. No crime in that, right? I don't care what anybody else is wearing. I assume that most people are just trying to be comfortable or appropriate. But I spent several years watching people put together different "looks" for me to wear on a runway or in an ad...and I enjoyed it. It's a creative outlet. The other thing is...and this is probably something psychological that needs to be discussed in therapy...for the last several years of her life, my mom stopped putting a lot of care into her appearance. Especially after my father died. She just gave up. And this broke my heart. So sometimes, when I look in the mirror and I haven't tried very hard....it makes me so sad.



So today, I'm going to remember that what I wear is not always based only on function. Sometimes, it feels good to look in to the mirror and feel like those 6 minutes in the morning were put to good use...



Until tomorrow...