Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Naked people have little or no influence on society ~ Mark Twain

It is a nice thing to have fashionable friends.

It is an even better thing to have fashionable friends who are much the same size as you and who are generous in lending.

I have an interview on Thursday. I don’t have a good interview outfit and I hate clothes shopping.

Then my friend stepped in to rescue me. She invited me over this evening, offered a few options and before leaving I had a great outfit – and even accessories to go with. How lucky am I!

I remember getting a lot of hand-me-downs as a kid. But unlike when a friend steps in to provide a much needed smart, professional outfit, the clothes I got were simply outgrown by my cousins and older sister. And I don’t think I was ever very grateful. Begrudging acceptance was probably more like it.

I do wonder though how much the clothes I was handed down could have been passed on after me since I was a bit of a tom-boy and regularly wore holes in my clothes. Good thing I was the youngest.

Maybe it was growing up with these hand-me-downs, but on into high school, college and university I would have a few girlfriends with whom I would regularly swap clothes, or at least we would borrow freely from each others’ closets. When I lived in dorm we would organize clothes swap nights where everyone would put outside their room things they wanted to trade. It was a fantastic way to overhaul a wardrobe without spending a penny – although certainly CDs and other items were thrown in to sweeten deals.

I suppose it’s part of growing up - moving out of communal living into solitary or marital quarters. There aren’t the closets to raid close by, there aren’t the friends dropping by to borrow a sweater or try on your new pair of jeans. So perhaps my gratitude to my friend tonight is about more than simply having something professional and suitable to wear to my interview, it’s also about a nostalgia for those years of living and sharing with friends – sharing clothes, books, food. It’s nice to realize to realize I haven’t completely lost that.

2 comments:

  1. You are the only person I ever really clothes swapped with. It seems that every time I visit, I need (or want) to wear your clothes for one reason or another.
    It is always funny to me when i put on your clothes, but I always really appreciate it
    :-)

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  2. Marlene10:34 PM

    ;)

    That is the first "comment" I've ever made on a blog. Wow...I am so online. -In the words of Mike's ma.

    ReplyDelete