Fashion stylings continued

Remember how I said that music/sound is probably the second strongest sensory memory? Well, I ended up taking a trip down the memory road of fashion thanks to music.

The first major memory came through as I played "Gypsy Woman." The first time I heard the song in a club, I searched for it. Of course, I found it at Leopold's. (I cannot say enough times how I miss that place. Not that I ever did it, but you could go in there and try to sing a song that you heard at a club and the staff would tell you what you wanted. Try doing that in a music store today.) So I purchased the single and made a mix tape the summer of '91 before heading off to England for the summer. Most of the other folks there were uptight law students. And then there were the handful that seemed a lot like me -- from large urban areas, hip to the scene. London was like a homecoming of sorts for us. Our musical tastes? Our fashion sense? We fit in, even if we did not at our universities back in the U.S. And "Gypsy Woman" played in every club that summer along with The K.L.F. I was sporting a bob back then that I would tie back with headbands created from long scarves. I had these styling patent leather Oxfords with ribbon laces. One of my favorite dresses was this above knee one that was in a floral print of fuschia and black primarily. It had princess seaming that led to a fuller skirt. Oh, and long sleeves. Actually I have photos of myself in the dress. If I ever decide to post photos of myself, I know these will be some of the first. The dress still sits in my closet even though I have not worn it in years. I think that the London memories are why I have not gotten rid of the dress.

My next major fashion memories come from the late 90s. I was at real job #3 by then. (This was after I fled back to California because (1) I did not want to be a lawyer, and (2) I did not want to stay in Virginia.) They had a casual dress code -- jeans were allowed everyday, and shorts and tennis shoes were allowed on Friday. The thing is that I never knew when my boss might ask me to stop by some political fundraiser after work. Hello. There was always a chance of running into Gavin at one of these events. And he was still single back then. So most days instead of wearing jeans to work, I wore tapered stretch twill pants and loafers with chunky heels. This is also about the time that I started collecting twin sets and scarves. Some days I would wear a pencil skirt instead of the pants. In the warmer months, the loafers were replaced with sandals. And just in case, I always carried at least three other outfits as well as five pairs of shoes in the trunk of my car. These were also the days when I went out five nights a week.

This is why I was surprised by Saturday's quiz. Yes, recently it may seem that I have returned to my old partying ways but the pendulum is starting to swing back the other way. I spent two years working 10-hour days and many times six days a week. Often the weekend would hit and I would say to myself, "I'm going to go out and do something." By the time it was time to head out, I had no energy. Also my crazy work schedule made it nearly impossible to make plans with other people. I couldn't say, "Let's go to dinner at 7 on Thursday," because I usually had no clue what time I'd actually be leaving work. So except for the CL experiment, I rarely dated in those two years.

I like to look at the earlier part of this year as "making up for lost time." Now it's pretty much out of my system and I can settle down into a different kind of pattern.

So folks please don't worry too much. I guess to other folks I can seem a bit wild and out of control at times but really I have calmed down a lot. I mean I gave up hitching rides almost 20 years ago. And Jade no longer acts like Alice when someone hands her a mystery bottle and says, "Drink this." Ooo. I just had a really scary thought. Back then, I was the responsible one of the two of us. Now doesn't that really scare all of you?

Pt. Reyes was wonderful on Saturday, by the way. I got to meet Cookiecrumb and Cranky. Alas, poor Bean Sprout was at home. I also stocked up on honey and jellies for the family. When I stopped to get the honey, the woman said, "You really should just come by our store in Sebastopol." The jelly woman asked, "More of the pepper?" Oh, and I made a new friend. This time I spent more time chatting with the woman from Windrush Farm. She carries these beautiful organic wools. We got into a long conversation about knitting and what LYS's are still open. She then gave me her email address because apparently there is a knitting guild near me with which she thinks I should become involved. I guess this means that I should pull my knitting projects back out.

Now if I can find some other stuff to fill more of my free time...