How Do I Dress Myself Now?
My quarantine began on February 28th, 2020. As I write this, that was 428 days ago.
When I entered quarantine, I was 14 weeks pregnant. I’ve spent most of my time rotating between three pairs of maternity sweats. Now, eight months postpartum, I’m fitting into my pre-partum sweats, but still, sweats. Ugh. Now, with my fully-vaccinated future in sight, I’m ready to stack all of my sweats on top of each other and set them ablaze.
Post-sweats, I only want to wear clothes that are loud. Loud and fancy. Clothes that float when I walk. Maybe even with bells, so you’ll know I’m coming, like a cat. I want clothes that are extreme. I want long, long skirts that drag behind me in bright florals. I want little mini skirts covered in fringe. Nothing halfway, nothing knee length. I want clothes that are boisterous, outspoken, colorful, full of joy. I want clothes to live in. I want to dress for theaters, and restaurants, and rooftop bars, and art museums, and concert halls, and crowded summer markets. I even want to dress for auditions.
I want tall shoes, but only platforms. (My ankles are not ready for stilettos.) Disco-style, hippy-style, Gaga-style, platforms. I was never much for hair accessories in the before times, but I want them now. Glittery barrettes, and headbands, and hats! Big hats! No prim fascinators, just voluminous hats, floppy or structured, preferably in vibrant colors. I want to outfit myself entirely in linen and stand in a warm summer breeze. I might become a cape person. I’m reconsidering puffy tulle. I saw that the brand Akris made a whole line of clothes that glow in the dark and I want to wear those, too.
But then, sometimes, a lot of the time, I want none of those things. Sometimes, even with the knowledge that many activities become significantly less risky after vaccination, I’m still gripped with anxiety about stepping out. Fear that if I go, I’ll bring something back to my unvaccinated baby, and really, I should probably just stay, stay home in my now-sagging maternity sweats and just obsess over all of the outfits I’ll wear someday, sometime.
How Miss Havisham. (At least I’m not wandering our halls in my wedding dress.) (I don’t think it fits anyway.)
As I daydream and/or anxiety spiral about my future outfits, I’m curious about fashion rules. Will there be fashion rules in the After Times? Will I want to follow them, break them, ignore them? Will everyone go back to dressing like the Before Times or will everything be different? What if I want everything I wear to be different? Can this new vaccinated future be a reinvention? And how do I start?
I looked in my closet last week. I don’t want to wear a lot of the clothes inside of it anymore. I want to dress differently and shop differently. My body is different now. I’m different now. So, I’m starting to plan. I’m going to share that plan here. I hope you’ll share your plans, too. Do you want to dress differently? Do you want to keep the sweats or go full glam? Somewhere in the middle? Are you feeling anxious about getting dressed again or are you excited? Is there anything you’ve really missed wearing? I’d love to hear it all. I’ve missed our chats.