Before It’s

It is a gray overcast weekend, and while my sojourn in California was memorable, I also brought home an unexpected fellow traveler.

Yes, you guessed correctly, the flu.

So while my meds are helping heal my body, and my thoughts become restless I ponder.

When does a woman feel totally free to embrace herself?

I think the experience of a cross country flight in today’s rapidly changing fashion world clarified that for me.

Ten years ago I traveled frequently and I had a wardrobe ready to pluck from the closet, don and head for the airport.

Today I would be totally out of step in my well worn basic black blazer, white cami and gray slacks. The four airports I traveled through confirmed that the uniform de rigueur for 2020 is casual, perhaps even more so that that archaic word describes.

Airports, waiting areas, and jetliners are no longer creatures of comfort, but contributing vehicles used to transport families for reunions with loved ones and claim long anticipated vacations. Society has wisely decided to do that with some degree of physical comfort.

Reluctantly I have dispatched the treasured and archaic travel outfit to the land where old clothes go, and decided from now on, I will look “today.”

So gathering momentum, I checked out available resources on the internet and shortly had replacement clothing on order.

Well, now I am not quite so certain and wonder about taking the blazer, cami and slacks back from the bin before someone else claims it as a vintage treasure.

“No,” I realize as I reevaluate my purchases.

I realize I cannot do this. I will look like a charade in the garments now en route in a drone to my outdated closet. I cannot wear an oversized shirt not even one with scarlet sequins zigzagging across the front. Reluctantly, I admit to being oversized enough without contributing more to that problem.

While saggy sweat pants may be comfortable in the privacy of my den, never would they help maintain any desperately fleeting sense of dignity if viewed in public.

There have been countless words of advice given about women finally reaching a semblance of equality in the current world. They incite ambition, placate controversy, but rarely, have I interpreted the ones that I need at this point of my life.

The memory that comes to mind rather was a mantra of my Mom’s. “Always be yourself, and you’ll look good.” I doubt if she meant a sweat shirt (even with sequins) and baggy pull on matching pants,despite the level of comfort,

I may no longer be considered “Well turned out,” and quite possibly I’ll be viewed as an elderly eccentric. However, I think I’ll embrace the image I have worked so hard to achieve and hurry back to the bin before it’s too late.

Maybe I’ll keep the sneakers with the zebra stripes though..