Chasing fall
So the beauty of October is the wishfulness of fall, and from all the years of living in Houston fall is nothing short of an illusion. In addition to this facade comes the bombardment of all things pumpkin, from pumpkin patches to pumpkin pie to the dreaded “Karen” pumpkin spice lattes. In spite of, the one highlight that I have always looked forward to during this season has always been a Halloween costume.
Many years ago, my sister had a Halloween themed birthday party, and at the last minute I created a homemade costume. The only problem with this idea was there was really no inspiration involved just some hijacked pieces from my mother including a wig, a purse, a necklace, and some makeup. And to complete the look for this unscripted ensemble I relied on my own closet dig for whatever else made sense.
The finished product was a hodgepodge of sorts, not only did I look like mama from mama’s family but turns out I was completely unrecognizable. So much so that my own grandmother greeted me with a dry “how do you do ma’am” as she sashayed by. Eventually I did reveal to my grandmother and the rest of the party goers that it was indeed “me” under all of the many layers of randomness, perhaps it’s the teacher in me but as I look back at those party pictures of my jr. high school self I am reminded of the lessons involved in this Halloween creation.
Unmistakenly these lessons transition greatly to the day-to-day of getting dressed:
Trying new things, being that I was pressed for time and my costume was done last minute I had no plan in mind initially and I went with the flow — mom’s grey wig and all. In my day-to-day life I still try new things from a new shoe style to a new color choice, when trying new things options are limitless in moving away from our comfort zone.
Forget rules, what I failed to mention was to complete my costume I layered a dress on top of pants. Now that was a perfect finish! When it comes to getting dressed oftentimes, we think of all the reasons why we can’t wear something that we had our heart set on — prime example white after Labor Day…says who????? Just do it dammit!!!! We have to stop looking for approval and wanting to abide by rules when it comes to getting dressed, from here on out take charge of your thinking and adopt the mantra “if it makes you feel good in it wear it”! Commit that to memory and please say it frequently…
Closet digs, although planned on the fly my costume was created without purchasing any items of clothing or accessories. Being that retail shopping is more accessible than ever, and stores are all just a click away it can be very tempting to buy based on our mood and or a good sale. The flip side to this is now that there is not much movement and most of us are working from home, this is the perfect time to explore our closets. You may stumble onto something that you actually forgot about or a staple piece that if paired with the right accessory can create magic in the most gratifying way especially being that it wasn’t an added expense and was already in your possession.
So as you try to enjoy the remaining days of October here’s hoping that you get reacquainted with the contents of your closet, who knows you may luck up on inspiration for a Halloween party or dig out pieces for nowhere in particular.
Until next time…wishing you much peace as we tiptoe into November!
