On Wednesday, I’m being installed as local president-elect of a community service organization. It’s a club that’s been around since the 1920s, so you can imagine that it’s fairly traditional. When I go to meetings, I try to dress in business attire even though my work dress code is very casual…and when I say "casual" I mean "stops short of requiring shoes."
Last weekend I went to a going-away party for one of the club members who is moving out of the country and I decided not to change out of my weekend jeans, t-shirt and sandals. One of the new club members introduced herself and said I looked very familiar. Apparently I have Superman-like powers of disguise when I’m dressed down!
I can clean up pretty well when I put my mind to it, but I’m pretty happy being able to sit cross-legged in my office chair while I work, and I don’t think that’s possible in a suit and pantyhose.
Now that I’m starting to audition for rock bands again, there’s a strong possibility that I’ll soon add another category of surprising fashion to the mix. I won’t be able to resurrect my stage clothes from days gone by (I doubt I’ll ever wear that size again), but if I end up singing heavy metal I’ll probably have some distinctive wardrobe pieces.
For the most part, I keep my sartorially opposite lifestyle segments separate from one another. The businesswomen probably won’t ever see me wearing leather stage clothes, and I’m unlikely to wear a suit and high heels to band practice.
The most memorable "worlds colliding" moment I’ve ever had was when I in my late teens and played a gig at a science fiction convention. Everyone in the band was dressed as a movie or TV character – I was Valeria from "Conan the Barbarian," complete with sword and body paint.
On the way home from the gig, the keyboard player got in a traffic accident and had to be bailed out of jail. Mad Max, an alien from "V", an Apollo XIII astronaut and I dug through the seat cushions of our cars to come up with the cash. Naturally, the police didn’t blink an eye.
It’s always seemed to me that women have an easier time making dramatic changes to their looks from one situation to another. Do you agree?
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