I realized today that my clothing choices have come full circle, and Mom influenced most of them. In my childhood I liked to clomp around in red high heels driving my pedal car w/ a pencil hanging out of my mouth for my cigarette. In my adolescence and teens, I had shoes galore and earrings to match every outfit. Mom had a big influence on these formative years when it came to the way I dressed. We shared clothes, shoes, and jewelry. I have a picture of her on my refrigerator from the mid-1980's when her bracelets and earrings perfecting matched her blouse and skirt. She was a sharp dresser. Once I was on my own, I still loved clothes and shoes, but I was limited to whatever Mom would make me and any shoes that I could pick up cheap. Once I hit grad school, I went through a hippie phase wearing loose fitting gunny-sack-type jumpers. I owned two pairs of shoes at that time....one black and one brown. These were the years that I was working at Scattergood Friends School and protesting the first Gulf War. I lived a minimalist lifestyle. Mom and I didn't have a lot of common clothing choices during these years, but when it came time for me to do my student teaching, she hooked me up again w/ suits and dresses. It wasn't until I met Doug that I started wearing shorter skirts, more figure-flattering clothing. Didn't even realize I had a figure. Dad has a picture of Mom wearing short shorts and high heels. She had amazing legs. Dad liked her in short shorts much like Doug likes me to show some leg.
My clothing and shoes and jewelry have been steadily increasing over the last five years. Doug built us a walk-in closet about that time, and I've been working diligently to take up 3/4's of it. Mom used to call herself the Imelda Marcos of the West, which would make me Imelda, Jr. Mackenzie has influenced many of my accessory purchases lately. I bought four-inch, wedge sandals thanks to her. W/ red toe-nail polish, my feet look just like Mom's.....Bunyan and all. I wanted an orange purse earlier this summer, and Kenzie convinced me to buy it. Twice I looked at this really sharp pair of camel colored pumps, and after tiring of listening to my waffling, Kenzie talked me into them. She has good taste so I'm learning to listen to her suggestions more. So here I am, back in high heels, driving my red Escape, and it's been 19 years since I quit smoking.
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