How I ended up as the crazy purple lady, I really can’t say. Almost everything I own and everything I wear is black, shades of black and maybe gray when walking on the wild side. I hide my wild side in my purse with my purple wallet which is older than the hills. My phone has a purple case, which more than an intentional match for the wallet, is an OCD inspired need fulfilled.
The cherry on the cake was the purple tank top that stood out from my blouse yesterday. 88 degrees in the city, in October…what the heck is going on here? I know, global warming is a myth.
At the end of a long, tiring work day, my purple all tucked in my blouse and my purse, I sit in traffic listening to the news, gradually peeling off the layers of the day. Deciding to stop for dinner quesadillas, my inner purple is showing. I unbutton the shirt, due to the warm air still entering the window at 6PM, and I take oout my wallet, excited for the meal I do not have to cook.
For anyone else, it might have looked planned. The purple wallet and phone case matching the purple tank… here is someone who plans her clothing. She is so sophisticated that even her wallet and phone case match. In truth, I wear black because I don’t have to think about matching. I am the Mark Zuckerberg of the little world where I reside. Eliminate a decision that will leave me more RAM space in my brain, yet have little effect on my life, and I am all there.
Arriving home, I had to text bff, and let her know that I was now to be known as the “Crazy Purple Cat Lady”. We all know those ladies who love purple. Laughing, she reminded me that I don’t own a cat. You must own a cat to be a crazy cat lady. Reminding me of her clothing uniform, we laugh at my purpleness.
Is it that people notice us less as we get older, or are we just smart enough to not care if people are looking? A few weeks ago, I wanted to see if that was indeed the case. It wasn’t planned, but Monday turned into Tuesday and Tuesday turned into Wednesday… You can figure the rest.
Monday had we wearing black pants. Lacking clean laundry, and pants that I like as much as the black slacks, I wore them again. Monday was with a white shirt; Tuesday was with a black t-shirt. Wednesday had those same pants with a gray shirt. By this time in the week, no one looked at me any differently. I shower and do my hair and make up daily. No one noticed, and no one cared. So many thought ran through my mind… could this be a useful experiment? Blogs and magazine articles a plenty have been built on the notion of a capsule wardrobe. Why not really give it a try? Minimize what I own, own the best I can, and plan carefully, season by season.
So I did. I wore the same pants 5 days in a row. I added different blouses and scarves, I felt great. I have less laundry from this week and I honestly like what I wore every single day.
Finishing out the week, I have a bunch of lessons:
1. Mom was right, as usual. The woman who carefully wrapped her leather gloves in tissue paper, and folded her matching silk scarves carefully in the drawer taught me more than she could have imagined. Spend a reasonable amount on each piece that you buy, but love it! There is nothing better than pants with a good fit.
2. I saw a great quote a few days ago… paraphrasing, it is something like: by the time we realize that the world isn’t looking at us, or that the world doesn’t revolve around you, you are old. The moral of that story is to stop trying to make the world happy. Make yourself happy.
3. There is nothing wrong with a little purple.
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