May 22nd, 2017

 Do you remember wrap skirts?  There was a time when they were all the fashion rage.  I had a couple way back then, one was plaid.  The best thing about them back then was that they were easy to iron.  The worst thing in those days was those naughty boys who were always angling to pull one of the dangling ends of the skirt's fastener which could so very easily untie it.  Ah memories. 

If you are unfamiliar with the idea, the skirt is a good amount of horizontal fabric with has a long very narrow bit of fabric sewn to the top edge that has a "button hole".  One end of the narrow bit feeds through the "button hole" and the entire thing wraps around you and is fastened by tying the narrow fabric, much like an apron.  It can be tied in the back, the front or either side.  Easy Peasy.

It was so long ago now, that I don't even remember when they fell back out of style.  I just know that in my entire adult life, I have not had one hanging in my closet. Until now.

I ran, or rather, walked a few errands downtown last week, one of which took me past a clothing store that had these enormous signs indicating that they were having an equally enormous sale.  Every item in the store was only $10.  Wow!  Naturally I had to check it out.  All sorts of dresses, skirts and tops. Naturally most of the dresses were far too long which was a shame because I liked a lot of them.  There were some very pretty blouses and I considered a few. But this particular skirt caught my eye.  Mostly because it was something I had forgotten even existed until that moment, a wrap skirt.

I loved the soft feel of the fabric, the lightness of it.  It was like wearing whipped cream.  A perfect hot summer weather weight.  To my eye the colours were appealing and even the weirdness of two totally unassociated fabrics made me smile. And it's reversible.  Really! That is two different layers of fabric so one side is the gold print with a little blue showing at the bottom, the other side is just the blue (since the gold is shorter, it won't show). But it works both ways. Okay, Sold!  As it so happened I actually had ten dollars and change in my purse.  It was destiny.

I was very excited about an opportunity to wear this skirt.  I mean it's not the sort of thing I would wear scrubbing out the bathtub or doing yard work, right?  But on Saturday we decided to make the drive down to  spend the day in Naples.  Perfect, a lot of time in the car, the rest of the day walking around town, maybe even a short visit to their particular slice of ocean.

It was perfect.  Lightweight, very comfortable for walking, floaty in the breeze without revealing anything I didn't want shown, and darned cute besides.  Yes, it was perfect. Except for the part where it didn't want to stay tied.  That super soft fabric feels like a scarf it's so lightweight.  And it's kind of slippery like a scarf too.  i.e. it does not want to stay tied.  The fabric just sssslllloooowwwwllllyyyy slides against itself and right out of the bunny eared loops until I found myself grabbing it in the nick of time and re-tying it, over and over again.  Oh dear.

By the end of the day, it was pretty funny.  I'm thinking the next time instead of a standard bow I will tie a square knot. Or maybe secure it with a pin? Superglue? Paperclips? Epoxy? I don't know for sure, but I will figure something out. It's far too cute to not wear.

Interestingly, the store mannequin showed some fancy way to pull the second layer upward and make it into a top that ties around the neck, in essence turning a skirt into a halter dress.  I'm pretty sure  now that I've become aware of the built in danger of a wardrobe malfunction,  that I will not be trying that. 

 Everyday in my life is an adventure and I learn something new. I love it!