Cinderella…
A little while ago, my friend Corinne put up a wonderful blog post on the huge change she and her husband had made in their lives. http://chrysalis-farm.com/uncategorized/fashion-or-function/ Gone from the glitz of corporate life in Vienna to the hard life of farming in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa.
The other night my OH/farmer husband and I had the complete reverse.
We trotted off to a family wedding and just to show the transformation that had to be made, this is us normally:
The effort required for me to scrub up to mingling standard was HUGE!
1.30: Bath in some nice smelling oils.
2PM: Nails, cracked and broken on right hand as am right-handed everything. 45 minutes to do whatever you do to make hands smooth … exfoliate, that’s it! Then use cuticle oil, shape nails and paint with clear nail polish.
3PM: Wash hair. Use stuff called Morrocan Oil to smooth strands. Blow dry.
3.30PM: Put hair in whopping rollers to give body.
3.40PM: Begin facework, or what my father-in-law used to say was painting the masterpiece and what my husband says is using polyfiller! By 4 PM, the face had as much work as was reasonably possible.
4PM: Dress. The first time I have worn a dress for 12 years. My God. It’s like a wearing body armour! I slipped on the most sheer pantihose, gorgeous fine black Schiaparellis that have been in an unopened packet in my chest of drawers for 20 years. Then the pearls and finally the killer-diller shoes with toes as sharp as a stilleto. (Dagger, that is.)
Ventured out for photos and Pup immediately jumped up from behind and put claws straight through my treasured Schiaparellis. Oooh, Dog!!! Fortunately had bought another pair of very ordinary sheer tights the day before, just in case. Frantic rip-off of laddered tights and mad pull-on of new ones.
4.15: Mother arrives for me to tweak last bits of her.
4.30: Lock dogs up, race down to car, having packed:
glasses, camera, lippy, green stuff to take away the red flush I always get at functions, mints, my goodluck charm, a vintage white lawn hankie
all in a tiny clutch that is supposedly fashionable. Don’t the designers realise that when one reaches a certain age, one must pack glasses at the very least? That’s the clutch full! Mine barely closed.
The night of course was wonderful and it was really thrilling to wear red carpet clothes but like any Cinderella, everything turns to pumpkins and mice the next day and my feet would have done the Ugly Sisters proud!
PS: I managed, by judicious online shopping in NZ, London and Italy to bring in my outfit (shoes included) at $A200!
My goodness! You two dress up FINE! 🙂
I’m impressed that you were able to get your feet into those lovely shoes. Sigh. (gumboots and knock-off Crocs being my “go to shoes” nowadays).
And, thanks very much for the mention AND for the tip on polyfiller.
Pleasure, Corinne. I enjoy your blog so much! And we scrubbed up okay but it took time! My standard shoe wear is riding boots or runners on the farm, runners or galoshes in the garden, my walking shoes (actually boatshoes) with the dogs. ‘Those lovely shoes’ were not made for walking and standing. And given that the evening was filled with talking, standing and walking (no, I did not dance), the balls of the feet felt as if they had been through an old-fashioned mangle, the calves were strained as if I had run a marathon and my toes felt as if I’d danced all acts of Swan Lake on pointe! Truly I am made for walking at ground level!
You two clean up NICE 🙂
Thanks Fanny. But its not the real us. Just holograms!
How smart you both are. Fulke of Anjou would have indeed been proud of you, with those shoes! They are the height of elegance.
And how resourcefu, too, the smooth way you dealt with the wreck of the Schiaparellis. It must be good to know how magnificently you can rise to an occasion. I hope you had a wonderful time.
I am so relieved my post does not have to be an illustrated one. If you could see me now, I’d die of shame!
Giselle, right back at you. You should see me now. And as I said in a previous post, thank you for the Fulke of Anjou reference.
I’ve had enough cats (and dogs) to expect the worst with new hosiery (my greatest loss was a pair of silk stockings from Neiman Marcus), but you seem to have bested Fate. You and Himself look quite wonderful!
I was furious with Pup, Pat. The Schiaparellis were so lovely to feel, slippery, silky… the best! And to think I had cherished them unopened for so long! What annoys me is that i doubt you can buy them in our state anymore. Damned dog! Mind you, what does it matter? I can’t imagine wearing a dress again, if ever.
I literally groaned when the dog hit those gorgeous stockings! You two cuties! I’ll bet y’all were the hit of the party. Now back to the sheep pens?! 🙂
Yep back to the poo and poop! Yesterday we were knee-deep in sheep poo as we spread it around the garden and today, Oh’s drenching of sheep for worms got washed out with rain overnight. Nothing worse than handling a 12- month long wool fleece that is rain-soaked!
Shearing next week.
As they say in these parts: cor, you scrub up well!! You both look fabulous 🙂
Hallo Clare, good to see you around here again! I can tell you that we scrubbed and scrubbed and whilst it was lovely to get glammed up, it felt so unreal. Hence the Cinderella reference.
Love the shoes 🙂
Hi Kryskat, nice to see you here. They look okay, don’t they? Pity I just walk better in bare feet!