May 27, 2017 – Is that a “borrow-me?”

        We’ve had a lot of rain here in North Carolina.  Cool and rainy and the radishes love it and the lawn is trying to overtax my husband’s lawn mowing schedule.

        So, not being able to work out in the yard we’ve been camping in and I have taken in a few interesting old movies and then even I have been TV surfing.

        I like to stick to TCM so that I am not inundated with advertisements, but eventually I got desperate and had to succumb to channels that have more advertising than programing.

        Gwynniebee.com was advertised for the larger lady to have a “rotating closet”.  Now this piqued my curiosity because the spokesperson was a large sized gal and when she mentioned sizes 10 to 32 I frowned.  Since when is a size 10 a “large size” for a woman?  In fact, I don’t believe I even know of anyone who is a size 10 unless it is a teenager.

        I jotted the web domain down with the thought of perusing it.

        Tucked in the back of my mind I have a wedding coming up and I, just like many woman I know, can claim – “I have absolutely nothing to wear!”  I probably could dig in the closet and eventually find something to make do . . . but I decided to check out the “rotating closet” concept.

        I found it interesting – you rent clothes – you ship them back and get more.  But, I wonder about the fit.   The website is set up with different styles and selections and I must admit – after much prowling I didn’t really see anything that looked like I would wear it.  But, the concept is interesting . . . but it is not new . . . .

Years ago . . . .

        When I first moved to the area I was fortunate to become good friends with a front door neighbor and a back door neighbor.   Life was simpler then – we actually had a life outside of work.  Our work weeks were typically 9 to 5 Monday through Friday and we could shop and do lunch on Saturdays; which we did often.

        I am the youngest in a family of three children and the only girl.  My Mom is a tiny woman and I take after my large framed father.  So, the concept of borrowing something of my Mom’s to actually wear was just about ‘nil’.   I do remember I got into a red chiffon blouse of Mom’s one year at Christmas time when I was pre-teen, and then the only other borrowing would be a scarf or a hat . . . but what 1970s teenager would borrow a scarf or hat from their Mom.  It just was not the “hip” thing to do.

[However, later my castoffs of accessories I left when I moved out became integral parts of my Mom’s wardrobe; case in point, a white vinyl “GO-GO” hat. That silly hat is still in my Mom’s possession and the older gals in her church always comment on it.  Yes, my Mom looks cute in it.]

So, it was completely foreign to me that a new girlfriend would be shopping with me and be admiring my new dress and as soon as I had purchased it mention.

“Is that a borrow-me?” Geraldine asked.

I turned and quizzed her with just my facial movements.  It was a new dress, two sizes smaller than I had been in for years; it came just below my knee cap which is the length I like.  It was a great moment for me and her request was a big surprise.  The dress was a print – but a modern print which was very unusual for me as I am a classic solids type of gal.  It had a pearl essence white background with navy, grey, and silver lightning bolts design.  Long sleeves, jewel neckline and nipped in at the waist with extremely flattering darts at the front waist along with a full zipper at the back.  And, yes, it did require a full slip for it to hang properly.

On the way home she explained what she meant.

“Sometime could I borrow that dress?  I’ve weddings to go to in a few months . . .” she suggested.

I thought about it and my selfishness got the better of me and I made no comment. But later I discovered that was how things worked here in the area between good friends.  Not long after that request I was admiring something she was wearing.

“Oh, it’s a borrow-me.” She explained. She had worn it to a wedding that weekend and decided to get one more wear out of it before she gave it back to a gal she worked with.  I understood the economics of it because she was a single woman with a young child to bring up and it was weekly repair the automobile or some other cash emergency.

I wore my new dress to church several times, and out to a few posh dinners and even a corporate event.  I felt beautiful in that dress.  So, when the request came a few months later from Geraldine to wear it to a wedding, I acquiesced.  I’ll admit it didn’t look as good on her as it did on me as she was a few inches shorter – but it made her so gloriously happy to be wearing a “new-to-her-frock” to a friend’s wedding.  She shared with me all the compliments she got from that wearing and it made me feel like I’d gone to the wedding myself.

It’s funny how my new girlfriends and their many friends had the Gwynniebee.com concept down to a science back in the 1980s.  They were way ahead of the fashion curve.