The last real dress-up event I can remember going to was my son’s wedding. But that was eight years and more than a few pounds ago, so even though my dress from that day has been hanging in my closet ever since, I didn’t think it was a viable option for today. Unfortunately, I was right.
The reason I needed a fancy dress now is that I’m going to a black-tie event organized by Georgia Writers Museum, which is a co-sponsor of the Townsend Prize for Fiction. The Townsend is a prestigious award given out every other year to honor a Georgia author who has written an outstanding novel or book of short stories. There are ten finalists, and the awards gala where this year’s winner will be announced is tonight.
Several of us on the GWM board needed new dresses for the event, so we embarked on a girls’ outing consisting of a shopping trip to Atlanta, with lunch at a nearby restaurant afterwards.
The dress I bought needed a few alterations, and when I tried it on after they were completed, I felt like royalty. The experience reminded me that how we look and how we feel are closely related to each other.
I wrote a newspaper column about that almost 25 years ago, right after an Easter Sunday when I commented on how dressed-up everyone was at Mass. I recalled at the time that that’s how people used to look every Sunday at church, with men in suits and ties, or dress slacks and a shirt with a collar, and women in dresses or nice pantsuits. I also noted that how we dress can influence how we behave, as well as how others perceive and act toward us.
It occurs to me now that this is probably even more true today than it was then. Maybe it’s time to give that a little more thought.
I’m not saying we’d bring about world peace if everyone started dressing up every day—although it would be nice if it were that easy, wouldn’t it? Nor am I suggesting we outlaw jeans and t-shirts, or emulate June Cleaver, who always wore dresses, high heels, and pearls, even while doing housework. I’m just offering a reminder—to myself, mostly—that how we’re dressed can influence how others see and act toward us. More importantly, it can affect how we feel and act.
I suspect that will cross my mind at some point during the Townsend Gala tonight. But I’ll probably be more focused on simply enjoying the event, and seeing tuxes and formal gowns on people I normally see in jeans and t-shirts as we’re decorating for GWM events, or in “nice casual” attire at the events themselves.
I may still feel like royalty. I hope everyone else does, too.
I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is to protect all of us from unwanted spam.
Nothing makes you feel elegant like a fancy cocktail dress or tuxedo. And, we need to all get “purpled” once in awhile. If you spend time with young granddaughters, you quickly learn the really big deal importance of purple. Pink is a girl color and blue is a boy color, but purple is a princess or prince color—a hue of nobility. The word is typically used as a noun or adjective; for granddaughters with an undying desire to be a princess, it is also a verb: “I will ‘purple’ you with my wand.” Think of it as the six-year-old version of knighting someone. After you are “purpled,” you are to be always treated as a prince or princess. At the Townsend Prize gala event, we all got purpled.
At the fancy ceremony, we sipped champagne in classy flutes. Legend has it that in the mid-1600s when Dom Perignon invented what we know today as champagne, he called to his friends and exclaimed (in French, of course), “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” “Purpling” is a deliberate rebellion against plain vanilla. It is the act of helping everyone “taste the stars.” Purple someone you know today and make them feel like royalty.
Chip, you are always a source of fascinating information! Although I am a “word” person by nature, and purple is my favorite color, I never knew that purple could be a verb, or involve such a powerful and PURPoseful action. I love your suggestion to “purple someone…and make them feel like royalty.” I’m going to try to make a habit of doing that every day–or whenever I get an opportunity. Thank you!