Gussy

There is positively no indication around these parts that we are now well into September, as the temperature continues to hover in the 90s. However, I know that The Most Fabulous Day of The Year, Halloween, is on the way when I start seeing little ones wearing their costumes at the grocery store. I just love that. I remember being a child and being so excited about my get-up, aching to wear it every day, sad that it was the annual version of a wedding dress: much ado about a few hours.

I remain a huge fan of playing dress-up. I bought some fantastic clothes this week for an upcoming trip and spent the entire evening trying them on with nearly everything else in my closet, bugging Pete every 15 minutes to Look At Me!!! How cute am I??


My sister Suzanne and I grew up in a small town in WV and we were kinda obsessed with New York City (where, sure enough, we would both end up living). When Suzanne was in high school she scored a copy of Kevin Aucoin's Making Faces and we would spend hour upon hour at our matching vanities, trying to replicate his magic. We have a great-aunt who used to live in NYC in the forties because she was married to a war-correspondent from the NY Times. They never had children, he died ages ago, and when she moved out of her home into assisted-care (she's in her 90s), her belongings were divvied up between family members. Suzanne and I nearly lost our minds as we were given carte blanche access to swanky vintage gowns, bags, scarves and gloves - which we both still wear.

my pretty sister

I don't think this love of "gettin' gussied" has ever left either one of us. To this day, when Suzanne walks in a room you notice. Sadly, these days What I Wear is simply What Isn't Very Dirty. But on those rare occasions when I dress-up, I feel her inside of me...that 6-yr-old who never wanted to take off her Wonder Woman costume, the armor of power and beauty.