The Quiet Country House

It's all a blur...

Last weekend, Haiku and I were cornered in the grocery store by a local woman who is very active in our community. I should have known something was afoot, by the gleam in her eye. "You are in so much trouble," she said, narrowing her eyes... scrutinizing my size, shape and appearance.

I laughed (yes, nervously) and asked what was going on. "What size are you?" she asked peering around me to size up the back side of me as well. I answered. She got very animated and asked if I was attending the mother daughter banquet at the Catholic church.

"Umm, no, I'm not Catholic," I reminded her.

"We're having a fashion show..." she said, pausing for dramatic emphasis, "Vintage Wedding Gowns!" She asked if I would model a couple of wedding dresses, and attend the banquet along with my daughter, Haiku. I said that I would consider her request. Haiku, being very interested in fashion, was adamant that I participate.

So, Monday afternoon found me half-naked with my arms raised above my head, trapped inside a lovely, antique wedding dress, while a woman I don't know all that well pulled the dress off of me, inch by delicate inch. The other dress was just as snug and seemed to take even longer to peel off my not-so-delicately sweating body. Ugh, I thought, this is going to be a disaster when the fashion show is in progress and time is of the essence. My fashion-show ambassador (the woman from the grocery store) assured me that all would be well the night of the show. "See you on Thursday!" she told me with a smile.

So, Thursday, I made a little run to the store for some girly things (new undergarments and hose, since apparently everyone backstage at the show would see them) and a pair of low-heeled dressy white "skimmers." These things, plus a little makeup (which I hardly wear and don't buy often) boosted my confidence slightly. The hair cut I had already had planned to have (prior to agreeing to do something so totally outside of my comfort zone) tweaked my confidence a bit further.

In the evening, Haiku and I walked through the gardens of the Catholic Church and entered the fellowship hall. The meal was lovely (even a vegetarian could fare well on the pot-luck buffet of each lady's best salad or side dish) and soon it was time for the show to begin. My ambassador is more than a fashion-show recruiter, she is a miracle worker with needle and thread, straight pin and french-wire ribbon. Dresses that gapped on a model's back were tied together romantically with shimmery white ribbon. Headpieces were tacked on with straight pins and a spirit of improvisation which our miracle-worker had learned through her involvement with local drama productions. She had let out a seam in each of the dresses I was wearing, which was hidden with a strip of ivory muslin and a few inconspicuous pins.

These tiny blurry photos are all I have to show you so far, but perhaps the miracle worker will have photos to email to me. The lighting wasn't the best for photography and Haiku didn't have the best seat in the house for snapping photos. The event turned out to be really fun, and all of the other "brides" were stunning... whether their dresses really fit or just looked as if they did.

photos by Haiku, May 3, 2007