The Show Stealer.

voltee ♦ February 3, 2011 ♦ 3 Comments

Item: Coat Color/Fabric: Spring Green, cotton Designer: Express Years Owned: 6

Tonight I am contemplating something to remind me that, eventually, it will be spring. That no matter how much more horrible this winter can possibly get, it can’t last forever. That there is a light at the end of the snow and ice covered tunnel. The light will be Spring!
I remember the thrill that overtook my heart when I first laid eyes on this coat. It was such a functional, traditional form, with such a feminine, breezy pattern. I wanted to be that feminine, breezy girl!
I had big plans for this coat. I imagined that I would wear this until all the buttons fell off.
And then…I didn’t. It’s much harder to wear then I ever dreamed. It sort of is the outfit. It never fails to steal the show. It’s all about this coat.
It’s hard enough most of the time to coordinate a complete outfit. But then try to have your entire outfit match your outerwear, and things get much more complicated.
I mean, one simply can’t wear this coat with jeans and black boots. Or with a bright red flowy skirt. Or with blue herringbone trousers. Well, maybe the trousers could work…
And so I would try to plan entire outfits around the coat. And then I would usually get frustrated and decide to wear something else.
The one time I did manage to get it right was when Nate’s mom Kathy came to stay with us for a while. It was, I think, just about a year since we had moved here, so 2005, maybe April or May. It was close to Mother’s Day, but cool enough to warrant a spring coat.
We bought Kathy tickets to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Broadway for Mother’s Day.
I wore a lime green blouse that is history, and a darker green flowered skirt that I still own. Plus the jacket, and white flats, and I felt pretty adorable.
And we had a lovely day. We visited the Met, and marveled at all the grandiosity for a while. Then there was a stroll through Central Park, dinner at Broadway Joe’s, where Kathy only got cheesy potatoes (but they changed her life!), and then cheesecake at Ben’s Deli.
It was splendid!
And then the show. I wasn’t quite sure how she would respond, having heard that there was a bit of bad language and crude humor. However, she loved it. Loved it! Laughed harder than anyone in the theater.
And my mother-in-law’s laugh is really something to hear. It’s high and loud, chock full of joy, and never ceasing. It’s one of my favorite laughs in the world. When Nate and I were in Chicago, there were talks of hiring her to be in the audience every night.
But not everyone loved her laugh in the Broadway theater. People would turn in their seats and give her the nastiest looks. It made me so angry. I mean, why weren’t they laughing, too? It’s a comedy! Did they think that a show entitled Dirty Rotten Scoundrels might be some sort of tragic drama? I think their lives were just so miserable that they just couldn’t let go and have an enjoyable night. It’s sad, really
Kathy didn’t care, however. Her laughter rang from the rafters until the curtain closed. It was a great show, with such an amazing cast. I really wasn’t prepared to like it as much as I did. And we had a wonderful time!
The coat, I’m sad to say, I haven’t worn much since. I’m even sadder to say that as I was putting it on Trixie, I noticed that I never even opened the kick pleat in the back. So I had been walking around with it all weirdly closed before. Embarrassing.
But I am ever so fond of it. Dusting it off today cheered my heart a little with thoughts of Spring. And I feel like I should wear it at least one more time, to see what it looks like with the pleat opened. Yes?

**After much deliberation, I’ve decided to part with this. It’s headed to my dear friend, Lizzie!