I know you all think I forgot you on Fashion Fridays! I didn’t, but this summer is all sorts of upside down. So I am SUPER excited to deliver a summer series featuring some of my favorite friends.
It’s the fashion memories series. Do you have a moment sealed in time? A first date? A graduation? A baptism, dance, or a rehearsal dinner? I’ve got so many of those moments, and the outfit I was wearing in each moment is cemented in my memory. It might even be a terrible outfit now, but then, oh then it was perfect and it will remain so in my memory.
To kick off the series today, I welcome a dear friend who’s become like a sister to me. I actually did not know her when this memory occurred, so I loved reading her account (and seeing the picture that shows she can STILL WEAR THE OUTFIT!).
Welcome Cathryn to our Fashion Friday.
Ten years ago, June of 2006:
I was a partner in a Houston law firm. I had fabulous friends, an extraordinary sister and supportive, loving parents. I owned a lovely townhouse. I was training for my first marathon.
But there was one thing missing…a family of my own. I had been in a 2 year relationship, but when push came to shove, we discovered our future plans did not align. So I found myself single again in my mid-30s. I had met my last boyfriend on match.com, so I decided to give online dating another try. Within a few weeks, I was emailing with a nice CPA who lived a mere 10 minutes away from me. After a week of emailing, we began talking nightly, sometimes for hours at a time.
We talked for several weeks before deciding to meet for a happy hour after work at a casual Mexican restaurant. I worked at a firm with a formal dress code (business suits only), so I knew I needed to pack an outfit change. But summertime in Houston? HOT! So I had to come up with a post-work, not work clothes, outfit for summer but I couldn’t do shorts for a first date! And I couldn’t wear my killer cocktail dresses as that seemed just a “bit” over-dressed for $1 margarita night.
Finally, I opted for my favorite Lucky Brand jeans, a Max Studio brown leather fitted tank I’d found at an outlet mall in Hawaii, and a pair of brown strappy sandals. I dressed it up with a cool necklace and earrings. I remember how I felt once I’d pulled it together – both comfortable and confident. It wasn’t flashy or colorful, but simple and sexy (but classy).
So, about that boy…
I am happy to report that the date went well. We had drinks, he walked me to my car, we hugged and then we went our separate ways. I was a bit perplexed (and mad and sad) when I did not hear from him the following week and had pretty much written him off. But then he called for a second date, and I stalled for a few days. I wasn’t about to be super available; I had to punish him for making me wait so long to hear back from him!
We eventually had that second date, and after that a third, and a fourth… A year later he proposed, and the following year we were married in Grand Cayman.
Eight years later, we have a house, 2 cars, 2 dogs, a fish, a turtle, a frog, and 2 beautiful children together:
AND… I still have that outfit we wore on our first date.
While I no longer wear it, I cannot quite bring myself to get rid of it. When I look at it, all the butterflies and exhilarating feelings from that first date with my husband come rushing back. This is me in that outfit today:
*Have a favorite memory with an outfit you can’t quite forget? Send the story and picture to justgindi@hotmail.com this summer for the series.