Getting dressed intentionally
Paige DeSorbo remains our greatest philosopher of fashion
If anyone knows three things about me, they are:
Probably not relevant.
If there’s a fourth thing, though, it might (?) be that I’m a Giggler—as in, a big fan of the podcast Giggly Squad. Everyone should be, but I think it’s kind of a “women and gays” podcast.
Fortunately, regardless of the gender politics of any hypothetical reader, I will always fit one or the other of those categories, so it’s inevitable: I’m a Giggler.
Giggly Squad presumably needs no introduction, but if it does, Google is right there, so I’m not going into that. And no, Hannah Berner does not deserve this weird current cancellation effort against her. I’m not even dignifying that by linking to a source. Watch her Netflix special instead! And pre-order their book!
A few episodes ago, Paige DeSorbo, the other co-hostess with the most-est, initiated the following exchange:
Paige: When I’m trying on outfits or I’m packing to go somewhere, I put on an outfit, I’m immediately improv-ing. I’m like, who is she? Where is she going in this outfit? What’s her vibe?
Hannah: Yeah, what’s your facial expression when you’re waiting in this outfit?
Paige: What’s the story she’s telling with this outfit? I give her another name and it helps me put outfits together. I have to detach myself. She’s a different character.
And that got me thinking about how I get dressed. I tend to rush out the door pretty last-second at this point, especially if I’m headed to the first place I have to be that day. I probably went to bed about three hours before needing to leave, so I’m trying to maximise my sleep. I tend to be quite hasty and a bit stressed when my day is starting.
Like with my cooking for the last... year, my lack of time to get dressed leads me to get stuck in a rut of forgetting my full array of outfit possibilities. That tunnel vision makes me even less motivated to dedicate time to sartorial selections. I forget basic garments are in my closet, sometimes.
Also, I always forget to iron stuff, and that doesn’t help when I’m rushing everywhere. The first time I’ve remembered to iron something lately was the 3’x5’ Chappell Roan flag that I wanted wrinkle-free before putting it up in my cubicle to express my unflagging, but now flagged, gay patriotism. And my cubicle happens to be at such an angle that the gloriously wrinkle-free flag is the first thing one probably notices upon entering the entire office space. I’ll hear feedback on it when everyone else returns from spring break, and ignore any that’s not wholly positive. I highly recommend this flag! It’s such a bargain. Thanks, Bezos.
I don’t have a whole lot else to add to this post; I think DeSorbo speaks very clearly. Using the opportunity of getting dressed to slow down and warm up my imagination has been great over the last little while, even if I’ve mostly ended up dressing extremely casually. It is spring break, after all.
I do also find that it’s useful to think more—or rather, return to thinking more—about the expressive aspect of my clothing choices. Even if I end up wearing an Eras Tour hoodie while ironing a bizarrely patriotic Chappell Roan flag to put in my English department office.