Fashion's Day Off

"They need to adore me, so Christian Dior me from my head to my toes. I need to be dazzling. I want to be rainbow high. They must have excitement, and so must I." -- from Evita 

 

I love fashion. I take pride in my wardrobe and love arriving at work each day in a flattering outfit and a fabulous pair of high heels. And I do this to make myself happy; I've always been pretty sure that my colleagues don't notice what I'm wearing half the time.

 

Today, that assumption was proven incorrect.

 

At around 8PM last night, I sat down on my couch and put on Thor. I intended to choose and iron today's work outfit while watching, but instead, I fell asleep. Therefore, at about 7:30 this morning, I woke up on the couch, completely disoriented, with half an hour to dress and get to work on time.

 

I grabbed a huge pink and white button-down shirt and black matchstick pants (i.e. the two things in my closet that were ironed and hung properly), paired them with pink and brown wingtips, threw my hair into a ponytail, and cabbed it down the block.

 

My sartorial choice wasn't up to my usual standard, but it wasn't a complete train wreck.

 

 

Or so I thought. During the course of the clinic day...

• Five people asked me if I was sick.
• Three people remarked with some form of "Oh my goodness, what happened to you?!"
• My work brother spent the whole morning invading my personal space to loom over me because, owing to my lack of heels, he was a full ten inches taller than me.
• One feisty nurse exclaimed, "This is NOT you!" and gave me a five-minute speech about how she barely recognized me when she saw me.
• The same nurse later announced to the clinic floor that everyone better bring their cameras tomorrow because "she's definitely going to wear something stunning to make up for this mess."
• A snarky friend complimented my look and called it "walk of shame chic." And when I explained that I woke up on the couch ten minutes before I was due to leave for work, he questioned whether said couch belonged to me.

 I called my best friend on the way home to tell her about my surreal day. Her comment? "Lesson learned: you're not allowed to take a fashion day off. Ever."