Fashion faux pas

Its been a lazy morning....paying bills, looking on-line for ideas for some upcoming family birthdays, downloading a couple of books for my kindle, reading blog posts, etc. It wasn't till 12:30 that I realized that due to Lilian's early-out school schedule this week, if I wanted to run any of the errands that I had on my to-do list for today, I had to get ready fast...only one hour till she stepped off the bus. In my rush to get ready, I toyed with the idea of just putting on what I wore yesterday. I had only worn it half the day after all. And I thought it was a rather cute outfit. Light colored jeans, a longish orange shirt with white swirly designs on it, a dark blue denim looking blazer and to cap it off...grey heeled ankle boots, a silver dinosaur necklace and silver earrings.

I pulled on the jeans, but decided on a different shirt...cream and red stripes instead. Same jacket, earrings and necklace but decided against the high heels in favor of some brown riding boots. A quick make-up job and I was out the door, heading to the local craft store feeling like I looked pretty cute, even if my outfit was very similar to what I wore yesterday. I didn't figure it was likely that anyone would notice.

At the craft store I was surprised to see a woman that I recognized. I did not know her and up until yesterday I'd never even seen her before. But she had stood in front of me in the long check-out line at Fresh Market grocery store the evening before. And because I was bored and enjoy people watching, I found myself watching her closely...making up stories for why she was buying so many microwave TV dinners, why she chose to wear that attention-getting faux animal print coat. Under the coat she was wearing a vest with a logo, a tutoring company of some sort....had she come straight to the store from work? Blonde hair, pretty, but probably a good 10-years older than I was. Close scrutiny, but no judgement....just people watching, as some people do.

So when I passed by her at the craft store, I immediately  knew where I'd seen her before. How funny to run into her just a few hours later at a different store. I saw a flash of recognition in her eyes as well. I didn't think she had really noticed me yesterday at all, especially seeing as I was behind her in line. But as I finished paying for my crafts and picked up my sack to head out the door, I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Excuse me," she said. "Can I ask you where you got that jacket? I noticed you wearing it last night at Fresh Market and thought it was so cute."

Gulp. She remembered me AND what I was wearing yesterday? Could she have been watching me in the same why I had been watching her? Scrutinizing my outfit, wondering about the groceries I had been carefully placing on the other side of the divider between her purchases and mine...how clearly I must have a sweet tooth judging from the chocolate chip cookies and the 2 bags of chocolate blueberries in my cart, wondering if I had other children other than the 7-year old with me or if this little girl was my only or first, making up stories of what kind of job I might have, etc?

I told her my jacket came from Old Navy but she was disappointed to learn that it was not a current purchase so the chances of her finding it now weren't good. She then leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Oh, and by the way...your vent is still stitched shut."

Ummm....what? I thought she was saying I had a tag hanging out or something. My "vent"? Oh, that little flap in the back of my jacket? I reached behind me...yep, still stitched shut. I made some mumbled comment about not having worn it very often, and then continued out the door.

And then as I walked to my truck I found myself very decidedly embarrassed that I had been caught more or less recycling an outfit from the day before...and very thankful that I had at least changed out the shirt and boots!

Also, I immediately unstitched my "vent" when I got home.