Maxi Dress with Lace-up back
Seagrass Boutique/August Asccessories
Sometimes slipping on those stilettos, even when we aren’t quite feeling it, can help us move our feet in the right direction.
Growing up, I was always taught that dressing well was a form of good manners. My grandmother, with whom I was very close, passed away last year after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s and a short, but hard-fought battle with COVID-19. She was the epitome of a strong woman. And that was her mantra. As a young teen, she helped her parents raise her siblings on a small farm in North Dakota in the middle of nowhere. When she met my grandfather, she left behind everything she knew to move to New Jersey to settle in and start a life of their own. She raised two daughters, took care of the house and everyone around her — all while creating a successful career for herself at a time when women weren’t typically the breadwinners.
Even if she had on her velour tracksuit jogger for a Sunday of making sauce at home, she always had her hair and makeup done and her jewels on. She was sharp, polished and put together. When life was great, she dressed the part. And when life threw some curve balls, she still pulled herself together. In the end, the worst part of her dementia was seeing the disease take little things that were so important to her, like putting together the perfect outfit for church or Sunday brunch. She never forgot the big things, though. Despite this terrible disease taking her mind and memories at times, she always knew who she loved and that we were there.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about her and the philosophy of “dressing up and showing up.” Like so many of us, I’ve struggled with getting accustomed to life post-lockdown and the exciting, yet unusual feeling of getting dressed up to go out. Some days I miss the yoga pants and loungewear that got me through last year. As odd as it sounds, while it was stressful and unbelievably challenging, there was something freeing about not feeling as if I had to be “always on my game.”
