Tuesday, April 23, 2013

My Life


Trudy the Lawyer
Those that know me, who may have read my old pages, or even this blog, have heard me mention Trudy. I met her professionally, and we became one another’s confidants. I watched her grow, become a better attorney, get better clients, open her own office, and become more successful. Bravo girlfriend!

When I met Trudy she was a bit of a mess. She had some issues (don’t we all!), and some of these issues are why I was attracted to her. She had acne scarred skin, which she covered with great gobs of foundation, so much that one could smell it! I loved it of course. She also had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which manifested itself in many ways. One was constantly checking her makeup, and usually reapplying some. By constantly I mean every 5 minutes, every red light, pulling over on the highway when driving etc. She also changed her underwear constantly, and always carried a large bag with panties, bra and hose. I how more perfect could a gal be?

But Trudy is a strong woman, and she started to work on herself. I like to think I helped as well. She had laser treatment for the acne scars, which left her with almost perfect skin. She had some plastic surgery on her face as well, and had her boobs done. At my urging she traded in her Brooks Brothers suits for more upscale fashionable suits, I once spent 3 hours with her in Bloomingdales. And I introduced to both outlet shopping and how to buy stuff on sale. I even convinced her to dye her hair red. She then dealt with her OCD, which to me was too bad as I kind of liked seeing the powder and lipstick come out every 5 minutes.

I don’t want you to think I was her Henry or Henrietta Higgins, this was her making her choices, but asking for advice as well. When passed over for partner at her firm, she opened her own office. Unfortunately, we lost touch, as the stain of opening her own office was considerable, and as I said earlier, I have my own issues to deal with. A lot of this had to do with her growing and moving on. She started dating a man that she liked quite a bit. But some of it was me as well.

This afternoon I ran into her, and we stopped for coffee. She looks amazing, and from my own perspective I was happy to see she still piled on the makeup. Her office is doing well, she’s hired associates. She’s not dating anyone, but baby steps are better than no steps at all. She reminded me that the suit she wore came from one of our shopping trips! Only once did she check the makeup, and I couldn’t help but compliment her. She smiled and said she was working on it, but opened her oversize bag to show me her fresh underwear!

One of the things that Trudy could do that amazed me was put on blush and lipstick perfectly. I have been at this for many years. And sometimes when I look at pictures of myself I think “Your blush looks awful!”. She could do it without a mirror, the same with lipstick.

We agreed to meet again soon, but we won’t. I miss her, but I am happy for her as well.



Reflections
One of the cable networks is showing old “Alfred Hitchcock” TV shows every weeknight. They are fascinating to me for many reasons. First, he got some amazing actors to star in them. Last week a young Robert Redford was on. But I must say I love seeing the women. First of all, most of them seem to be blond and look a lot like Tippi Hedron, but that’s another story. There almost always seems to be some reason for them to be dressed to the nines in formal attire.

As much as I enjoy the show and the stories, I love looking at these women and wondering what they are wearing under their amazing dresses. I watch for every little detail. In one episode the female actress wore sling backs, and I could see the heel of her stockings. With tiny waists and pointy boobs and hosiery I imagine what kind of girdle they might be wearing. I think about how wonderful it must have been to get dressed in those days.

With 3000+ pictures on Flickr I am undoubtedly an attention slut. But when I look at my own pictures I always remember what slips or slips, longline bra, girdle and stockings I wore underneath just as I imagine what these women in old TV shows and movies are wearing.



Musings
I don’t see the attraction to Chelsea Handler. She is not all that clever, and I just don’t find her attractive……It has started here in the Boston Area already, the attack of the painfully white legs--who told women they look good without hosiery, and BTW it is still pretty cold here, so often they have a pink tinge as well….. Have you seen the new “Bettie Page” shops? There is one here that I will be exploring soon, and they are on line as well……I am thinking of trying Spanx…..sings










                                   This Week’s Why?
                                   Low Heeled Shoes
I don’t know, age maybe. I went through a number of shoe periods, 5 inch mules, platforms, the famous Fredericks of Hollywood black patent stilettos. I even got a pair of 6 inch heels with no platform at Lee Brewster’s in New York about a million years ago. But there were a couple of driving forces towards the lower heels. First, 5 inch heels didn’t always work with my outfits, and although I got incredibly proficient at walking in them, the sheer comfort of the lower heels made life a little easier. And although this is certainly not the case now, with the lower heels there was a lot more variety so there were more choices of styles to go with my outfits.

I remember being at a wedding with my friend Alice. It was a fall wedding on a beautiful New England day at the old Ritz here in Boston. We were at a table with a very elegant couple, the woman was in her 40’s or 50’s or had a lot of work done. She got up to use the ladies room and as she walked by I saw these black patent peep toe sling backs with little 2 inch heels, and the jet black heel of her RHT stockings was perfectly positioned. This was many years after nude heels came into to fashion, which made it all the more extraordinary. They were so perfect with her sequin dress even Alice said something nice about them and asked where they came from. I found those shoes, and despite the dent it put in my pocketbook, I had them myself within a week.

                                            Shopping
Never ever buy anything at full price! Occasionally I violate this rule, and I was fully prepared to do it recently. Well not really I had a 20% off coupon, but there are some Onyx Nite separates I like and I saw them being sold at a rate that they might never go on sale. So I went to Macy’s, hoping in one of their many “One Days Sales” the outfit might be marked down, but no luck. However when I went to pay the skirt was 40% off, but the top wasn’t. Hmm. “Shouldn’t they both be on sale?” I asked, and the clerk simply took the 40% off the twin set that went with the skirt, plus I got my 20% off. Amazing huh?










                                              Makeup
It is hard to beat Mac lipstick. My most recent purchase is a shocking pink called Candy YumYum. I needed this because between all my other lipsticks I only had about 30 pink shades. $15.00, great coverage, amazing colors, and if you play you cards right some overly made up 20 something might take care of you.





Friday, April 12, 2013

                                                           

My Life   

I alluded to a health issue on Flicker in the fall. Thankfully I am OK, but after this I think Shakespeare was wrong when he sai : "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers”. Nay old bard, let’s go after the doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators! I contracted an infection in the hospital that in retrospect, almost killed me. Fortunately I am a relatively well versed person, and I know how to take care of myself. And I got help in the form of an ex girlfriend who was amazing. Mortality always causes one to rethink one’s life, and my re-thinking, as I lie in the hospital for the 6th straight day on still another concoction of antibiotics, was that I have not enough moments and maybe not enough time left. So, I stopped working, and started living a bit more. People are appalled by this “You’re so young and you’ve got so much left to give”. Right. I am done. So, all that said, I am getting a little bored. So, I’ve started my blog again!

This Week’s Why?
Ah yes the age old questions for all of us part time girls. As I have said many times, I have no idea about the deep dark roots of this. I was a happy well adjusted kid, friends, girl friends, hockey player, VERY good schools, good job, life etc. What I get are all the questions within questions. Why the crazy makeup, huge hair, diapers, square dance outfits, girdles, feminine hygiene etc. Today I will try to deal with the makeup aspect of this.

From the first time I discovered girls, they were heavily made up girls. Those plain old natural beauties were not interesting to me, though for some reason they were interested in me. No it was those overly done slutty looking babes that fascinated me. Yet they always seemed interested in those big macho types. The April that is my name sake inspired my eyeliner, Margie, a customer at a small store I worked at in high school, my lipstick, and on and on. I worked at a grocery store next to a very busy hair salon, and this was in the age of really big overdone hair. Suffice it to say, I could never be “me” whoever that is, without all of makeup! I love wearing it buying it, picking it our researching it, practicing with it—I just love it!

There was the one girl whose name currently escapes me. A high school dropout, I first saw her working the jewelry counter at Bradlees, a discount store. Her everyday makeup was truly unbelievable, and considering she used all drugstore makeup, even more amazing. I actually dated her for a while, and to see her with these amazing concoctions was memorable to say the least. What I remember most were the false eyelashes. She told me how on her day off she’d go to the theatrical makeup places in Boston, on the bus no less, to get these things.

                                    Shopping
I love the after, after Christmas sales. No that is not a typo, the best prices on everything are in February and March, when they are getting rid of what didn’t sell for one reason or another. And as I have said many times, being a part time girl affords one the ability to be patient. As you can clearly see if you like my pictures, I like dressy dresses (among other things of course). So after I made the life decision I alluded to earlier, I went to the mall! Coupons in hand, I made a possibly controversial value judgment. Instead of one mall where the Lord & Taylor selection is not quite as good as another Lord & Taylor in driving distance, I went anyway, because the Macy’s in this mall is the best in my area. I have a tough life dontcha think? I ended up leaving with 12, yes 12, new dresses! Why you ask? L&T had a whole sale rack where all these $200-$250 items were $49.00. Plus….I had a 20% coupon and if one used one’s L&T charge card another 10% off. So for about $35.00 each for 7 dresses, all of which I kept BTW, I got well over $1400 in merchandise based on regular price. On to Macy’s of course where I got 5 more dresses, 4 of them are long dresses, at similar savings. Girls, you can d this too! Be patient, keep coupons, shop carefully, be nice to the clerks (Not creepy!) In both stores I was asked, in male persona, if I wanted to try stuff on. A smile goes a long way. You should be there, buying this stuff!


 Makeup

Once I discovered mineral eye shadow, and the amazing range of colors it comes it, I was hooked, The fact that one can get a 6 month supply for about $5.00 is just an extra added bonus. Check out these on-line suppliers: • Bitchslap Cosmetics, • Sugarpill, • BFTE (Beauty from the Earth) • Medusa. And be sure to look on EBay and Etsy. Personally I have had the most luck recently on Etsy. Although none of the people there seems to be in a rush to ship, the makeup gets there eventuality, and if you are patient and search this massive disorganized site, you will be happy!. For whatever this is worth I have found that the mineral blush colors don’t work for me….you make your own choice…